📖 Exodus Lesson 4: Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart? | Sabbath School Study (July 21, 2025)

📖 Monday, July 21 — Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?

Illustration: Pharaoh resists God’s message from Moses and Aaron (AI-generated)

📚 Read: Exodus 7:3–13, 14, 22

One of the most perplexing theological questions in Exodus is: Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? Was it God? Or Pharaoh himself?

The Bible gives both perspectives. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is attributed to God nine times (Exod. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8) and to Pharaoh nine times as well (Exod. 7:13–14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34–35).

💡 The first five times, Pharaoh hardens his own heart. Starting with the sixth plague, the Bible says God hardened it. But that doesn’t mean God forced Pharaoh to disobey. Instead, He confirmed the direction Pharaoh had already freely chosen.

“So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the LORD had spoken by Moses.”
—Exodus 9:35, NKJV

🧠 Think of it this way: The same sun that melts butter hardens clay. The sunlight doesn’t change—the difference lies in the nature of the material.

🌞 God’s actions were designed to awaken Pharaoh’s conscience and prompt repentance. But Pharaoh resisted, and God honored that decision. Like Romans 1:24–32 reveals, God sometimes gives people over to their stubbornness after repeated rejections of truth.

🎯 Key Lesson: Our choices shape our destiny. Every decision we make, especially spiritual ones, either softens or hardens our heart toward God.

Reflection: What free will choice(s) are you going to make in the next day or so? If you already know the right choice, what can you do today to follow through?

💬 Call to Action (CTA):

Have you ever felt your heart resisting God's promptings? 🙏 Ask Him today to soften your heart and help you make the right choices—no matter how hard. 💬 Share your thoughts below: What do you think causes people to resist God’s will, even when it’s clear?