Let’s begin by reading Exodus 7:8-13, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. And HE HARDENED PHARAOH’S HEART, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.” Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh with a message from the Lord to let His people go.  Pharaoh asked for a miracle to verify that their message was from God, but after witnessing the miracle, he still refused to let the Lord’s people go from their slavery in Egypt.

Let’s read verse 13 from a few other translations:

• “And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.” (NKJV).
• “And Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had said.” (Darby).
• “Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.” (NASB).

Seeing the difference in these translations, I think this may be the reason that some do not believe that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The Lord had already warned Moses and Aaron of Pharaoh’s hard heart in verse 4 of this chapter.  That says, “But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.”  It seems that the hardness of Pharaoh’s heart was the result of his own stubbornness and unbelief.  Earlier, he had declared, “…Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2).

As Moses and Aaron continued to approach Pharaoh to let the Lord’s people go, they came each time with a plague to cause Pharaoh to realize it was the one true God that sent them.  Let’s consider a few more verses that tell us of Pharaoh’s attitude in the face of these warning plagues.

• Exodus 8:15, “But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.”
• Exodus 8:32, “And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.”

Pharaoh continued to be stubborn and refused to let the people go.  Then we read in Exodus 9:12, “And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had spoken unto Moses.” To this, the many translations agree.  At this point, the Lord did indeed harden Pharaoh’s heart.  This judicial hardening of Pharaoh’s heart by God Himself now began.  The Apostle Paul would later write of those who refused to acknowledge or obey God in Romans 1:28, “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient.”  So now with Pharaoh.  Because he had twice hardened his own heart (Exodus 8:15,32), God hardened him.  At this point, the Lord did harden the heart of Pharaoh, as He said he would in Exodus 4:21, “And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.”  (CC)  (671.6)