God Is Still Hardening Hearts Today

Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the LORD had predicted. [Exodus 7.13] 

Here is what God predicted:

But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. [Exodus 7.3]

While it seems unfair that God would harden Pharoah's heart as stated in Exodus 7.3, we must understand what is being said based on what we know of God's character.

First, we can rely on the Psalms to confirm that God is good, and, from that goodness, only does good.

You are good and do only good; teach me your decrees. [Psalm 119.68]

Jesus perhaps gave more insight into this than anyone else:

And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. [John 3.19] 

When confronted with 'light,' it becomes obvious who loves the light and who loves the darkness. The purpose of light is not to create darkness (which, if one thinks about it, is not even possible), but light reveals darkness. Without light, darkness could not be perceived just as Pharoah's hard heart could not be perceived except as confronted by God. Thus, God could accurately predict that, when confronted with 'God,' Pharoah's heard would harden.

Jesus didn't make people hate Him. They hated Him because His goodness revealed their sinfulness.

If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. [John 15.24]

Jesus could just as accurately have said, "I will harden their hearts..." because He knew when confronted with His 'light' that their darkness would be revealed - and, in fact, it was just as Pharoah's darkness was revealed.

This also serves to alert us to the fact, that when we present the light to the world, it will harden their hearts! Just as accurately as God predicted Pharoah's hard heart, Jesus said this:

Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. [John 15.20]

As we obediently present Jesus to the world and it hardens their hearts, it doesn't make our character evil for having done so. God and His Word have been hardening hearts in this way since the beginning of time. If we can see it, it was God's Word that hardened Adam's and Eve's hearts in the Garden of Eden:

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” [Genesis 3.1]

We might also say then. "God, hardened Adam's and Eve's hearts by His own Word spoken through Satan." This is accurate because God's Word imposes God's will over all others. When confronted with God's will, every person has a decision to make: to proudly resist God's will, or, to obediently submit to Him and what He says. In this way, God is still hardening hearts today!

When God hardens a heart, it is not about predestination, but is all about predisposition to sin.

Father, I know only those who humbly choose to turn away from their predisposition to sin - those who submit to Jesus' call to 'repent and believe' will enjoy the temporal and eternal blessings You have promised. Even though only a few will respond, may we be found obediently and faithfully presenting Your kindness that will lead some to repentance and others to rejection- their hearts hardened by the very Good News that would save them. So be it.