Articles / Class Lessons
“The Hardening Effects of Sin”
Then Moses stretched out his staff toward heaven, and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and fire ran down to the earth. And the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. There was hail and fire flashing continually in the midst of the hail, very heavy hail, such as had never been in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. The hail struck down everything that was in the field in all the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And the hail struck down every plant of the field and broke every tree of the field. Only in the land of Goshen, where the people of Israel were, was there no hail.
Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong. Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.” Moses said to him, “As soon as I have gone out of the city, I will stretch out my hands to the LORD. The thunder will cease, and there will be no more hail, so that you may know that the earth is the LORD’s. But as for you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the LORD God.” (The flax and the barley were struck down, for the barley was in the ear and the flax was in bud. But the wheat and the emmer were not struck down, for they are late in coming up.) So Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh and stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth. But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet again and hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people of Israel go, just as the LORD had spoken through Moses.
Exodus 9.23-35 ESV
TODAY’S READING: Exodus 7-9
As we read through these chapters it is easy to spot a recurring theme. Several times we read, "the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh." This has caused no small discussion among Bible students. Does this mean that Pharaoh was born to fail? Did he have a choice in the matter? Of course he did. We are all creatures of free will and any decision that Pharaoh made was his responsibility. Pharaoh made continual decisions to rebel against God. From his perspective, the God of the Hebrews was just one of many gods. Only until he understood who God is and the real, undeniable power He possesses, would Pharaoh break and let Moses lead the people out of Egypt. There is an important lesson here for today's Christian. The longer we continually make decisions that lead us away from God and His will, the easier it will become. The harder our heart becomes, it becomes increasingly unlikely that we will be moved toward repentance. Guard your heart with all vigilance. Beware of the pull of darkness and the hardening effects of sin. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you, James 4.6b-8a.
