Then Jehovah said to Moses: “Go in to Phar′aoh, for I have allowed his heart and the hearts of his servants to become unresponsive, so that I may display these signs of mine right before him […] and you will certainly know that I am Jehovah.”
God could have saved time and just sent the tenth plague to Pharaoh right at the start.
He already knew Pharaoh was going to be unwilling to cooperate.
At Exodus chapter 4, verse 21, Jehovah God warned Moses regarding what to expect in Egypt: “I will allow his heart to become obstinate, and he will not send the people away.”
But Jehovah did not decide Pharaoh’s fate for him. He gave him at least eleven chances to change his mind about letting his People walk free.
It was Pharaoh who sealed his own fate.
This bit about Pharaoh ‘hardening his heart’ happened after the seventh plague.
Even in all his power, Jehovah God did not strip Pharaoh of free will.
Nor does he strip us of our own decision-making power.
There is much suffering in the world today.
Some may wonder why God doesn’t just wipe everything clean and start over.
But he is giving us time to get to know him and change our attitude toward him.
“Jehovah is not slow concerning his promise, as some people consider slowness, but he is patient with you because he does not desire anyone to be destroyed but desires all to attain to repentance,” (2 Pet. 3:9).
Today is a good day to ask myself: Am I allowing my heart to become unresponsive to God’s messages?
Bible Reading Highlights 