Pharaoh, a man with a hard heart
The first place that the word heart is used in the Bible is with regard to the plight of man in the days of Noah. In Genesis 6:5, we are told that the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart were on evil continually. Then in the following verse, we are told that when God saw the sinful state of man, He was sorry that He had made man, and God was grieved in His heart.
Even as our hearts are centered in our chest in our physical bodies, so our problem with sin is seen by God as being basically a heart issue. Ultimately, only God can change our hearts. In the case of Pharaoh, we are told that the Lord hardened his heart over and over again. Why would God harden someone’s heart? In this case, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart because God had a greater purpose planned. That purpose was that His people would be released from slavery so that they might return to the land promised to Abraham, the land of Canaan.
The Old Testament
The Ten Plagues that God sent
In my book, Somebody Call 9:11: The Power of Covenant in Times of Crisis, I discuss how many of the ninth chapter and eleventh verses of scripture can be linked to the theme of God’s covenant with man. Exodus 9:11 states, “And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.” It is interesting that this is the sixth plague that God brought forth on the Egyptians and six is the number for man, as he was created on the sixth day.
The first five plagues had to do with adverse effects on nature and God’s created order. In the first plague, the Nile turned to blood. The second and third plagues involved frogs and gnats or lice. The fourth plague involved swarms of flies covering the land, and the fifth plague involved the death of livestock. Obviously, man was indirectly affected by each of these horrific events, which served to demonstrate our God’s power over each of the Egyptian gods one by one. However, beginning with the sixth plague of boils, man began to be directly affected. The boils also broke out on the beasts, which were incidentally also created on the sixth day.
The Lord spoke to Moses preparing him that when Moses did all of God’s wonders before Pharaoh which God put in Moses hand, that God would harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will not let the people go (Exodus 4:21). In the very next verse it says that God instructed Moses to say to Pharaoh, “Israel is my firstborn. So I say to you, let my son go that he may serve me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn“ (Exodus 4:22-23).
Ultimately, God knew what would get through to the heart of Pharaoh. It was not any of the first nine plagues. It would only be when the tenth plague happened- the death of all of the firstborn in the land of Egypt including Pharaoh’s own son- that Pharaoh’s heart would be reached. Everyone’s son died, except those of the Israelites who had the blood of the lamb sprinkled on the doorposts of each home. God finally broke the heart of Pharaoh and the Israelites were released from their captivity.
The New Testament
In an allegorical sense, Egypt represents sin and God has broken the grip of sin in our lives through the crucifixion and death of Christ. He who knew no sin has become sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, when we place our faith in Christ and His finished work on the cross, He frees us from the captivity and grip that sin has on our lives. He frees us from the ultimate penalty of sin, which is death.
Jesus said in John 5:23, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” When God breaks through into our hearts and when we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, a revelation that still must come from the Father, then we too become “free men”. Jesus also said, “Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). In Christ, we are freed from the penalty of sin and the penalty of death.