“Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:12-13).
The Hebrew writer warned about brethren developing an unbelieving heart that had been hardened by sin. This came in the middle of two warnings against following the poor example of the Israelites: “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me” (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15).
The example of the Israelites hardening their hearts is a warning for us. However, the Israelites also had an example from whom they should have learned – Pharaoh. In this article, we will focus on the example of Pharaoh and how his heart became hardened. In considering this, we will hopefully recognize what we can do to prevent our hearts from hardening as well.
Pharaoh Did Not Acknowledge God as the Lord
When Moses first came to Pharaoh, the king asked, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” He then added, “I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2). Since Pharaoh did not recognize God as the Lord – one with the authority to command him and expect obedience – he felt no need to do what the Lord had instructed him to do.
Those who do not acknowledge God will have their heart “darkened” (Romans 1:21). This leads to sin: “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:24-25). However, it is not only those who do not acknowledge God who get caught up in sin. Many who claim to follow Christ have given themselves over to be “slaves to sin” (Romans 6:6). Though they might call Jesus “Lord,” the title is meaningless. Jesus asked, “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Refusing to acknowledge Jesus as Lord results in the hardening of one’s heart in sin.
Pharaoh Embraced Counterfeits
When Moses began performing signs by the power of God, Pharaoh’s magicians appeared to copy them. When Aaron’s staff became a serpent, the magicians appeared to do the same (Exodus 7:10-12). When the water was turned to blood, the magicians appeared to do the same (Exodus 7:20-23). When Aaron stretched out his hand and brought frogs over the whole land, the magicians appeared to do the same (Exodus 8:6-7). The magicians could not perfectly copy the miracles – Aaron’s serpent ate theirs (Exodus 7:12), the magicians could only turn a small amount of water to blood (Exodus 7:19-22), and they could not remove the frogs (Exodus 8:8) – but they did enough to convince Pharaoh to ignore God’s command (Exodus 7:13). Pharaoh embraced these counterfeits and hardened his heart.
Many today become hardened in sin because they embrace counterfeits. Instead of being part of the Lord’s church (Matthew 16:18), they join one of the many churches of men. Instead of obeying the plan of salvation outlined in the New Testament – belief, repentance, confession, and baptism (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:9-10; 1 Peter 3:21) – they try to be saved their way. Instead of following the gospel as it has been revealed (2 Timothy 1:13; Jude 3), they embrace a “different gospel” (Galatians 1:6-7). Settling for such counterfeits results in one’s heart being hardened.
Pharaoh Focused on What Obedience to God Would Cost Him
Pharaoh understood that letting the people go would result in the loss of a great workforce. When Moses told Pharaoh to let the people go, he told them, “Get back to your labors!” (Exodus 5:4). After the Israelites finally did leave, Pharaoh decided to pursue them after thinking about the great loss in slave labor (Exodus 14:5). Even though the plagues devastated the land (Exodus 10:7), Pharaoh chose to focus on what he would lose by allowing the Israelites to leave as God had said.
We must be willing to give up certain things to follow Christ – sin, lust, evil associations, the gain of worldliness, etc. Paul said, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ” (Philippians 3:7). Is it worth it to give up all of these things? Absolutely! Paul told the brethren in Corinth, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). However, it is difficult to see the value of our eternal reward when we are focused on the physical (Matthew 19:21-22). Focusing on what one will lose, rather than what will be gained through obedience, leads to a hardened heart.
Pharaoh Developed a Habit of Sin
Pharaoh had several opportunities to let the people go, but he would eventually do it “under compulsion” (Exodus 6:1). He developed a pattern of wrong behavior – refusing to listen to God and obey His command to let the Israelites go.
We need to understand that even just one sin is bad. James said, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). But habitual sin is especially dangerous because it causes one to lose a sense of shame – “they do not even know how to blush” (Jeremiah 6:15). Habitual sin also results in one being “seared in [his] own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Timothy 4:2). The solution is to be “careful how [we] walk” (Ephesians 5:15). The longer one remains in sin, the more seared his conscience becomes.
Pharaoh Misinterpreted God’s Goodness
There were times in which Pharaoh said the Israelites could go, but changed his mind when the plague stopped. After the plague of frogs ended, “Pharaoh saw that there was relief [and] he hardened his heart” (Exodus 8:15). “When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart” (Exodus 9:34). He saw God’s mercy as an excuse to disobey God.
Sadly, many do the same thing today. They observe the “kindness and tolerance and patience” of God, but they continue in sin rather than being motivated to repent (Romans 2:4-5). They see divine blessings as an excuse to ignore their responsibilities to obey the Lord. This was the failing of the rich man in Jesus’ parable – he thought his great harvest was a good reason to ignore the eternal fate of his soul (Luke 12:16-19). Jesus called him a fool (Luke 12:20). Divine blessings are not signs of God’s approval for any sin that may be in our lives. But when one forgets this fact, it can become easy to harden his hearts.
Pharaoh Thought God’s Will Could Be Changed
God’s will was clear – His people were to go into the wilderness to celebrate a feast (Exodus 5:1). But Pharaoh repeatedly tried to change God’s instructions. He first tried to convince Moses to offer sacrifice to God “within the land” of Egypt, rather than going into the wilderness (Exodus 8:25). Later he said he would let the men go, but not the women and children (Exodus 10:10-11). After that, he said he would allow the women and children to go, but would not allow the Israelites to bring their animals (Exodus 10:24). Moses would not compromise; God’s will was fixed, even though Pharaoh thought he could alter it.
The psalmist wrote: “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). Jude said that Christians must “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3). In the gospel, the will of God for man has been revealed one time for all times. Unfortunately, many become hardened to the word because they think it is flexible. Yet the word of God is not changed by time (1 Peter 1:25), culture (Romans 1:16; 1 Corinthians 4:17), or circumstances (Romans 3:8). But when one thinks he can alter the word of God, he will harden his heart against the truth.
Pharaoh Only Sought God in Bad Times
At times, Pharaoh asked Moses to appeal to God on his behalf (Exodus 8:8, 28; 9:27-28; 10:16-17). But this only occurred during the bad times (plagues). We have no record of Pharaoh seeking after God to praise Him when times were good.
We are to remember God at all times – even during the “prime of life” before we face the problems that will inevitably come later (Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1). We are to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), not just when we are facing difficult circumstances. Forgetting God during the good times is dangerous. Notice the warning given to the Israelites after they were promised to be richly blessed in Canaan: “Watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:12). If they forgot the Lord, they would begin down the road of apostasy, resulting in punishment (Deuteronomy 6:13-15). When one seeks the Lord only during bad times and ignores Him during good times, conditions are then ripe for his heart to become hardened.
Conclusion
When our hearts become hardened, we will fall away (Hebrews 3:12-13). But this apostasy is typically a gradual process in which we “drift away from” the truth (Hebrews 2:1). All of this is the result of being deceived – “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13). Therefore, we must always be on guard. Let us not harden our hearts like the Israelites, or like Pharaoh before them, so that we might continue to faithfully serve the Lord.
Very good lesson, Andy. A hardened heart is an ugly thing. Self will is behind it. We must always seek for God’s approval and for His will to be done and not ours. Your example of Pharaoh is a very good one as it illustrates so clearly the end result of a hardened heart—destruction.
Thanks, Wayne. You’re exactly right. Self will is behind all of this. We need to humble ourselves before the Lord if we hope to please Him.