Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? ❤️🪦

Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart? The Bible clearly says God did it. And yet, it also clearly says Pharaoh hardened his own heart. How can that be?

What are we missing when we read about something recent archaeological finds are proving was a real event?

It’s something we should want to understand. Questions like, “How do I avoid the hardened heart scenario we’re warned about”?

For that matter, what exactly is a hardened heart?

We don’t want God to harden our hearts. But then we also don’t want to harden our own hearts by doing things for which we don’t understand the consequences.

You probably noticed icon for this series in the title: ❤️🪦 – a living heart that becomes unresponsive. It symbolizes Pharaoh’s journey from choice to the tragic “death” of teachability.

An examination of Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart?

The series, “Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart?”, will look at these questions and more. We’ll go on a six-part journey to examine the events that took place. But more importantly, we’ll look at the unseen but critical interactions between God’s plan and Pharaoh’s reactions to that plan.

To that end, we’ll explore human stubbornness, divine patience, justice, mercy, and the cost of resisting God. We’ll view the plagues and see how they influence those things.

Throughout, we’ll be looking at Pharaoh’s heart. We’ll learn as we go and discover who hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

That was thousands of years ago. Who cares today?

Can we really learn anything from this? For all of us living in Western culture, this sounds so not relevant.

But is that really true? We all know what it’s like to know right from wrong. And we all know what it’s like to choose to do the wrong thing anyway. Further, once we make a bad choice, we know what it’s like to insist we were right all along. Who hasn’t tried even harder to maintain the wrong path after we’ve been told, and even silently acknowledge to ourselves, that it’s wrong?

But there’s more. How many of us, even after we realize it’s God’s Holy Spirit trying to tell us we’re messing up big time, we choose to continue down that path of destruction? All the while, we know what’s going to happen. But somehow, we convince ourselves it’ll be all right.

However, like those awful commercials that keep saying, “But wait – there’s even more!”, there is more. How many of us, even after we give in to God, say He’s right, go along with His plan – turn around and fight Him to make one last attempt at getting our own way?

Maybe the scenario isn’t so relevant to most of us today.

But the thoughts and actions? They’re timeless!

What’s coming in Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart?

There’ll be six parts, broken down by themes with, the plagues included. We’ll see the pattern of the plagues, the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, as well as the unfolding of God’s plan in this series.

This page serves as the hub for the full six‑part series. Each part is linked below so you can explore the journey at your own pace. I’ll add active links to each part as it’s published.

• Part 1 — The Making of a Hardened Heart
• Part 2 — When We Harden Our Own Hearts
• Part 3 — When God Confirms Our Choices
• Part 4 — God’s Mercy Toward the Oppressor’s People
• Part 5 — The Darkness Before Deliverance
• Part 6 — The Cost of a Hardened Heart

Each part explores a different movement in Pharaoh’s story — from his first acts of resistance to the final consequences of a hardened heart.

The case of: Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart?

I know. It started as irrelevant. It’s turning into a who dunnit. But ask yourself, isn’t this a who dunnit that you want to find out who really did do it?

Look at it this way. It wasn’t the Butler. It wasn’t the spouse. Or the girl/boy-friend.

It was: God, you, or both of the above. Any way you look at it, you’re involved. Do you want to be both the inflictor of the hardened heart and the victim of said hardened heart? I don’t.

Truth be told, even though I don’t know you – most likely – I do care about you. I’d love to see you in the next life.

So please – here’s an invitation to learn something about how to be there. If you’ve never looked at anything like this before – it’s a good way to begin doing just that. If you’re a seasoned veteran – maybe it’s a reminder. Maybe it’s encouragement. Or maybe you know someone who could use it.

I pray you check it out and that it helps and inspires you.