Why Does God Harden Hearts?

I mean, other than the obvious? God did say "I will harden his heart so that he won't let the people go," and "I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt."
Exodus 4:21 and 7:3

But why would He make it harder for someone to obey Him, just to show off?
From a certain point of view, it seems almost as if Pharaoh was given an option, but was forced to choose wrong, just so he could suffer the consequences.

However, if I answer the question now, this blog post will be too short, and you will walk away feeling dissatisfied, so let me first give you some food for thought:

I was researching light awhile back, and found it interesting that according to the theory of relativity, light doesn't seem to exist within time. As in, it doesn't have a time value. Apparently, when you accelerate toward the speed of light, time slows down. That is, until you reach the speed of light, where time can't slow down any further, so the consensus is, time stops. That means, from the perspective of light, the instant it is released from its source is the same instant it hits its final destination, no matter the distance.

From light's perspective, no matter how far you are from this picture of fireworks over a lamp in Disney World, it will be in your eye the same instant it was emitted from your phone or monitor.

Now, from an outsider's perspective, light travels at a rate of one light year per year. That means it'll take light billions of years to cross the entire universe, because the universe--as far as we can see--is billions of light years across.

So, if you were travelling at the speed of light from one end of the universe on the day of its creation, toward the other end of the universe without hitting an obstacle, you would witness billions of years passing--the entirety of eternity--all compressed into one instant.

The reason I find this interesting is because in the bible, the book of John repeatedly referred to Jesus as the light of the world, and even opens with this:

"In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
Life was in Him,
and that life was the light of men.
That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome it."
John 1:1-5, HCSB

Here, Jesus is referred to as both the Word that created, and the light. Now, if you go back to Genesis, you'll find the first words God is recorded to ever say are, "Let there be light."
Genesis 1:3

So, essentially, Jesus is the Word of God, and the first words of God are intended to create light, and so Jesus is the light, as confirmed by John. This means that (if taken literally) Jesus, being light, has been travelling the Universe at light speed since the beginning of creation, overseeing all of eternity, every instant.

What's more is that even in the deepest darkness, humans have been discovered to produce trace amounts of light, invisible to the naked eye. So, just remember next time you feel all alone, Jesus is practically pouring out of your face.

Photo Credit: Kyoto University; Tohoku Institute of Technology; PLoS ONE

But, of course, I didn't really need to explain all that, because I already established in my last post that God most likely exists outside of time. I just thought that this rant would be intriguing and edifying.

So, how does this tie in with the question?

My point is merely that God, existing outside of time and knowing beginning and end, can see where each of us will end up at any point in time. So God likely knew that Pharaoh would never be in a position where he could accept just one God. Pharaoh likely would have had to abandon his throne to do so, as Egyptian culture believed the pharaohs to be gods. If the pharaoh admitted there were only one God, then that means his reign wasn't divine. He was just a man on a chair, easily usurped.

God knew Pharaoh couldn't be won. So, He took advantage of the situation.

If God had instead softened Pharaoh's heart, then the Israelites would have been free as soon as Moses asked. Nothing extraordinary would have happened. Nothing would have changed for Pharaoh, other than the lack of laborers. And the Israelites wouldn't have any stories to tell of the wonders they had witnessed, and of how powerful their God was.

They would simply take their freedom for granted. Which they still often did, but could you imagine how much worse it could have been?

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified."
Romans 8:28-30 HCSB

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