God is a God of freedom. He gives us choices on how to live our lives. He also has provided a handbook on the best ways to live out our lives with examples of what not to do. Life, for most of us, is kind of messy at times. There are peaks and valleys, good times and bad, sickness and health—perhaps this is why traditional wedding vows list characteristics of life so the married couple understands what is required to endure. How many times have you heard the words “I guess you will just have to learn the hard way” from someone trying to guide by their own experience? Some learn. Others keep repeating their mistakes until they have cemented their ways beyond repair. It’s called hard-heartedness.
Pharaoh in Exodus is an example of how not listening to God and choosing wisely results in a hard heart with severe consequences. God gave Pharaoh the choice to free the Israelites. Pharaoh refused. God sent 10 plagues with intensifying consequences each time Pharaoh refused. The Hebrew word for sign is, “ot”, and actually means more than just an outward occurrence, it is a coded communication or a message. There were multiple layers of messages in the plagues. One was to get Pharaoh to release the Israelites. Another was to punish Pharaoh and his people for the mistreatment of the Israelites. Still another was to show the powerlessness of their gods, even unto Pharaoh who saw himself as a god. All said and done, Pharaoh became more prideful and his heart continued to harden with each plague.
For example, the ninth plague, the plague of darkness, was an ot, a sign not just against Ra the sun god, but God’s rejection of a people that worshiped Pharaoh as god. By that plague of darkness, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened demonstrated by his choice to not free the Israelites. But after all these plagues and Pharaoh still not relenting, Exodus 10:27 says, “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go.” Thereafter, the Lord instructed the Israelites to cover their door posts and lentils with the blood of lambs for them to be passed over for the final plague that all the firstborn of Egypt would die. This is a picture of an actual cycle of humanity. God tells us something. We may hear it, but may not listen. Headstrong or prideful, a choice is made. A wrong direction is taken.
Eventually, trouble is so deep that only the Lord can bring us out. We cry out for his outstretched hand. Then we choose to go with him or we choose to remain in our condition. Remember the story of the rich young man who asked Jesus what he had to do to have eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and follow Christ. The man went away sad. Another is the prodigal son who spent his entire inheritance and decided to return to his father because being a servant was better than living like the swine. Jesus told of the son’s father’s words in Luke 15:24, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; He was lost, and is found.” Lost or found. Hard-heartedness or God’s will. Pharaoh or the Lamb of God. We have a choice.
