Caleb Bulow's Blog

Romans 8:29

Whom He Foreknew

He predestined to the image of His Son

For whom He foreknew,
He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called;
whom He called, these He also justified;
and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8:29-30

The opening line of this passage does not say ‘certain ones whom He foreknew,’ as if it applied to a limited group of people which God foreknew. It speaks inclusively of the people whom God foreknew, that they were predestined. 

If we assume this is speaking of God’s foreknowledge from eternity past, then logic would demand one of two impossible conclusions. Either God foreknew all people and so all will be saved, or God only foreknew those whom He would save and did not foreknow those whom He would not save. The first conclusion is incorrect because we know all are not saved. The second conclusion is incorrect because God’s knowledge is not limited – He knows both the saved and the unsaved.

An alternate interpretation is that God foreknew who would believe in His Son and so predestined them. The problem here is that the Greek word ‘foreknow’ does not mean knowing facts about a person, but knowing a person with an intimate, relationship type knowledge. So the interpretation that God foreknew which people would believe doesn’t fit the meaning of the Greek word. 

The difficulty in identifying the correct interpretation is that Paul didn’t expound what he meant by ‘foreknew’ anywhere in this epistle. It’s like he expected that believers would be familiar with what he was talking about. As if he thought they had experienced God’s foreknowledge and predestining in their own lives.

In fact, we can show that Paul experienced God’s foreknowledge and predestination in his life. From his experience, we can see that almost every believer has had the same kind of experience as Paul.

Before we turn to Paul’s experience, we’ll need to clarify the meaning of ‘foreknowledge’ and ‘predestine’ so we can identify their occurrence.

Foreknowledge 

Foreknowledge is a compound word in Greek. The prefix simply means beforehand. It does not inherently imply eternity past, but simply references a time earlier than the present time. 

The root word, knowledge, is not factual type knowledge, but experiential-type knowledge. It speaks of something you know by experience. In the context of knowing people, it’s not knowing facts about a person, but knowing the person for who they are. It’s the kind of personal knowledge that comes through a close relationship.

Nathanael used this word for ‘knowledge’ in John 1, when he met Jesus for the first time. You remember that Phillip had invited Nathanael to come meet Jesus of Nazareth. Nathanael was skeptical that anything good could come from Nazareth, but went with Phillip anyhow.

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!”
Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?”
John 1:47-48

Nathanael’s use of ‘know’ in his question was asking how Jesus knew him so personally when this was the first time they had met. He saw that Jesus was already intimately acquainted with him, and he used this word ‘knowledge’ in reference to Jesus’ intimate knowledge of him.

So combining the prefix with the root gives us a word that simply meant, “having a personal, intimate knowledge before the present time.” 

Paul used the compound Greek word during one of his trials when telling of how his fellow countrymen knew him from beforehand.

“My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know. They knew me from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. Acts 26:4-5

He said that the Jews foreknew him from the early years of his youth. He obviously wasn’t saying they knew him from ‘eternity past’. He was merely saying that they personally knew him long before the present time, well before he was put on trial.

We’ll come back to Paul’s testimony in Acts 26 because it also shows us what he meant when he spoke of foreknowledge in Romans 8. But before we go there, let’s look at the meaning of predestined because Paul also included that concept in his testimony.

Predestined

Predestined is also a compound word made up of a prefix and a root word. The prefix is the same as with foreknowledge. It simply means beforehand, just as with foreknowledge.

The root means ‘to determine,’ in the sense of determining a boundary. This word was used for many types of boundaries, ranging from literal land boundaries to metaphorical life boundaries. An example of someone determining a metaphorical life boundary would be a person taking a vow, which is when a person promises to perform an action or take up a new habit in life. That person is basically determining a boundary in their life. 

It’s important to recognize that ‘determine’ is different than ‘decree.’ A decree requires people to comply regardless of their willingness. But ‘determine’ was generally used in contexts where the people involved were more or less agreeable to what was determined, even in situations that were determined by God. 

An example is in Acts 2 where Peter said that Jesus’ crucifixion by the Jews was according to God’s determined purpose. 

“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; Acts 2:22-23

It’s rather obvious that all parties involved with the crucifixion were agreeable with what God had determined. But notice that the Jews didn’t try to crucify Jesus the first day they met him in the Temple as a 12 year-old boy. They would have several encounters with Jesus before they were of a mind to do what God determined.

I make this point because it illustrates the difference between determine and decree. A decree demands immediate obedience. But God’s determining is different, in that He is willing to patiently wait until the people involved are fully on board with what He has determined.

Thus, ‘determine’ meant setting physical or metaphorical boundaries which defined the sphere of someone’s life. That means the full word, ‘predestine’, meant to determine beforehand, that is, to beforehand define the sphere of someone’s life. 

For the purposes of removing ambiguity, let’s go back to Paul’s testimony in Acts 26 to see God’s foreknowledge and predestining demonstrated in a living example.

Paul’s Experience

Paul testified to king Agrippa about how he had been active in persecuting the followers of Jesus, even pursuing them to cities outside the land of Israel. He told of his journey to Damascus and how he was confronted by a bright light.

At midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Acts 26:13-14 

Notice the last phrase: “It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” This comment must have shocked Saul. 

A goad is a sharp stick that they used to drive cattle with. If a cow was being stubborn, they would jab it with the goad to get it moving the right direction. 

Evidently, even as Saul zealously hunted down the followers of Jesus, he felt something like a sharp stick inside, prodding him to stop. Probably, no one in Saul’s life would have ever guessed that he experienced internal conflict about persecuting the Lord’s people. But the Lord knew all about it. 

Thus, when Saul first met the Lord, he found the Lord beforehand knew him. 

Isn’t that, by definition, foreknowledge? We could say, ‘the Lord foreknew Saul,’ just like He foreknew Nathanael. 

I think that most believers had a similar experience when they first met the Lord. Having turmoil in their soul, they cried out to God, and found that the Lord knew their hearts and their inner unrest. 

This would explain why Paul might have felt he didn’t need to explain what he meant by ‘foreknew,’ because we all know what it is to experience the burden of inner turmoil, meet the Lord, and find that He beforehand knew us. 

Continuing on with Paul’s testimony, we find he next told king Agrippa how the Lord said He would make Saul a minister and witness of what he had seen, and send him to the Gentiles to turn them from darkness to salvation.

But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ Acts 26:16-18

Do you see what the Lord did there? He pre-determined the sphere of Saul’s life, saying He would send Saul as a witness to the Gentiles.

Now, notice how the Lord’s purpose came about, that Saul didn’t immediately go to the Gentiles.

“Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Acts 26:19-20

Notice that Saul first proclaimed the gospel in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, then in Judea, and finally to the Gentiles. In other words, he didn’t immediately enter the sphere of being a witness to Gentiles. But in the last chapter of Acts, we see him acknowledging that the gospel was going to the Gentiles. 

“Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Acts 28:28-29

Thus, he reached a point where he fully turned from the Jews to the Gentiles. And in so doing, he fully entered the sphere of the Lord’s purpose which was determined beforehand, before he was saved.

In the same way, God has a purpose for every believer which He determined beforehand, that is, before they believed. His stated purpose is to transform each believer into the image of His Son. 

Think for a second on what that means. God determined to take sinful, corrupted people whom He knew beforehand and bring them into the sphere of being righteous in the likeness of His Son. It is incredible.

He doesn’t accomplish this by forcing His purpose upon us but works patiently, doing His work as we are willing to enter the sphere He has determined.

Romans 8:29

In summary, ‘Whom God foreknew’ is speaking of that intimate knowledge which God has of a person before they meet Him. He knew our inner turmoil from sin before we met Him. And while we were yet in our sin, He determined He would bring us from our sinfulness into the image of His Son. Having made that determination, He called us.

This Greek word for calling is different than the word in verse 28. This word is an invitation type call and is referring to God’s invitation to repent and believe in His Son. 

So God, knowing the unrest in our hearts, called us to rest in His Son. And when we believed, He justified us. Having justified us, He has glorified us with the glory which Paul wrote about earlier in this chapter. 

…and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:17

God has made us heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. It’s a glory that is greater than that of the angels, who are not heirs but ministers.

Context

In conclusion, let’s place these verses in their context and enjoy the thoughtflow of the passage. I’m going to paraphrase the passage, so feel free to compare with the text to verify that I’m not misrepresenting what Paul wrote. 

