He hardens whom He wills !
rom 9:
18Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
This is Paul's teaching on the absolute Sovereignty of God[in hardening] as He pleases, not as He is responding to some other cause outside of Himself as the reason for hardening.
God raised up Pharaoh to illustrate this point. God had in mind romans chapter 9 when He created or gave being to Pharaoh, as this event would be referred to centuries later when one of His True servants would use its Illustration in preaching the Gospel of God and declaring Gods complete Sovereignty in the matter of Individual salvation.
I say individual, because Pharaoh was a individual like all of us are. Now those who oppose the Truth of what Paul is preaching here, like to say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart first and that is why God harden His heart as punishment; but that is not the Truth at all, for it was Gods purpose all along to harden Pharaoh heart in order to bring upon him the plagues, you know the ten plagues.
gen 15:
13And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
14And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.
Will I judge, that means God had already determined to display the ten plagues, so Pharaoh was raised up for that purpose and God controlled his heart to fulfill His determination to Judge that nation of which he was raised up as the head. prov 21:
1The king's [Pharaoh] heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
Now with this said, the opposer's still twist Gods truth to force it to agree with their sentiments, that is called wresting scripture, or corrupting the word of truth.
Now there are 18 references within Exodus that speaks about the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, we will look at these references as see how many of the 18 speak of God hardening his heart or his heart being hardened and Pharaoh himself hardening his own heart. We will see which truth is the most emphasized in Gods word of truth.
ex 4:
21And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
7:
3And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
13And he hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
14And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
22And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.
8:
15But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
19Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
32And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.
ex 9:
7And Pharaoh sent, and, behold, there was not one of the cattle of the Israelites dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go.
12And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.
34And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
35And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, neither would he let the children of Israel go; as the LORD had spoken by Moses.
ex 10:
1And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:[see gen 15:14]
20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.
27But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he would not let them go.
ex 11:
10And Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh: and the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go out of his land.
ex 14:
4And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, that he shall follow after them; and I will be honoured upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host; that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD. And they did so.
8And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an high hand.
17And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
Now how many times [ in red] did scripture say Pharaoh hardened his own heart ? How many times does scripture say God hardened his heart or that Pharaoh heart was hardened, meaning he was passive and not active.[ in bold]
I counted 16 out of 19 times it is emphasized in Exodus that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, now you do the math.
This is why Paul used this historical event in rom 9 and emphasized that God hardens whom He wills. Its a given that if God hardens ones heart [ First cause] that the lesser will correspond and do that which agrees with the First cause, for it is Gods ability being displayed not the lessers objects ability. God says that His power [ ability] may be displayed in Pharaoh.
rom 9:
17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Now I already know that most are going to reject this clear teaching of scripture, but I already know why ! Their hearts are hardened by God to believe a lie.
