Exodus Pharoah's hardened heart, free will & God's sovereignty
Q: I am reading the book of Exodus and I am having trouble understanding why God would harden Pharaoh’s heart. Can you explain to me why God did that if we have free will.
A: A lot of churches today teach wrongly on this topic, so it is good to take a deeper more biblical look at it, like a Berean.
It would do you the most good to look up the verses noted, (and read the full stories), as you go through this. See it like a mini study, and you'll get the most out of it. 😊
The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in the book of Exodus is one of the clearest biblical examples of the interplay between human free will and God’s sovereign purposes. Both are connected. Understanding it requires seeing both Pharaoh’s responsibility and God’s divine plan.
1. Pharaoh Hardened His Own Heart First
The biblical text makes it clear that Pharaoh initially hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15, 8:32). He repeatedly rejected God’s commands delivered through Moses, acting out of pride, rebellion, and sin. In this sense, Pharaoh freely chose to resist God, and his hardened heart was the natural fruit of his sinful nature. This shows that human free will is real—Pharaoh could have chosen differently, but he chose rebellion.
2. God Judicially Hardens Pharaoh
Later passages state that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12, 10:20). This is not God coercing Pharaoh against his will. Rather, it is a judicial hardening—God confirmed Pharaoh in the stubborn path he had already chosen. In Romans 1:24–28, Paul describes how God “gives people over” to their sinful desires, allowing them to fully experience the consequences of persistent rebellion. God’s hardening, then, is a form of divine judgment: He permits Pharaoh to pursue his own chosen path, ultimately revealing the gravity of sin and His own glory.
3. God’s Purpose in Hardening Pharaoh’s Heart
The text repeatedly emphasizes God’s purpose: to display His power and glory (Exodus 9:16). Pharaoh’s obstinate resistance set the stage for miraculous signs and plagues, demonstrating that salvation and deliverance come from God alone, not human effort. If Pharaoh had simply yielded immediately, the dramatic display of God’s power, which would inspire awe in Israel and the nations, would not have occurred.
Additionally, Pharaoh’s hardening highlights spiritual truths about judgment and mercy. His persistent sin contrasts with God’s mercy toward Israel and teaches that persistent rejection of God leads to judgment. As Romans 9:17–18 states, God “raises up whom He wills” to display His glory—yet this always occurs in conjunction with human responsibility, not in violation of it.
4. Free Will and God’s Sovereignty Operate Together
From a Reformed perspective, human choice and divine sovereignty work together. Pharaoh’s rebellion was real—he exercised his will to resist God—but God used even that rebellion to fulfill His plan. God repeatedly sent Moses to warn Pharaoh, giving him opportunities to repent. Pharaoh’s continued refusal demonstrates that God respects human choice, even when it leads to ruin.
Put differently, Pharaoh wanted to assert his own power over Israel and even over God. In honoring Pharaoh’s sinful desires, God allowed him to go “full steam ahead” in rebellion, showing both the consequences of sin and God’s ultimate authority.
5. Lessons for Us
• God’s sovereignty does not nullify human responsibility. Pharaoh acted willingly, yet God used those actions to accomplish His divine purposes.
• God can work through human sin to display His glory, turning even rebellion and pride into instruments of His plan.
• God honors human choices: Pharaoh was warned repeatedly, yet he refused. The hardening of his heart reflects God’s justice in letting people experience the consequences of their sin.
In short, Pharaoh’s hardening illustrates a profound truth: God is fully sovereign over creation and human history, yet human beings are genuinely responsible for their choices. Pharaoh’s repeated rejection of God allowed God to display His power, teach about the consequences of sin, and deliver His people miraculously—all while never violating Pharaoh’s free will.
People have free will within their nature. Sinners can sin, believers live in righteousness. God uses all humanity to bring about His plan, unto the very end of man's existence on this fallen earth.
⭐️More FAQ and detailed info on this topic can be found below.
God bless
======
We could go further and examine a King God brought to his knees and how God worked in fallen man's life, oppressed by sin and Satan, and how Jesus is the solution man needs to live right and have s Godward heart.
In combing other biblical examples, it highlights different aspects of human responsibility, divine judgment, and God’s sovereignty.
1. Pharaoh (Exodus 7–14)
Context: Pharaoh enslaves Israel and resists God repeatedly.
Human responsibility: Pharaoh hardens his own heart at first (Exodus 8:15, 8:32). He exercises free will in rebellion.
