Are you much familiar with the story of Moses, and how he lead the Israelites out of Egypt? Let's consider someone from the story, the Pharaoh, I mean the hard hearted Pharaoh everyone label. Was he really that hard hearted? This question I asked myself while reading the Book of Exodus over again. A new Pharaoh ruled Egypt and by this time, this pharaoh has forgotten all of Joseph's contributions to growing the land of Egypt and seeks to oppress the Hebrews (Exodus 1:8-10). Their working hours was doubled without rest, without break and killing their children to reduce their numbers, (Exodus 1:15-16) because the were increasing in number and mightier than them. Moses, a Levite, saved by the Pharaoh's daughter from water (Exodus 2:5-6), and raised in the Pharaoh's house. When Moses became a man he was quite aware of the affliction of the Hebrews, his brethren. So one day he saw an Egyptian dealing hardly with an Hebrew, he killed the Egyptian man and hid the corpse in the sand. When this was heard by pharaoh, they sort to kill him and he fled from Egypt to the land of Midian. With the passing of time, Moses returned to free his brethren from their bondage as God directed him. By this time the other pharaoh (Akhenaten by name, not mentioned in the Bible) who demanded his life was long dead and Pharaoh "Ramesses" was on seat. Now this is the known "hard hearted" Pharaoh most people would compare someone who is hard hearted to. Was Pharaoh Ramesses that hard hearted by nature? Ramesses was also once a kid in the kingdom growing up to live by and enjoy the affliction of the Israelites but he didn't initiate it at first, it was the other Pharaoh Akhenaten who started afflicting the Hebrews (that was the true bad guy). Ramesses also known as Ramesses the great is the popular figure known to be the hard hearted man who refused to let the Israelites go during his reign. But was his hardness really by his own violation? Answer is 'no'. Before God began unleashing the 10 plagues through Aaron and Moses he had told Moses that he will harden Pharaoh's heart that he wouldn't let them go. I suspected if Pharaoh's refusal was based on his own free will, at the 8th Plague where locusts covered the whole land of Egypt, he had reconsidered letting go as his servant pleaded that he should let them go serve their God (Exodus 10:7-8), even before this time, he did reconsider but with conditions (no that wasn't the deal) only issue is that since his heart was harden he couldn't help it after all. Often time he would demand for Moses to intreat the Lord that the plague at that time may go away but still he wouldn't let the Israelites go. Finally the 10th plague which was the "death of all firstborn" took the life of the son of Pharaoh Ramesses which he finally send away the Israelites that same hour of the night (Exodus 12:30-32) that they should, in a haste live Egypt for good just like the Lord told Moses it would be. Yet again for the last time, his heart was harden again that Pharaoh sent his men to chase after them and that's where he lost all his 600 chariots men in the red Sea (Exodus 14:23-28). From all of the events above you could see that pharaoh Ramesses wasn't really the bad guy tho, yeah he suffered the Israelites too but on the case of letting them go, he was heart harden.
(Exodus 4:21; Exodus 7:3; Exodus 9:12; Exodus 10:1; Exodus 10:20; Exodus 10:27; Exodus 11:10; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 14:8)
"Repeatedly it's written that God harden his heart that he would not let the Israelites go"
Why did God chose to Harden Pharaoh Ramesses' heart?
What I see from the Bible is that God himself wanted it this way so he could avenge all they had suffered the Israelites over the years. Even for that reason did he raised them as written in Exodus 9:16, And that his name will be proclaimed over the land of Egypt and all the land round about it. (Exodus 10:2; 14:4).
The 10 plagues that befell the Egyptian
1. Water turned blood (Exodus 7:17-18)
2. Frogs (Exodus 8:1-4)
3. Lice (Exodus 8:16-17)
4. The plague of Flies (Exodus 8:20-32)
5. Pestilence of the Livestock (Exodus 9:1-3)
6. Plague of Boils (Exodus 9:8-9)
7. Hail and fire (Exodus 9:13-24)
8. Locusts attack (Exodus 10:3-6)
9. Darkness (Exodus 10;21-23)
10. Death of the firstborn (Exodus 11:4-6)
By: Albert Benjamins
Kommentare