I believe I posted a while back that I had a new found appreciation for the Old Testament and was wanting to study it more in depth. I have been reading slowly and am only now in the beginning parts of Exodus reading through the plagues sent on Egypt by God to convince Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The debate of free will is one as old as time and one not easy to let go of, but the more I read in Scripture the more I am convinced that though God's call demands a response, it is ultimately up to Him what happens.
Exodus 10:1-2 says, "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son, and of your grandson, how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and how I performed My signs among them that you may know that I am the Lord'."
These are the Lord's words. Not mine, not Moses's, not anyone else. The Lord said, I have hardened Pharaoh's heart. This is not the first time this is mentioned. Exodus 7:3,13-14,22, 8:15,19, 9:12,35 all refer to Pharaoh's heart being hardened which is initiated by God and we see it a few more times after this passage in Exodus 10:20,27 11:10 and 14:4.
I have read the story of the Exodus many times, but this time God has shown me this so clearly, I believe, to show me over and over again that He is in control of everything, even the hearts of men. Pharaoh would have been probably the greatest earthly ruler of that time (I am guessing. I am no historian, so I beg forgiveness if I am wrong), and God was in control of His heart. Why? God said it, "that I may perform these signs of Mine among them...that you may know that I am the Lord." It was all for God's glory to show that He is the Lord Almighty. He is in control of all things, even the mightiest of rulers.
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