God’s action: God later “hardens” Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:12), not to override his freedom but to confirm him in the path he has chosen, judicially. This allows God’s power and glory to be revealed through the plagues and the Exodus.
Purpose: To show God’s sovereignty, teach about sin and judgment, and deliver His people.
2. King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4)
Context: Nebuchadnezzar becomes proud and boasts of his own power.
Human responsibility: Nebuchadnezzar arrogantly claims credit for Babylon’s greatness. He freely chooses pride and self-exaltation.
God’s action: God humbles him by sending madness, causing him to live like an animal until he acknowledges God’s sovereignty.
Outcome: Unlike Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar eventually repents and glorifies God. This shows God’s patient correction and opportunity for repentance.
Purpose: To teach that God’s power rules over kings and nations, and that pride leads to divine correction, but repentance brings restoration.
3. The Gerasene Demoniac and the Pigs (Mark 5 / Luke 8)
Context: A man possessed by many demons is terrorizing the region. Jesus casts the demons into a herd of pigs.
Human responsibility: The man is helpless under demonic oppression; he did not choose the demons, though he suffers because of their influence.
God’s action: Jesus demonstrates His authority over evil spirits, freeing the man.
Outcome: The man is restored; the pigs’ destruction shows the consequences of sin/demonic influence and God’s power over evil.
Purpose: To show God’s authority over spiritual forces and the restoration available to those who are oppressed, highlighting divine mercy rather than judicial hardening.
Theological Insight
Pharaoh shows how God can use persistent human rebellion to accomplish His plan without violating free will.
Nebuchadnezzar shows how God corrects human pride, allowing repentance and restoration.
The Gerasene demoniac shows God’s sovereign mercy over forces beyond human control, emphasizing liberation and grace.
In short, Pharaoh’s story is about judicial hardening for God’s glory, Nebuchadnezzar’s is about humbling for eventual repentance, and the Gerasene demoniac is about liberation through God’s mercy. All three show God’s sovereignty interacting differently with human freedom or circumstances.
When we compare Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar (1 & 2) with the Gerasene demoniac (3), we see a key difference in how God’s sovereignty interacts with human freedom and the role of God by the Messiah's transformation of men, enabling right thinking & living.
1. Pharaoh (Exodus) and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4)
Human Choice:
Pharaoh freely resists God; Nebuchadnezzar freely exalts himself. Both initially act in rebellion.
God’s Response:
Pharaoh: Judicial hardening—God confirms Pharaoh in his chosen path to reveal His glory and bring about judgment.
Nebuchadnezzar: Humbling—God removes his power and normal living conditions to bring him to repentance.
Outcome:
Pharaoh: Remains obstinate until judgment is executed; Israel is delivered.
Nebuchadnezzar: Ultimately repents and glorifies God.
Key Insight: In both cases, God’s action responds to the person’s own choices. The person’s heart is hardened or humbled, but there’s no immediate enabling for moral transformation. Free will exists, but acting rightly is not yet empowered by God—it’s more about God revealing His power and executing justice.
2. The Gerasene Demoniac (Mark 5 / Luke 8)
Human Condition: The man is in his sin nature & oppressed by demonic forces—he cannot live rightly on his own.
God’s Response: Jesus intervenes and transforms his life, casting out the demons.
Outcome: The man is freed, clothed, and restored to right living in society.
Key Insight: Here, God’s sovereign action enables the man to live rightly. The transformation is active, restorative, and empowering, not merely judicial or corrective. Without God’s intervention, the man could not choose or act rightly because he was under the control of forces beyond his will.
Theological Point:
In Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar, God works within the framework of human choice, responding to sin with judgment or correction. Transformation of the heart is either withheld (Pharaoh) or delayed until repentance (Nebuchadnezzar).
In the Gerasene demoniac, God works to (convert) to empower the human to live rightly, actively transforming the person’s condition (spiritually dead to spiritual life) so that they can exercise their will [the nature they have] to be in alignment with their original design (as image bearers of God), thus live rightly and fulfill God’s purposes in their life. It anticipates the work of Jesus in all believers: freedom from sin and the power to live righteously.
In short: Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar show God working with human choice to reveal glory and justice, but true moral transformation comes when God liberates and empowers, as seen in Jesus’ work in the Gerasene demoniac. This is a key pattern of salvation: God frees and transforms so that humans can finally live rightly—not just choose between rebellion and pride.
⭐️Check out the FAQ section here to conclude, for understanding this topic a bit more roubustly.
God bless