Romans 8:23-25. We, who have the Holy Spirit inside us, who are burdened by our sinful flesh, eagerly anticipate the day when we are delivered from all our sinful desires and are brought into the hope of righteousness. It’s a hope we wait for with perseverance.
Romans 8:26-27. We are not alone, but the Spirit helps us and presents our need before God so that He will work according to His will.
Romans 8:28. And we know that God uses all events to produce the good of righteousness in the lives of those who love Him (because He first loved them when they were still sinners), and who embraced His calling to holiness. 
Romans 8:29-30. We know that all things work together for good because God didn’t save us at random. From before we were saved, He knew us and our struggles intimately. Knowing us inside and out, He determined He would make us righteous and good like the Lord Jesus. With this purpose in mind, He invited us to believe in His Son as our savior. When we believed, He declared us righteous and made us His heirs, and joint heirs with His Son.
Romans 8:31-37. Clearly, God is committed to us for good. And if He is for us, who can be against us? 
Romans 8:38-39 This is why Paul was persuaded that nothing could separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

Previous PostRomans 8:28

Those whom God chose according to His purpose.

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Introduction to the study on the thought-flow of these chapters.

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Paul’s sorrow over the state the nation of Israel is currently in.

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Remember

Remembering

waiting on God

Then God remembered Noah,
and every living thing,
and all the animals
that were with him in the ark.

Genesis 8:1

The distinguishing feature of this passage must surely be the level of detail regarding time. We are told how long the waters decreased, the day the ark rested on the ground, the number of days spent watching for birds, and the nearly three months of waiting after Noah saw the ground was dry.

All of this detail about time came after God remembered Noah. It seems odd to me that God remembered Noah and then did nothing for what must have seemed like forever to those who were on the ark. Personally, I don’t enjoy waiting and waiting for God to act. But waiting seems to be the point of this passage, as if it’s a key part of God’s administration over mankind.

Remember

The first time the Bible mentions God remembering is in Genesis 8. It says that after the floodwaters had raged for 40 days, God remembered Noah and all who were with him on the ark. Remembering is an interesting word to apply to God, since He knows all things and doesn’t forget, like we do. 

Later Bible passages referring to God’s remembering often used the term in connection with a promise or covenant that God had made. From these passages, we can see that His act of remembering is generally followed by some type of divine intervention for the purpose of fulfilling His promise or covenant. 

We could say God’s remembering is when He turns His attention to a given situation with the intent to act. Thus, God’s remembering of Noah indicated He was ready to take action regarding His promise of keeping Noah alive through the flood. In other words, remembering meant God was ready to deliver Noah from the flood.

Since God is all-powerful, we might have expected a spectacular removal of the floodwaters and a quick-dry of the earth. But instead, God made only a very slight move.

Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the animals that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided. The fountains of the deep and the windows of heaven were also stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained. Genesis 8:1-2

God merely started the winds and stopped the rains. The rest of the drying process was a natural progression of the waters receding and the earth drying. Other than stopping the rain, God’s intervention didn’t appear supernatural at all, but appeared to be a natural progression of events. 

To this day, God’s working among the affairs of men is usually quiet and unnoticed by most. Occasionally in history, He has intervened spectacularly, but His normal method of operation has been through natural processes. 

Sometimes, when we have observed no disruption to natural processes, we assume God has forgotten His promises and failed to act. But this is not true. Normal progression of natural processes does not mean God has forgotten or is inactive.

Waiting

On the ark, Noah was evidently watching for signs of the flood waters receding. After forty days, he heard the rain stop. Then, five months after the rain had started, he felt the ark land. Three months later, he began sending the birds on reconnaissance missions to see if the water had receded. Finally, one full year after the flood began, he opened the window on the ark and observed that the ground was dry. 

One year was a long time to be cooped up in the ark. But he had to wait another two months and 27 days before God finally spoke and told him to leave the ark. I suppose those last three months were the longest three months of his stay on the ark. It must have seemed long to wait five months on the ark after it landed, and long to wait another 21 days while sending out the birds. But then they waited an additional 87 long days after they had seen the ground was dry. I can’t imagine that Noah and his family didn’t question where God was during those long weeks.

Noah’s Response

Perhaps surprisingly, Noah showed no resentment or bitterness towards God for his extended stay on the ark. In fact, he showed gratitude. He had at his disposal every kind of created animal, but selected only the best, the clean animals, for sacrifice to God. 

The Scripture doesn’t tell us what produced Noah’s gratitude. It may have arisen from being delivered out of the judgment of the flood. Or perhaps it came from recognizing that God had not abandoned him. We are not told. All we see is that Noah spent a lot of time on the ark and somehow, over the course of the long wait, he arrived at a place of deep gratitude towards God.

Noah isn’t the only one of God’s people who has needed to wait for long periods of time. Over the course of history, God has sent many of His people through long periods of waiting, often with no explanation for the delay. But time and time again, those who have waited on Him come through their wait with the report that God is good. 

God’s Covenant

God’s response to Noah’s sacrifice is nothing short of remarkable. He promised to never destroy the earth with a flood again. God sent the flood because every imagination of men’s hearts was evil. But, because of Noah’s sacrifice, although men’s hearts remained continually wicked, God swore in His heart that He would never destroy the earth with a flood again. Noah’s one act of sacrifice brought an everlasting decree from God that would stand regardless of how wicked man became.

God highly valued Noah’s offering which came after a prolonged period of waiting. It means He is not indifferent to the long periods of time which His people endure, but is intimately aware of each passing moment. It means He does not gloss over their patient waiting on Him, but highly values their trust in Him even when they have seemed abandoned.

Conclusion

In God’s administration over mankind, He does not fulfill His promises with a snap of His fingers, although He could. He created both time and the natural processes, and uses them in His working among His people. His approach requires a good deal of faith from those who trust in Him. But He greatly delights in their enduring faith in His word. Especially when their faith stands firm in the face of contrary circumstances.

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God sent floodwaters as universal destruction because the wickedness of mankind filled the earth. However, whether a creature escaped from that destruction was not based on their level of wickedness.

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Posts on the second day of the history of mankind.

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Text to describe what they will be looking at.

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Romans 8:28

Called According to His Purpose

not according to our works

And we know
that all things work together for good
to those who love God,
to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28

Intro 

There is a lot of good truth in this passage. But we could miss it if we are sidetracked by a debate over what it means to be ‘the called according to God’s purpose.’ Our strategy to avoid the debate and uncover the good truth will be to examine this verse phrase by phrase.

All things

All things doesn’t mean all objects. Paul wasn’t saying that every imaginable created object, such as potatoes, cigarettes, and brussel sprouts are for good. Some of these things may be for good, but that isn’t the point Paul is making here. 

In this passage, all things means all events and circumstances. Paul was saying that all events and circumstances are for good. Even bad events that happened because of bad choices. 

For example, the first event Abram experienced after he arrived in Canaan was a famine. This does not classify as a good event, but a bad event. However, God intended to use this bad event for good in Abram. With the famine, God could develop faith in Abram so that he would learn to trust God in difficult times. However, Abram chose to flee the famine and go to Egypt. But as he traveled, he became afraid that someone would kill him for his beautiful wife. Instead of trusting God to protect him, he told people she was his sister. As a result, Pharaoh took her to be his wife. 

Losing his wife was a bad event that came because of his bad choices. 

But then God intervened and compelled Pharaoh to give back Abram’s wife. Abram went back to Canaan with his wife and there built an altar to the Lord. He built the altar because he found he could trust God. So God used this series of bad events for the good of developing faith in Abram. 

Abram’s experience illustrates what Paul was saying. All events and circumstances, even bad ones, are used to produce good in those who love God.

For good

All things work together for good is not a promise that all things will turn out well in the end. We do know that all things will turn out well when we arrive in eternity, but Paul was not speaking of that happy event. He was telling us that God uses all things to produce a particular good in those who love God. And verse 29 points to what the good is.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29

Notice God’s final destination for believers: they will become like the Lord Jesus. Based on the rule of context, being made like Christ is the good that verse 28 has in view.

In verse 28, Paul was saying that God uses all things to transform the personalities of His people into the likeness of His Son.

Love God

It’s a sad reality that not all believers reach the same level of Christ-likeness in their old age. But it isn’t that God fails to perform His work. It’s that not all believers have loved the Lord equally. Paul stated all things work together for good, but specifically to those who love God. That implies the more we love God, the more He can produce the likeness of His Son in us.

We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

According to 1 John, our love for God doesn’t develop through a focused effort to stir up our emotions. Our love towards God develops when we see how He first loved us.

I grew up in a Christian home, so I always knew God loved me. But it wasn’t until the guilt of my sin overcame me that I saw how God truly loved me. Because it was while I felt filthy rotten in my sin that I saw God’s love for me in that He sent His Son to die for my sin. 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Our clearest view of God’s love is in the context of our sin. And when we see God loves us even as corrupt sinners, we cannot help but respond in love towards Him.

