But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go.
— Exodus 8:32 (NKJ)
This verse shows us that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. So how do you explain the verses where it says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart? I have heard this example used and want to share it….”The same sun that melts butter, hardens clay.”
The same sun has opposite effects. God was working and Pharaoh refused to accept what he was seeing and experiencing – that this was the true God of all Gods. He continually went his own way, denying the true God and turning to his own gods.
The 10 plagues of Egypt are not just 10 random events that God decided to use. Each one of the plagues countered a specific god in Egypt. Amazing! God was showing Himself as the supreme God.
God in His goodness was giving Pharaoh a chance to acknowledge God as God and to turn to Him! That is goodness! Pharaoh had many chances to turn from his own way to the true and only God. But he refused.
“The heart sees what the eyes do not see”
Recall His Goodness