SPECIAL TOPIC: THE LORD HARDENED

SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD HARDENED

Divine Hardening in the Old Testament
1. Pharaoh
  Exod. 4:21 "but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go" God informs Moses that the Hebrews will believe but Pharaoh will not be convinced. This passage and ones similar to it have caused tremendous problems to western theologians. We must allow this to speak in its original context and not bring to this passage questions that it was never intended to ask or to explicate. In the ancient Orient, and particularly in Israel, God was the source of all things (i.e., one causality, cf. Job 2:10; Eccl. 3:38; Isa. 6:10; 45:7; 54:16; Lam. 3:37; Ezek. 14:9; Amos 3:6b). Therefore, the Jews saw no contradiction in God hardening Pharaoh's heart or in Pharaoh hardening his own heart (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ONE CAUSALITY).
  It is only in light of further New Testament revelation about humans' need to respond to God that the problem of God's sovereignty and human free will becomes a mysterious paradox for the church (see SPECIAL TOPIC: PREDESTINATION). It is best to affirm both truths than it is to magnify one over the other (see SPECIAL TOPIC: EASTERN LITERATURE). The best place in the Bible to ascertain the relationship between these two is Romans 9 on the sovereignty of God and Romans 10 on the free will of mankind (also note Phil. 2:12b-13). In Exodus Pharaoh is described as being hardened in three ways.
  1. that God hardened his heart, Exod. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1,20,27; 11:10; 14:4,8; (cf. Rom. 9:34)
  2. that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, Exod. 8:15,32; 9:34
  3. his heart was hardened but with no mention of the source, Exod. 7:13,14,22; 8:19; 9:7,35
    It is also interesting to note that three different VERBS are used to describe this hardening.
    1. "to be strong" (BDB 304, KB 302) in the sense of callous, Exod. 4:21; 7:13,22; 8:19; 9:12,35; 10:20,27; 11:10; 14:4,8
    2. "to be heavy" (BDB 549, KB 540) and, therefore, lack responsiveness, Exod. 7:14; 8:15,32; 9:7,34; 10:1
    3. "to be hard" (BDB 904, KB 1151), Exod. 7:3
      However, all of these seem to be used in a synonymous relationship. The Bible emphatically teaches that each of us is personally responsible for our actions, including Pharaoh and Judas. The sovereign God has structured His creation so that human choice has consequences in time and eternity.
2. Sihon, King of Heshbon ‒ Deut. 2:30
3. Philistines ‒ 1 Sam. 6:5
4. Israel ‒ The first shocking statement is found in Isa. 6:9-10. I have included my online exegetical notes below.
  Isa. 6:9-10 As YHWH reveals His purpose for Isaiah's ministry, He also reveals to Isaiah the response his message will have on Judah.
  1. go, Isa. 6:9, BDB 229, KB 246, Qal IMPERATIVE
  2. tell, Isa. 6:9, BDB 55, KB 65, Qal PERFECT with waw
  3. keep listening, Isa. 6:9, Qal IMPERATIVE and Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE of BDB 1033, KB 1570
  4. but do not perceive, Isa. 6:9, BDB 106, KB 122, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense, cf. Isa. 1:3; 5:21; 10:13; 29:14
  5. keep looking, Isa. 6:9, Qal IMPERATIVE and Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE of BDB 906, KB 1157
  6. but do not understand, Isa. 6:9, BDB 393, KB 380, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
  7. render the hearts of this people insensitive (lit. "fat"), Isa. 6:10, BDB 1031, KB 1566, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
  8. their ears dull, Isa. 6:10, BDB 457, KB 455, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
  9. and their eyes dim, Isa. 6:10, BDB 1044, KB 1612, Hiphil IMPERATIVE
    These IMPERATIVES are followed by the consequences (three IMPERFECTS of previously used VERBS, "see," "hear," and "perceive"). God knows (either by His foreknowledge or His hardening of their already wayward hearts/minds) that they will not respond and be saved.
    1. lest they repent, BDB 996, KB 1427, Qal PERFECT with waw negated
    2. lest they be healed, BDB 950, KB 1272, Qal PERFECT with waw negated
      Isaiah will preach and though some may respond, the vast majority of his people/his society will not (cf. Rom. 1:24,26,28; Eph. 4:19) or cannot respond (cf. Isa. 29:9,10; Deut. 29:4; Matt. 13:13; Rom. 11:8)! Isaiah is not an evangelist here, but a prophet of covenant disobedience/consequences (cf. Matt. 13:13; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10). His message of hope is for a future day, not his day!
Divine Hardening in the New Testament
Use at Isa. 6:9-10 in the Gospels
1. Matt. 13:10-17; John 9:39; 12:40 ‒ referring to Palestinian Jews of Jesus' day
2. Mark 6:52; 8:18; Luke 24:45 ‒ referring to the Twelve
3. Rom. 11:7,25; 2 Cor. 3:14 ‒ referring to Palestinian Jews
4. Luke 24:16, the two on the road to Emmaus (i.e., their eyes were opened, implying they had been divinely closed, cf. Acts 16:14)
Theological Development
The shocking biblical statement, God hardened," has become the theological conflict between competing theological systems:
1. God's sovereignty vs. human free will
2. Augustine vs. Pelagius
3. Calvin vs. Arminius
  For me both are biblical truths. Both truths must be held in a theological tension (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ELECTION/PREDESTINATION AND THE NEED FOR A THEOLOGICAL BALANCE). The concept of "covenant" holds them together (see SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT). God always comes first, sets the agenda, and calls to fallen mankind, (e.g., John 6:44,65), but we are responsible for our choices (e.g., John 1:12; 3:16; Acts 2:21; Rom. 10:13). Human responsibility and its consequences mandate a human freedom (i.e., soul competency)! Moral actions are based on real choices. Choices have consequences in time and eternity! The Scriptures assert both truths (i.e., theological poles; see SPECIAL TOPIC: EASTERN LITERATURE [biblical paradoxes])!
  It is surely possible that this theological difficulty for us is predicated on our misunderstanding of ancient Hebrew theological idioms. Israel's unique monotheism demanded she defend it at all points. YHWH's cause of all things was a Hebrew way of affirming monotheism (see SPECIAL TOPIC: MONOTHEISM). Nothing just happened. There was one and only one cause—YHWH (see SPECIAL TOPIC: ONE CAUSALITY). The texts that assert this (cf. Eccl. 7:14; Isa. 45:7; Amos 6:3) have caused moderns to:
  1. attribute evil to God
  2. assert a radical form of the sovereignty to God