People who truly love God are those who remember that the sin in their hearts is utter corruption, and that God loves them even as sinners. For people who love God like this, God is able to use all things to produce the good of Christ-likeness in them. 

The called

Called does not mean called to be saved. The call of salvation is an invitation-type call, such as what we see in verse 29. This Greek word in verse 28 is more about taking up a lifestyle or vocation. Paul was talking about people who were called to a particular kind life.

At first glance, we might assume that the calling is a life of personally striving to become like Christ. But Paul was not saying that we must use every event to produce Christ-likeness in ourselves. He was telling us that God is producing Christ-likeness in certain ones whom He has called to a certain lifestyle. 

Paul referenced the lifestyle in the beginning of Romans where he addressed his epistle to those who are in Rome, called to be saints (Romans 1:3). This calling to be saints is surely the calling Paul was referring to in Romans 8:28.

Now, ‘saints’ simply means, ‘holy ones’. So we could say that God called them to be holy people. 

This may sound like a life of striving to become Christ-like, but there is an important factor to holiness that we should not overlook. It is probably worth our time to pause and refresh our memories with the example God’s call to Israel to be holy. 

After the Israelites escaped Egypt, they arrived at Mount Sinai where God called them, among other things, to the life of a holy nation. 

And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.” Exodus 19:6

At the time God called them, we can see they were not a holy nation because God forbade them from even touching the mountain lest He break out against them and destroy them. 

Then the LORD said to him, “Away! Get down and then come up, you and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest He break out against them.” Exodus 19:24

But by the time they left the mountain, they could stand at the door of the Tabernacle, see the glory of God, and not be destroyed. 

And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people Leviticus 9:23

This means that, during their stay at Mt Sinai, Israel had become a holy nation. 

Israel’s calling as a holy nation did not result in lives free of sin, for they remained a stiff-necked and rebellious people. But it did result in a whole new life of living near God without fear of sudden destruction.Not only could they approach God in the tabernacle, they lived all around Him. So for them, the life of holiness meant living near God. 

Of course, living near God also meant they had to put away their sin. You simply can’t live near God and be indulging in a life of sin. So after they became holy, they began learning to put away sinful actions. But first they were made holy. Then, as a result, they learned to put away sin.

Thus, God’s calling to be saints is a calling to live life near Him, in His presence, even though we still sin. Not everyone wants to live near God. But for those who do, God works all things for good. 

His purpose

Called according to His purpose does not mean believers are made holy based on God’s decree from eternity past. It means they did not achieve their calling to be saints through their efforts. In other words, ‘called to be saints according to His purpose’ means these people were brought into a holy life by God’s purpose, not by their efforts. Look at how Paul used this phrase in 2 Timothy 1.

God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel

As believers, we understand that our salvation is not according to our works. But we might not realize that our holy calling is also not according to our works. As with our salvation, we don’t become holy by doing good works. 

Going back to our Old Testament example, we can see that Israel wasn’t made holy by their works either. Remember, they had become a holy people by the time they left Mt Sinai. But they didn’t achieve that position through their works. 

If we look closely, we can see that the key to their ability to live near God was the Tabernacle with all its veils, coverings, and courtyard. God dwelt inside the Tabernacle and the Israelites lived all round it. Without the Tabernacle, the Israelites could not have lived near God.

Now, the last chapter of Exodus tells in detail how the Tabernacle was set up. Fifteen whole verses tell of how God commanded Moses to set up each component of the Tabernacle. Then fifteen following verses tell of Moses setting up each part. The point of the passage is undoubtedly that the Tabernacle was set up through Moses’ obedience to God’s purpose. God commanded, and Moses obeyed. Thus, the Tabernacle was set up according to the purpose of God, in that God made His purpose known to Moses, and then God’s purpose was fulfilled through Moses’ obedience. 

So Israel was made holy, not according to their efforts, but according to the purpose of God which was carried out by Moses’ obedience. 

Israel’s experience parallels ours. We are made holy, not according to our efforts, but according to the purpose of God which was carried out by Jesus’ obedience.

God sent Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus fulfilled the purpose of God by bearing our sins in His body on the tree, abolishing death and bringing to us life and immortality.

There are many people who try to achieve holiness, that is, nearness to God, through their works. But we cannot draw close to God by our works, for our righteousness is as filthy rags. God brings us near through Jesus’ work. So to those who recognize they are holy by God’s purpose, which was fulfilled by Jesus’ obedience, for them God works all things for good. 

Summary

We know that God uses all events and circumstances for the good of transforming into the likeness of Christ those who love God (who see that God loved them first, even in their sin) and who embraced the calling to be holy saints by God’s purpose which was fulfilled in Christ who abolished death and brought us into the eternal favor of God.

Conclusion

God works all things for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. 

How do we love God? John said that we love God because He first loved us. He demonstrated His love when we were still sinners, in that He sent this Son to die for us. Such love surely will produce love in us. But sometimes, especially when we are doing well, we sort of forget that we are sinners. When we forget we are sinners, we don’t clearly see God’s love. 

To love God, we will need to learn to always acknowledge that sin is in our hearts. Yet God loves us. As we thus see the richness of His love towards us, we will love Him, and He will work all things for good.

How can we be called according to His purpose? God wants us to live life near Him. Do we want to live near Him, or would we prefer independence? To live near God is to live life knowing that we are accepted and approved of by Him, and to live without fear of judgment and knowing we are in His everlasting favor. We cannot achieve these things by our good works. We can only obtain God’s acceptance and approval when we recognize that we have been brought near by His purpose which was accomplished by the Lord Jesus on the cross when He abolished our death and brought us into God’s eternal favor. As we rest in being brought near through the Lord’s obedience, our Father will work all things for good.

The post Romans 8:28 first appeared on Simple Truth.

Chose for Salvation

Chose you for Salvation

taken upon Himself your deliverance

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you,
brethren beloved by the Lord,
because God from the beginning chose you for salvation
through
sanctification by the Spirit
and belief in the truth

2 Thessalonians 2:13

Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica for only three weeks before persecution arose and compelled them to leave. They left behind several new believers who subsequently became the targets of persecution. Paul and Silas were greatly concerned about how these babes in Christ fared until Timothy returned with an excellent report. Their joy upon hearing the good news saturated the two Thessalonian epistles.

 The verse above is an example of Paul’s enthusiasm over their steadfastness and growth. But we can easily confuse his message if we don’t clearly understand the terms he used.

Salvation

Probably the key term to understand is ‘salvation.’ In these days, we use ‘salvation’ almost exclusively regarding the event of being born again and justified from sins. But the New Testament used the word with a slightly broader scope. Consider Peter’s message to born-again believers in the opening verses of his epistle.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

So although Scripture regularly used ‘salvation’ to refer to the one-time event of justification, it also used the term in reference to our final deliverance from the corruptive effects of sin in us.

Initially, my colleague, Graham, and I assumed Paul was referring to the justification aspect of salvation in our passage above. But we came to understand that he had something else in mind for three reasons. 

The first is the grammatical construction of the verse. Paul wrote that their salvation came through the sanctification of the Spirit. Sanctification here means ‘being made holy.’ We saw he could not mean their justification (salvation) came through a process of being made holy (sanctification), because in Romans he wrote that we are justified by faith, not through a process of sanctification. So his use of ‘salvation’ here does not fit with the aspect of justification.

Secondly, we noticed that other passages which speak of salvation coming through something are arguably speaking of another aspect of salvation. When Paul was writing to the Thessalonians in the first epistle, he wrote about salvation that would come through the Lord Jesus.

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. 1 Thessalonians 5:8-10 

Since they were already saved, he clearly was referring to a future aspect of salvation, namely, living together with the Lord. This aspect of their salvation would come through the Lord Jesus Christ, for He was the key to this hope by virtue of the fact that He would return for them. 

Paul provides another example of salvation which comes through something in his letter to Timothy.

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:13-15

Here, the context indicates that ‘salvation’ referred to deliverance from deceptions that come from evil men. This deliverance (salvation) would come through faith in Christ Jesus, and the faith would come from the wisdom of the Scriptures.

Given that these other passages which speak of salvation through something were speaking of an aspect other than justification, we concluded that 2 Thessalonians 2:13 was doing likewise. 

Our last reason for taking this view is the thought flow in the context. In the verses preceding our passage, Paul wrote of the last days of this age.

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12

He was speaking of a delusion that will come upon all those who will not receive and believe the truth. He stated that the reason they would not receive the truth would be because they enjoyed unrighteousness. In other words, their love of unrighteousness would make them unavoidably susceptible to the coming delusion. 

