Reading Exodus：The Ten Plagues (2)—Human Response
“ But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh … ” （ Ex 4:21b; 7:3; 9:12a; 10:20 etc. ） As we read through Exodus 4–12, the sovereignty of God is unmistakably present behind this unfolding series of overwhelming judgments. Yet this also raises a related question. If the outpouring of the plagues took place under the sovereign will and purpose of God, then what of Pharaoh’s response to them? Was his reaction, too, under that same sovereign purpose? To put the question more plainly: was Pharaoh’s hardened heart itself the work of God? After all, when God first entrusted Moses with his mission, He had already said to him with unmistakable clarity: “But I will harden his heart…” (Ex 4:21). At first glance, it may indeed appear so. Yet such a conclusion risks reading this long section of Exodus (4–12) through an overly simplistic determinism. For if we look more carefully at how Pharaoh actually responds to the LORD’s demand—that His people be released from Egypt to go into the w...
