3421.- Pharaoh's Heart Hardened

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, Cal. · Apr 25, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 17.

3421.— Pharaoh's Heart Hardened

Please explain Ex. 7:3. How was Pharaoh's heart hardened, and what were the chances of his salvation? L. L. A.

God hardened Pharaoh's heart by withdrawing His Spirit, and leaving the stubborn King to himself. Read the American Revised Version. "And Pharaoh's heart was strong." Ex. 7:13, margin. "Pharaoh's heart is heavy." Verse 14, margin. "He [Pharaoh] hardened ["made heavy," margin] his heart." Ex. 8:15. See also verse 19. It is not until we reach chapter 9:12 that it is said that God hardened the heart of the King. He had resisted the Spirit of God to the uttermost, and God withdrew His Spirit. There was every hope, every surety, that Pharaoh might have been saved if he had yielded to God. God would have gotten glory in his conversion, as He did in that of Nebuchadnezzar.