God’s plan for Israel from the very beginning was to engineer a miraculous deliverance for them from Egypt. But his plan of blessing for them came at the cost of great suffering and hardship for the Egyptians. Pharaoh was willing to let his people endure ten great plagues before he finally let the Israelites go. After the first five plagues the Bible says Pharaoh hardened his heart, but with the sixth plague something different happened. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. For plague seven, again Pharaoh hardened his own heart, but then God had given him all the chances he was going to get. For the final three plagues God made sure Pharaoh’s heart was hard so he would not relent. Was that unfair? I don’t think so. Everything we have is a gift from God and he gives us many chances to turn our hearts to him. Many chances, yes, but there will be one time that is the last time. I pray for lost loved ones that God will give them many chances to repent, that God will not shorten their lives.
Lord, when I read this grim story of the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart a glimmer of hope comes into my mind. I know that if you can harden hearts you can also soften them. Just as you turned Saul from persecutor to apostle in one dramatic moment on the Damascus road, you can change a lost person's heart in an instant. You changed my heart in just that way. Lord, I will continue to pray for your miraculous hand to save the lost. Soften their hearts and grant them mercy. Amen.
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