It seems reasonable to understand ‘salvation’ in our verse as speaking of deliverance from that delusion and resulting condemnation. Then, the thought flow would proceed as follows. 

First, Paul wrote of the coming delusion. Then he gave thanks for the Thessalonian believers because God would deliver them from the delusion through sanctification (making them holy) by the Spirit, and belief in the truth. Whereas the unbelievers would fall for the delusion because they loved their sin, God would deliver the Thessalonians from the delusion through the purifying work of the Spirit. Paul closed the thought flow with an exhortation to hold fast to what they had been taught.

Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 2 Thessalonians 2:15

This appears a perfectly natural instruction in the context’s thought flow if we take ‘salvation’ with the meaning as we have presented. When we took ‘salvation’ to mean justification, we found this instruction in verse 15 disrupted the flow of thought because the ‘therefore’ made little sense in the context of justification. 

Chose

Although this discussion about salvation may seem to quibble about semantics, the results have a significant impact on the meaning and blessing of the passage. Especially when you add the meaning of the Greek word for ‘chose’ (G0138). 

G0138 (chose) evidently had a relatively narrow range of meaning. It meant a specific type of choice of taking for oneself in a way that involved personal commitment. We can see a clear example from the life of Moses.

By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. Hebrews 11:24-26

Moses made a choice to take upon himself the identity of the people of God instead of Pharaoh’s royal household. This was a choice that involved great personal commitment on his part and had a lasting impact on his life.

Another good example for our consideration is the first time this Greek word was used in the Greek Old Testament. Besides showing the meaning, this passage also shows that G0138 is not necessarily unilateral since both parties made a choice. 

Today you have chosen God to be your god and to walk in his ways and to keep his statutes and his judgments and to obey his voice. Today also the Lord has chosen you to be his exceptional people, as he said, to keep all his commandments, and that you be high above all nations, as he has made you renowned and a boast and glorified, that you be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he spoke. Deuteronomy 26:17-19 (New English Translation of the Septuagint)

Israel made a choice of commitment that YHWH would be their God, and God made the same kind of choice for Israel to be His people. Notice how God’s choice of Israel had the goal of making the Israelites holy, which is the same theme as His choice of the Thessalonians.

One final element of G0138 involves the emotional side. 1 Samuel 1:19 used the word to describe Jonathon’s great delight in David. It is evident that his personal commitment to David was coupled with a feeling of endearment (see here for further discussion on G0138).

With these word meanings in our minds, imagine what Paul’s statement meant to the Thessalonians. Paul was telling them that God had made a personal commitment to them. God would take it upon Himself to ensure they would not fall prey to the delusion that would swallow up the unrighteous and lead to their condemnation. And He would accomplish this through a process of making them holy in the Spirit. All they had to do was to grow in their belief in the wonderful truth in His Word. It was a wonderful statement of assurance in God’s love and commitment towards them.

Beginning

Before we leave this verse, it might be good to consider ‘beginning’ (G0746). This word had a broad range of meaning, being used to describe both the absolute beginning (John 1:1), and the relative beginning of the relevant object. 

As far as we could see, nothing in the immediate context indicates whether Paul was thinking of the beginning of time or some other beginning. However, in the first epistle, Paul wrote of his gratitude to God in a similar fashion to our 2 Thessalonians passage.

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. 1 Thessalonians 2:13

In this verse, Paul was referring to the time when they first received the word of God. It seems reasonable that he was referencing the same time period when he gave thanks in the 2 Thessalonians 2:13 passage. That means he was saying that God, from the beginning when the Thessalonians first heard and received the gospel, preemptively chose them for deliverance from the delusion through being made holy.

This interpretation fits well within the historical context of their salvation. Paul and Silas were forced to abandon the new believers before they could fully fortify them against the deceptions of unrighteousness. But the apostles soon saw that God, from the day these people were saved, preemptively committed Himself to delivering these dear believers through the process of sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. Paul and Silas recognized that the endurance of the Thessalonian believers was not due to their help, but to God’s loving commitment to them. 

God’s commitment to His people was and is a marvelous truth full of assurance and security in His faithfulness to us. May we be encouraged in the loving-kindness of our God.

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17The post Chose for Salvation first appeared on Simple Truth.

G0138

G0138 – Chose

choice of personal commitment

Strong’s Number

G0138

αἱρέω – haireō

Blue Letter Bible Lexicon

to take for oneself, to choose, prefer

The following is a list of verses that contain G0138 in both the New Testament and the Greek Old Testament (LXX). It is intended to be a complete list.

1. Moses was recounting the commitment that Israel made toward God, and that God made toward Israel. 

“Today you have proclaimed (chosen, LXX) the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His judgments, and that you will obey His voice. Deuteronomy 26:17 
“Also today the LORD has proclaimed (chosen, LXX) you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, Deuteronomy 26:18

2. The Hebrew says that Jonathon delighted greatly in David. The person who translated the Hebrew passage to Greek used G0138, which indicates there was, in some contexts, a concept of endearment for the Greek word.

Now Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David; but Jonathan, Saul’s son, delighted greatly (was taken, LXX) in David. 1 Samuel 19:1 

3. Absalom was coming towards Jerusalem with an army. David’s servants were asking what the king wanted to do, indicating they were ready to do whatever the king chose, that is, whatever path he committed himself to. It would be either fight Absalom or flee Jerusalem. Once he made the choice, there would be no turning back.

And the king’s servants said to the king, “We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands (chooses, LXX).” 2 Samuel 15:15 

4. The prophet was to bring David a message, calling on him to choose his punishment. The choices were not good and called for a difficult personal commitment from David.

“Go and tell David, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” 1 Chronicles 21:10 

5. Elihu urged Job’s counselors to embrace justice instead of windy words.

Let us choose justice for ourselves; Let us know among ourselves what is good. Job 34:4 

6. Hezekiah said his deliverance from untimely death was God lovingly taking up his soul from the pit.

Indeed it was for my own peace that I had great bitterness; but You have lovingly delivered (chosen, LXX) my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. Isaiah 38:17 

7. The evil chose death instead of life, I guess because they refused to harken to the voice of the Lord and repent. By repeatedly refusing God’s warnings, they committed themselves to death.

“Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the LORD of hosts. Jeremiah 8:3 

8. This is the famous passage where Paul debated between choosing earthly life and departing to be with Christ.

But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. Philippians 1:22 

9, 10. These last two verses are discussed in the article on 2 Thessalonians 2:13. 

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:13
choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Hebrews 11:25 

The post G0138 first appeared on Simple Truth.

Final Hardening

Final Hardening

hardened to his destruction

“Then I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them;
and I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army,
that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.”
And they did so.

Exodus 14:4

The final hardening of Pharaoh’s heart differed from the earlier hardenings in the result it produced. Prior to the Israelites leaving Egypt, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened against releasing the people. After their departure, God hardened his heart to pursue the children of Israel all the way into the Red Sea. Basically, God’s final hardening of Pharaoh’s heart resulted in his destruction. Harsh as this was, we want to uncover how it was not unjust.

During the plagues, God was strengthening Pharaoh’s resolve to enable him to perform his desire, which was to not release the people. When God didn’t harden Pharaoh after the tenth plague, Pharaoh’s resolve faltered and he released the people. But that didn’t mean he had given up his desire to keep the Israelites in bondage.

Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” Exodus 14:5

This question reveals that Pharaoh and his people still wanted the Israelites to serve them. Pharaoh clearly didn’t view the act of keeping the people in bondage as evil, but saw it as producing a desired result. He still felt he had the right to keep the people enslaved if he wished, regardless of what God said. But we will see that his position was extreme wickedness.

From Pharaoh’s perspective, the nation of Israel were runaway slaves. The reality is that they were the favored people of the one true God. But Pharaoh denied their favor from God. Again, from Pharaoh’s perspective, the Hebrew God was an annoying supernatural being who was meddling in his affairs. But the reality is that YHWH was God over all. That meant Pharaoh had every responsibility to honor, reverence, and obey YHWH as the God. But he refused. 

His position against the Israelites was offensive to God. It would have been bad enough if he had been acting in ignorance, but Pharaoh had seen firsthand the unmatched power of the Hebrew God. All the plagues he had experienced pointed to the reality that the Hebrew God was the God over all. But he ignored the obvious fact that the plagues pointed to regarding God.

He added to this defiance an outrage against God. After the tenth plague, he released the people from being slaves to following God. At that point, they were no longer his slaves, but were under God’s care. However, when he experienced the inconveniences that came from letting his slaves go, he tried to steal the people from God back into his possession. He acted as though he thought God wasn’t leading them, but they were wandering in the wilderness on their own. 

For Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are bewildered by the land; the wilderness has closed them in.’ Exodus 14:3

He ignored the obvious supernatural characteristic of the cloud that went in front of the people and pretended they were merely escaped slaves.

Suppose you saw a kind and generous king rescue a small herd of his animals from the care of an abusive individual. What would be your reaction if, as the king was gently leading his animals away, that abusive individual ambushed the king in an attempt to retake the animals so that he could continue the abuse? It would be the height of injustice. You might even cheer if the king pulled out his sword and exterminated the man for his wickedness. In the same way, it was right for God to put an end to the abusive Pharaoh’s wickedness. 

God could have brought Pharaoh to an end long before he reached the Red Sea. But God chose to make Pharaoh an object lesson to teach His people to revere Him. He used the method of hardening Pharaoh’s heart to accomplish His purpose.

When Pharaoh reached the shore of the Red Sea, he must have experienced two conflicting desires. The one would have been the desire of self-preservation carried out by avoiding dangerous situations. The other was his desire to recapture the Israelites. God hardened his heart by strengthening the latter desire, causing Pharaoh to disregard all caution and rush into the Red Sea towards certain destruction. Through Pharaoh’s destruction, God taught His people to revere Him. 

So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses. Exodus 14:30-31

God saw a need to convince Israel that He was their God whom they should revere. He knew that if Pharaoh was difficult to convince of His supremacy, then Israel would also be difficult to convince, since they came from the same lump of clay as Pharaoh (Romans 9:21).

Pharaoh showed by his actions that he had not repented and that he would not repent no matter what demonstration of power God showed him. Eventually, he would have died and faced his due judgment. But by hardening his heart, God brought him to his death earlier than expected. Although it is very sobering, it is not unjust for God to execute a man who refuses to repent before his Maker, and that is what God did to Pharaoh.

Food for Thought

“Then I will harden [H2388] Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor [H3513] over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. Exodus 14:4
“And I indeed will harden [H2388] the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor [H3513] over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. “Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor [H3513] for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” Exodus 14:17-18

Interestingly, one of the words (H3513 – heavy) used to describe Pharaoh’s hardened heart was used in this passage with a different meaning to describe the Lord’s honor. I think the thought behind this metaphoric application is that a larger object is generally a heavier object. Thus, a person who had great wealth was described as being ‘heavy’ in riches (Genesis 13:2, Abraham was ‘heavy’ in wealth). God was saying He would be ‘heavy’ in honor over Pharaoh. 

Here’s the bonus thought: when you give authority to a proud, stubborn man, he often becomes more stubborn. Did God make Pharaoh stubborn (harden him) by giving him the authority to dictate if Israel could leave? 

Consider the timing of when God took the children of Israel out of Egypt. He did it after Pharaoh said He could. He had initially elevated Pharaoh to the position of authority over the Israelites, and didn’t reverse that by overriding Pharaoh’s decrees. It seemed that Pharaoh had power over God since God didn’t take the Israelites until Pharaoh said He could.

By making Pharaoh ‘heavy’ (H3515), or great, did He thus make him ‘heavy’ (H3513), or stubborn? Is that how God hardened Pharaoh?

The post Final Hardening first appeared on Simple Truth.

Pharaoh and God’s Justice

Pharaoh and God’s Justice

the justice of hardening his heart

Then you shall say to Pharaoh,
‘Thus says the LORD:
“Israel is My son, My firstborn.
So I say to you,
let My son go that he may serve Me.
But if you refuse to let him go,
indeed I will kill your son,
your firstborn.

Exodus 4:23

Pharaoh’s hardened heart is a multi-faceted topic with several elements, some of which we have covered in previous posts. One element is the definitions and meanings of the Hebrew words related to hardening, which was the focus of several earlier posts. Another element we discussed is the relation of strengthening to hardening. One of the later posts looked at Pharaoh’s opportunities for repentance and discussed the scope of the hardening. In this post, we want to bring these and other elements together to build a more comprehensive picture of the topic. We’ll start with a look at sovereignty on a human level.

Human Sovereignty

When we call a human, such as a king, sovereign, we mean that person has authority to decree what other people must do. The Bible teaches that God places people in positions of authority; or we could say, gives men sovereignty. Such was true for Pharaoh. In fact, God even told Pharaoh that He had given him his sovereignty. 

But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. Exodus 9:16

The sovereignty that God gave Pharaoh was real sovereignty, not a mere illusion of sovereignty. Pharaoh really was in charge of the Israelites and really had the authority to say whether they could leave their bondage. When God commanded Pharaoh to release the Israelites, Pharaoh, as ruler over Egypt, said they could not go. God certainly had the power to take the people whenever He pleased. But He didn’t take them out of Egypt until… until when? He didn’t take them out until Pharaoh said they could depart. 

When God delegates sovereignty, He honors the decrees men make even if they contradict His commands. Of course, He holds rulers responsible for their decrees, but He doesn’t override them to accomplish His will. Instead, He achieves His purpose by working within the choices they make. 

Pharaoh made two choices. He chose to defy God and chose to keep the people. God did not override Pharaoh’s two choices, but worked within the parameters of these choices to accomplish His purpose.

God’s Purpose

When God set Pharaoh on the throne, He placed a stubborn man in a position of authority over His people. He could have established a more compliant person on the throne of Egypt, but He had a purpose in raising up a stubborn man. 

“You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden [H7185] Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:2-5

God’s purpose was to demonstrate who He was to the Egyptians, to the Israelites (Exodus 10:2), and to the entire earth (Exodus 9:16). He told Moses that He would harden Pharaoh, using the word that describes a rebellious ox who does not listen to its master. God was saying He would demonstrate who He was by making Pharaoh like a stubborn ox who resists his master’s goading. He would use Pharaoh’s rebelliousness to show all people that He was the LORD, above all other gods. 

There were, undoubtedly, other rebellious and unrepentant Egyptians during that time, but God specifically chose Pharaoh as the agent of His demonstration. Although the others were possibly just as rebellious as Pharaoh, God didn’t use them for a public demonstration of His power. Instead, He allowed them to live out their lives as they wished until they died, as He does with most unrepentant people. 

God worked differently with Pharaoh, making an example of that one rebellious person to give a warning to other rebellious people. What Pharaoh experienced was harsh, but it was nothing compared to the final judgment at the end of time. God’s purpose with Pharaoh was to warn other people against being rebellious (1 Samuel 6:5-8).

God’s Purpose vs Pharaoh’s Choices

From the beginning, when Pharaoh first heard God’s command as delivered by Moses, he chose to dismiss the Israelite God. Pharaoh’s position was that the Hebrew God was irrelevant to him and he had no obligation to obey Him. His stance directly contradicted God’s purpose, which was to show the earth that He was not an irrelevant god, but was God over all. 

Pharaoh’s decision to dismiss God did not obstruct God’s purpose in the least. God did not find it necessary to force Pharaoh to abandon his position in order to demonstrate the truth of His sovereignty. In fact, God used each of Pharaoh’s subsequent rejections as a reason to send increasingly greater demonstrations of power. In other words, Pharaoh’s every attempt to show that God was irrelevant gave God further opportunity to show that He was all important. Thus, instead of nullifying Pharaoh’s choices, God used his choices to further His purpose. 

Surely God’s wisdom in handling people’s choices is unparalleled! 

Hardening

Not only was God not stymied by Pharaoh’s choices, but He intervened by hardening Pharaoh’s heart to ensure Pharaoh did not falter from his choice. 

In one of the earlier posts, we pointed out that God’s hardening of Pharaoh was a process of strengthening. The significance is that strengthening means to make something stronger, or to build something up. Strengthen does not mean to create, produce, or generate. Thus, there was something existing in Pharaoh that God made stronger, or built up.

In another post, we noted that Pharaoh had two features of his inner will: he did not want to fear the God of Israel, and he did not want to release the people. These two desires went hand in hand, but they were distinct. 

We also pointed out that God’s hardening had a specific result. Scripture said the hardenings produced a refusal to release the people. But it never said that it produced some kind of unbelief. 

Putting these things together leads us to conclude that when God hardened Pharaoh, He was strengthening a desire in Pharaoh’s heart. Based on the result of the hardening, we can see it was a strengthening of Pharaoh’s determination to keep the people. God didn’t create Pharaoh’s desire to keep the people, but strengthened this desire that Pharaoh already had.

Pharaoh didn’t want to release the people, but the power demonstrated in the plagues threatened to overwhelm his resolve. God intervened at least three times and strengthened Pharaoh’s heart so that he didn’t falter in his resolve. This strengthening was called hardening.

Duration

It was not a permanent hardening. The scripture plainly states that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened ten times during the plagues and one additional time at the Red Sea. Each hardening enabled him to stand firm for the duration of the respective plague. Naturally, when that difficult time period passed, the hardening (strengthening) was no longer needed to bolster his resolve. Since it was no longer needed, it evidently was no longer in effect. Thus, it became necessary to harden his heart again when the next plague came. The hardening was not a ‘once hardened, always hardened’ condition.

The events after the tenth plague, which was the only plague when Pharaoh’s heart was not hardened, also attest to the temporary nature of the hardening. With no hardening in effect, Pharaoh was unable to maintain his resolve to keep the people, and so capitulated. The previous hardenings did not sustain him. They were temporary in nature. 

God’s hardening of Pharaoh was not a process of locking him on to the path of judgment, but an enabling him at the time to endure the great troubles he faced.

God’s Justice

Even so, the following set of verses seem to show an apparent abuse of justice in God’s dealing with Pharaoh. God said He would kill Pharaoh’s firstborn if Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. But He also said He would harden Pharaoh so that he would not let the Israelites go. This sounds like God was going to punish Pharaoh for doing what God made him do.

And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden [H2388] his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” Exodus 4:21-23

Let’s lay out what these verses are saying. First, the Lord informed Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that Pharaoh would not release the people. Then, He instructed Moses to tell Pharaoh that he should give up his resolve to defy God’s command. If he did not, it would be at the expense of his son’s life. But how could Pharaoh give up his resolve if God was strengthening him in it?

At the root of Pharaoh’s resolve to keep the people was his resolve to dismiss the Hebrew God as irrelevant. In order for him to be willing to release the people, he would need to turn from his denial of YHWH to acknowledging that YHWH was God. His inner defiance produced his outward action of refusing to let the people go.

For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

God could see Pharaoh’s inner defiance, but Moses could not. Moses could only see Pharaoh’s outward action of keeping or releasing the people. Of course, Pharaoh’s outward action betrayed his inner attitude of defiance against God.  

In an earlier post, we discussed the possibility of a person’s outer actions to contradict their inner attitude. As we pointed out, this happened to Pharaoh after the tenth plague. But it didn’t happen earlier because God intervened and hardened Pharaoh against releasing the people, enabling him to keep his actions consistent with his inner attitude through the ninth plague.

When the tenth plague arrived, God didn’t harden Pharaoh. But He arranged the plague so that it would accomplish two things. First, it provided a way of escape. Second, it revealed Pharaoh’s inner attitude.

As we mentioned in the previous post, God ensured Pharaoh knew about the way of escape from judgment. To escape, all Pharaoh (or anyone else in Egypt) had to do was apply blood on his doorposts in the manner God prescribed. 

However, to heed YHWH’s warning and follow His instructions would have been a public display acknowledging that He was God. It was psychologically impossible for Pharaoh to apply the blood without giving up his defiance. Thus, God’s approach to bringing the judgment not only provided Pharaoh with a genuine opportunity to escape, it also revealed the defiance that was still in his heart. 

God informed Pharaoh that his outward action of keeping the people would result in the death of his firstborn son. Pharaoh’s outward actions were an outflow of his inner defiance of God. When God hardened Pharaoh, He was causing Pharaoh’s outward actions to remain consistent with his inner defiance, and He was enabling Pharaoh to do what he wanted to do. The repeated hardenings of Pharaoh’s heart carried him through the ninth plague, to the doorstep of the tenth plague. But it was his defiance against God that caused his son’s death in the tenth plague.

The passage in Exodus focuses on Pharaoh’s hardened heart. But the final plague came upon everyone in Egypt, including the Hebrews, whether or not their hearts were hardened. However, death did not come to all because God provided a way of escape. As a result, the plague was executed only on those who defied God.

The final plague came because of Pharaoh’s action of keeping the people. But Pharaoh lost his son in the plague because he defied God.

Conclusion

Pharaoh did not want to acknowledge the truth about the God of Israel. In all that God did, He did not override Pharaoh’s will. Instead, He actually used Pharaoh’s defiance to accomplish His purpose of making known the truth of the God of Israel. Thus, for a time, both Pharaoh’s will (defying the Israelite God) and God’s will (making His name known) were simultaneously fulfilled, even though they were contrary to each other.

God’s hardening did not force Pharaoh to do what he didn’t want to do, it enabled him to do what he wanted to do. Being temporary in nature, God’s hardening did not lock Pharaoh into judgment, it only brought him to the brink.The final plague had a built in way of escape, but none who defied God would take it. Pharaoh’s defiance of God carried him into judgment. Such is the wisdom of God in accomplishing His purpose in the presence of His enemies. Instead of them hindering Him, He uses their choices to accomplish His purposes. On top of that, the whole time they are against Him, He offers them escape from judgment. But His way of escape reveals their hearts so that when judgment falls, they have shown that they are against God and against His call for repentance unto salvation.The post Pharaoh and God’s Justice first appeared on Simple Truth.

Pharaohs repentance

Pharaoh’s Repentance

the opportunity he had to repent

And Pharaoh said,
“Who is YHWH,
that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?
I do not know YHWH,
nor will I let Israel go.”

Exodus 5:2

In the last post, we noted that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was a strengthening process which enabled him to act in a way that was consistent with his denial of YHWH, but did not prevent him from acknowledging YHWH as God. In this post, we want to further explore whether Pharaoh could have repented of his denial that YHWH was God, even while God was hardening him.

Pharaoh’s Objections

To start, let’s take another look at Pharaoh’s initial response to God’s command. In it, he expressed two distinct areas of opposition against the God of Israel.

And Pharaoh said, “(1) Who is YHWH, (2) that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? (1) I do not know YHWH, (2) nor will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2

Pharaoh’s two-sentence initial response contained two objections that were repeated in each sentence. His first objection was that YHWH was not his God. His second was that he would not release the Israelites. 

In his first objection, Pharaoh denied that the God of Israel (YHWH) was a god to whom he should submit. In his view, YHWH was a god of the Israelites, not a god of the Egyptians. As an Egyptian, he held that he had no obligation to pay any heed to any Israelite god. 

Pharaoh also rejected God’s call to release the Israelites. As ruler over Egypt, he had authority over the people of the land. The Israelites were his slaves, and he objected to releasing them from serving him.

These two areas that Pharaoh stood against God were distinct, but not unrelated. His first point of contention (YHWH was not his God) logically led to the second (he would not obey YHWH). So the first led to the second, but his second objection also motivated him to maintain the first. His desire to keep the people gave him an ulterior motive behind denying that YHWH was God because he would be obliged to obey YHWH if He was God.

Although his objections were related, it’s important to see the distinction between them in order to make sense of what God was doing with Pharaoh. Being separate objections, it was possible for Pharaoh to hold fast regarding one while complying with the other. For example, Pharaoh obeyed God (second objection) after the tenth plague while still denying that YHWH was God over him (first objection). As another example, Moses did it the other way around. He acknowledged YHWH as God, yet objected to delivering God’s command to Pharaoh. So, although the two objections are closely related and linked, they are independent of each other. Thus, being hardened in one area wouldn’t necessarily prevent Pharaoh from operating freely in the other area. 

As we noted in an earlier post, when Scripture told of God hardening Pharaoh, it specifically said the result was that Pharaoh did not release the people. It did not say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and so Pharaoh refused to fear God. Thus, God did not prevent Pharaoh from acknowledging Him as God over him. Evidently, Pharaoh could operate freely in the area of the fear of YHWH.

Call to Repent

In fact, God called on Pharaoh to repent from his pride against God, which correlated to his first objection. It was during the seventh plague that Pharaoh appeared to falter in his stand against God and seemed to briefly acknowledge YHWH’s authority.

And Pharaoh sent and called for Moses and Aaron, and said to them, “I have sinned this time. The LORD is righteous, and my people and I are wicked. Exodus 9:27

As a side note, notice how Pharaoh was able to see and acknowledge his responsibility to obey YHWH, and even to somewhat repent. The hardening he previously experienced did not prevent him from recognizing and acknowledging YHWH’s authority. But, as Moses noted, he did not fully convert to the fear of YHWH.

“But as for you and your servants, I know that you will not yet fear the LORD God.” Exodus 9:30

In fact, Pharaoh’s fear of YHWH’s power lasted only as long as the storm did.

And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard [H2388]; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses. Exodus 9:34-35 

When the storm ceased, Pharaoh hardened his heart. Based on the sentence structure and the flow of context, his hardening in this verse was regarding his fear of YHWH. It says he strengthened himself, and then separately adds that ‘neither would he let the children of Israel go.’ Thus, the strengthening must have been regarding his first objection, which was resisting submission to YHWH as God.

Despite his denial of YHWH, it still made no sense for him to keep the Israelites, given the demonstration of power he had just experienced. But he went against all good sense and kept the Israelites due to God’s working in his heart. 

Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened [H3513] his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him,” Exodus 10:1

H3513 has to do with making a person dull regarding God’s word. Pharaoh, in his heart, did not want to release the children of Israel. God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart enabled him to do what he wanted to do, which resulted in Pharaoh making the inane decision to disobey God and keep the people. God’s working made Pharaoh dense regarding his situation. 

The verses that follow then make clear that God was not preventing him from converting.

So Moses and Aaron came in to Pharaoh and said to him, “Thus says the LORD God of the Hebrews: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. Or else, if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. Exodus 10:3-4

This was a call from God upon Pharaoh to humble himself. It can only mean that God desired for Pharaoh to humble himself. To say that God was preventing Pharaoh from humbling himself while making a call to repent is to call God a liar. 

In my opinion, God’s call is the clearest evidence that His work of hardening did not prevent Pharaoh from humbling himself and acknowledging that YHWH was his God.

Way of Escape

Before God brought the final plague, He provided a way of escape for everyone, including Pharaoh. God instructed Moses to announce publicly the coming judgment at least two weeks before it arrived and also publicly instruct the Israelites on how to escape the judgment. The instruction was not secret, so Pharaoh undoubtedly knew about the blood on the doorposts. Pharaoh could have applied the blood and escaped the judgment of death. Thus, God provided Pharaoh an opportunity for repentance right up until He executed the judgment.  

Surely God’s work of hardening did not contradict His provision for a way of escape from the judgment!

Summary

Pharaoh stood against God in two different areas: the fear of God, and obeying God’s commands. We have looked at three pieces of evidence that God did not harden Pharaoh against acknowledging Him as God. 

Scripture only indicates that God hardened Pharaoh in the area of releasing the people, not in the area of fearing God. God called Pharaoh to turn from exalting himself against God. God provided a way of escape from the judgment. 

God hardened Pharaoh in his desire to keep the people, but did not harden Pharaoh regarding his desire to defy YHWH’s claim of authority over him. Thus, Pharaoh could have repented of his pride and defiance. Indeed, God called him to repentance.

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Pharaoh and Moses

Pharaoh vs. Moses

a comparison of their histories

But [Moses] said, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send.”

Exodus 4:13

And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.”

Exodus 5:2

From the definition of the Hebrew words used for hardening, we can see God’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart during the plagues was a strengthening of his resolve. Since the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is an abstract concept, it can be difficult to comprehend fully without some kind of comparison. We can find such a comparison in Moses’ experience. 

Moses and Pharaoh’s personalities were so different from each other that it is easy to overlook the similarities in their historical narratives. But a comparison of the events in their lives as recorded in Exodus will reveal several parallels in their experiences. First, the text tells how both the men received an unexpected command from God regarding the children of Israel leaving Egypt – Moses at the burning bush, and Pharaoh in his throne room. Then, it shows how both men repeatedly objected to God’s command, and that eventually, they both complied. Finally, and we will look at this in more detail later, God strengthened them both. 

These features, the command from God, their objections, and God’s strengthening, are key features in both their narratives. They indicate we can look to Moses’ experience for help in understanding what Pharaoh experienced.

Moses

When Moses first encountered God at the burning bush, he was not looking for a word or command from God. He was, more or less, caught off guard. So, his response was spontaneous and revealed his true inner attitude toward God.

Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. Exodus 3:6

It is clear from the text that Moses feared and revered the God of Israel. However, we see later in the passage that he balked at doing what God commanded. These objections contradicted the reverence he initially displayed. Yet Moses truly did fear God, for when he saw God was angry with him, he stopped making excuses (Exodus 4:14). Unlike Pharaoh, it did not take a series of plagues to bring him into compliance, only a display of God’s displeasure. His fear of God won out over his reluctance to return to Egypt.

When Moses went to Egypt, the Israelites received him gladly, but Pharaoh did not. Instead of releasing the people, he increased their bondage. Subsequently, the leaders of Israel rejected Moses (Exodus 5:20-21). This turn of events evidently discouraged him, and he told the Lord that his involvement seemed like a bad idea.

And it came to pass, on the day the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, that the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “I am the LORD. Speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”
But Moses said before the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh heed me?” Exodus 6:28-30 

The Lord’s response at this juncture was not one of anger. Instead, He reiterated who He was and what He was going to do.

So the LORD said to Moses: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. Exodus 7:1-4 ​

This word from the Lord had an impact on Moses. It strengthened him to continue on in full obedience. 

Then Moses and Aaron did so; just as the LORD commanded them, so they did. Exodus 7:6

Moses’ final action of obedience to the Lord was consistent with his inward fear of God. However, his ability to obey in those difficult circumstances did not come from his inner reserves of strength. It was the Lord who strengthened him.

Moses’ experience is common among the people of God. They often find themselves in difficult circumstances that produce actions which contradict their fear of God. That doesn’t mean they have lost their reverence for God, but that they are living an inconsistent life. It is not unusual for the people of God to find they need strength from the Lord to carry out what is in their hearts. 

Looking at Moses’ life from this perspective, we can undoubtedly identify with his experience. That will help us in understanding Pharaoh’s experience because Pharaoh’s experience was similar to Moses’ experience, but opposite.

Pharaoh 

When Moses first delivered God’s word to Pharaoh, he also had not been looking for a word from God. Like Moses, he was caught off guard and gave a spontaneous response that exposed the attitude of his heart.

Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:1-2

Clearly, Pharaoh did not fear the God of Israel. Interestingly, he did not question the report that the LORD (YHWH) had spoken to Moses, accepting that as fact. However, he flatly denied that he had any responsibility to obey YHWH. To him, YHWH was only a god of Israel and was not his God.

It naturally followed that Pharaoh did not obey God’s command. His refusal to comply was consistent with his denial that YHWH was his God. Eventually, after his son’s death, he did comply, and that action was inconsistent with his denial of God. Despite his compliance, it’s clear he had not converted to YHWH for he later attempted to recapture the Israelites. He had complied simply because he no longer had the strength to stand up against the LORD. Thus, his eventual compliance came out of compulsion, not out of reverence to God.

This is an important point to understand. Pharaoh’s refusal to obey was consistent with his denial that YHWH was God over him. His eventual submission to God’s command contradicted his denial of Him. But he had to submit because he had no strength left to resist God.

Now, although Pharaoh eventually complied, he only did so after standing strong through several great and terrible plagues. But his strength did not always come from his inner resources. The text plainly states that there were at least three times when God strengthened (hardened) his heart (see the previous post for the use and meaning of H2388). God’s strengthening/hardening enabled Pharaoh to act consistently with his inner attitude of defiance.

Just as God strengthened Moses, so He strengthened Pharaoh. With both men, His strengthening enabled them to act consistently with their state of belief/denial towards Himself. For Moses, who believed YHWH was God, the strengthening enabled him to obey God. For Pharaoh, who denied YHWH was God, it enabled him to continue to disobey God. 

It is worth noting again that after the tenth plague, when God did not harden Pharaoh, he complied with God’s command while still denying that YHWH was his God. Now, if God’s work of hardening was to prevent Pharaoh from repenting and believing, then Pharaoh would have converted when the hardening ceased. But Pharaoh did not convert, he only complied (temporarily) with God’s command. Therefore, God’s hardening was not affecting his ability to repent, it was affecting his ability to stand against God.

We will take a more detailed look at this question of Pharaoh’s ability to repent in the next post.

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Pharaoh Verses

Survey of Hardenings

how the hebrew words were applied to Pharaoh

And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart,
and multiply My signs and My wonders
in the land of Egypt

Exodus 7:3

As we have elsewhere noted, Scripture used three Hebrew words to describe the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Assuming the reader is somewhat familiar with their definitions, we will now briefly look at how these words were applied to Pharaoh. In this post, we will survey the verses in Exodus that used these Hebrew words, identify the word, and summarize the meaning that the word gives to the verse. In subsequent posts, we will take a more detailed look at the meaning of some of these passages.

The first verse that applies one of the Hebrew words to Pharaoh is in the context of God’s instruction to Moses, given before he returned to Egypt.

And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden [H2388] his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ” Exodus 4:21-23

From an earlier post, we learned H2388 speaks of strengthening. So in this passage, it must mean that God would apply some kind of strengthening to Pharaoh’s heart. Notice that passage spells out the effect of the applied strength: Pharaoh would refuse to let the people go. 

On the surface, it may appear that God was saying He would cause Pharaoh to keep the people and then kill his son for refusing to let Israel go. This raises serious questions regarding God’s justice, questions that must be addressed. But our goal in this article is only to summarize the meanings, not to deal with the difficulties we encounter. We will examine the difficulties in a later article. 

The second time we encounter the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is in another passage where God spoke to Moses. This conversation took place in Egypt after the leaders of Israel turned away from Moses because of their increased workload. God was responding to Moses’ expression of discouragement.

“You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden [H7185] Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:2-5

H7185 is the word that describes a stubborn resistance to directives. It means that God’s operation on Pharaoh’s heart would cause the man to stubbornly disregard Moses’ demands. 

These two passages take place before Pharaoh’s heart was ever hardened. The first actual hardening happened after Moses and Aaron presented the sign of the rod and serpent. 

0. Rod and serpent.

And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard [H2388], and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said. So the LORD said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard [H3515]; he refuses to let the people go. Exodus 7:13-14

Notice that the passage does not specifically say God did the hardening, but only that Pharaoh’s heart became hard. Also, notice that verse 13 used the word for strengthen and verse 14 used the word for heavy. 

H2388 tells us that Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened against complying with the command delivered by Moses and Aaron. 

In verse 14, H3515 was used figuratively. It seems reasonable that the intended meaning is similar to what we find in Zechariah 7:11, when H3515 described how Israel stopped their ears and refused to hear the word of God. Assuming the similarity is true, this passage is telling us that Pharaoh decided, in his heart, to disregard the command which he knew came from God. 

Taking the passage as a whole with the two words, the meaning must be that Pharaoh’s heart was strengthened against the message from Moses so that he refused to heed God’s command. 

As we go through the remaining passages that address Pharaoh’s hardened heart, we will underline certain phrases to draw attention to the result of each hardening. We will further comment on the results later on, when we further explore what God was doing with Pharaoh.

1. River water turned to blood (Exodus 7:19-23).

Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard [H2388], and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said. Exodus 7:22

Similar to the earlier passage about the rod and serpent, this passage does not specifically state that God did the hardening. It used the word for strengthen, indicating that once Pharaoh saw his magicians could also turn water into blood, his heart was strengthened to dismiss what Moses said.

2. Frogs (Exodus 8:1-7).

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened [H3513] his heart and did not heed them, as the LORD had said. Exodus 8:15

God brought an end to the plague of frogs at the exact time Pharaoh specified (Exodus 8:8-14), which was a clear sign of His authority. But Pharaoh made his heart ‘heavy.’ That is, when he saw the plague was over, he decided to treat the sign as irrelevant and their words as immaterial.

3. Plague of lice (Exodus 8:16-19).

Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart grew hard [H2388], and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had said. Exodus 8:19

The magicians’ admission undoubtedly undermined Pharaoh’s position, but H2388 indicates he strengthened himself in his heart to continue ignoring Moses’ statements. 

4. Plague of flies (Exodus 8:20-32).

But Pharaoh hardened [H3513] his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go. Exodus 8:32

There is a slight change here in the effect of the hardening. Until this point, the hardening resulted in Pharaoh dismissing what Moses said. Now, the result was that he would not release the people. Evidently, he could no longer be indifferent to their words and treat them as inconsequential, but had to acknowledge their words carried significance. 

It is during this plague that he first proposed a compromise to allow the Israelites to sacrifice, but only in Egypt (Exodus 8:25). After Moses rejected the compromise, Pharaoh deceitfully promised to let the people go if Moses would intercede for him (Exodus 8:28). In a way, he was trying to negotiate with Moses.

His negotiations show he knew the Lord was more than a trifling god who could be ignored. Despite this knowledge, he still refused to comply with God’s command to release the people. He made his heart ‘heavy’, which indicates he was not acting in ignorance, but that he deliberately went against all sound reasoning in his refusal to release the people. 

5. Plague of livestock death (Exodus 9:1-7).

Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard [H3513], and he did not let the people go. Exodus 9:7

Until this plague, God’s demonstrations of power resulted in discomfort, whereas this plague had a serious economic impact. But once again, Pharaoh’s heart became heavy in that he deliberately rejected the obvious reality of God’s authority and disobeyed his command.

6. Plague of boils (Exodus 9:8-12).

And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians. But the LORD hardened [H2388] the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses. Exodus 9:12

Finally, at the end of the sixth plague, the text records that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The use of H2388 indicates it was a process of strengthening. Without the support from the magicians, Pharaoh was evidently weakened and about to release the people. However, God intervened and strengthened his heart so that he did not capitulate. This may seem an odd thing for God to do, but we’ll save that discussion for later.

7. Plague of hail and fire (Exodus 9:22-35).

And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened [H3513] his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard [H2388]; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses. Exodus 9:34-35

Once again, the text links H3513 and H2388 together by using them to refer to the same event. Pharaoh was told the hail was coming, and he saw it stop abruptly. He should have given up his obstinacy and let God have His way. But he rejected good sense and his heart stood strong against releasing the people of Israel. 

While these verses attribute the act of hardening to Pharaoh, in the very next verse, the Lord takes responsibility.

Now the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh; for I have hardened [H3513] his heart and the hearts of his servants, that I may show these signs of Mine before him, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son’s son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the LORD. Exodus 10:1-2

God said that He made Pharaoh’s heart ‘heavy’, or obstinate against the obvious truth. Given the preceding verses, the hardening was not in contradiction with Pharaoh’s will, but in agreement with it. When Pharaoh saw the storm ceased, he chose to ignore the truth. He strengthened his resolve to keep the people. And God aided Pharaoh in his hardening. This must mean that Pharaoh became more obstinate than what he could have been on his own.

8. Plague of locusts (Exodus 10:12-20).

But the LORD hardened [H2388] Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go. Exodus 10:20

When Pharaoh saw the land overrun with locusts, he begged Moses to ask for relief and promised to release the Israelites. But he never made good on the promise, for God once again intervened to strengthen his heart so that he did not release the people. 

9. Plague of darkness (Exodus 10:21-29).

But the LORD hardened [H2388] Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. Exodus 10:27

This is the last time Pharaoh’s heart was hardened before the Israelites left Egypt. H2388 indicates that this hardening was again a process of strengthening, enabling Pharaoh to keep the people. 

But the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” So Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh; and the LORD hardened [H2388] Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go out of his land. Exodus 11:9-10

These two verses summarize all of what took place up to the final plague, saying that the Lord strengthened Pharaoh’s heart so that he did not let the Israelites go. Pharaoh’s ability to stand strong in the face of all these plagues was beyond his natural powers. HIs ability came from God strengthening him.

10. Death of firstborn (Exodus 11:1-3, 12:29-32).

This is the only plague where nothing is said about hardening Pharaoh’s heart. In all the other plagues, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. Notice what happened when the hardening did not occur.

Then he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the LORD as you have said. Also take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also.” Exodus 12:31-32

The text does not say that he repented and gave himself over to God. It specifically says that he let the people go. This is another important point that we will expand on in a later article.

After the final plague, there are a few additional occurrences of the Hebrew words for hardening. Moses used H7185 as he relayed the instructions related to the Passover feast.

‘And it came to pass, when Pharaoh was stubborn [H7185] about letting us go, that the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all males that open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ Exodus 13:15

He said that Pharaoh had been like a rebelliously stubborn ox and because of this obstinance, God had brought the final plague. 

After the tenth plague, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart one last time.

The Red Sea

“Then I will harden [H2388] Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will pursue them; and I will gain honor [H3513] over Pharaoh and over all his army, that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD.” And they did so. Exodus 14:4
And the LORD hardened [H2388] the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. Exodus 14:8
“And I indeed will harden [H2388] the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor [H3513] over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gained honor [H3513] for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” Exodus 14:17-18

Each of these verses used the word for strengthening and showed that the result differed from the previous hardenings, which were about releasing the people. This hardening caused Pharaoh and his men to pursue the Israelites into the Red Sea while it was being supernaturally held open. Normally, their fear of drowning would have undoubtedly overwhelmed their resolve to capture the escaping Israelites. But with God’s strengthening, their resolve overwhelmed their fear of drowning.

Interestingly, one of the words used to describe Pharaoh’s hardened heart (H3513 – heavy) was used in this passage with a different meaning to describe the Lord’s glory.

Summary

From the beginning, God informed Moses that He would harden Pharaoh’s heart with the result that Pharaoh would not release the people. And so it was. For every plague, the result of hardening was that Pharaoh either did not heed Moses or refused to let the people go.

Of the ten times Pharaoh was hardened during the plagues, three of the times it says the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Each of those times used the word for strengthening. Also, at the Red Sea, the hardening by God was a type of strengthening. 

It will be important to understand what this strengthening/hardening entailed if we want to better understand God’s working of hardening Pharaoh’s heart, so we will look at that in the next post.

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