The Difficulty
The Bible says God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, which seems to make God the author of Pharaoh’s sin and then punish him for it. Paul intensifies the problem in Romans 9: “He has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.”
Responses
Judicial Hardening (Wesleyan-Arminian)
Tradition: Wesleyan / Arminian Summary: God’s hardening is a response to, not the cause of, Pharaoh’s own prior resistance.
Wesley and the Arminian tradition note that Pharaoh hardens his own heart first (Ex 7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32) before God hardens it (Ex 9:12). God’s hardening is judicial — a consequence of persistent, freely-chosen rebellion. Wesley called it the withdrawal of “preventing [prevenient] grace.”
Strengths
- Preserves human moral agency
- Consistent with Wesleyan theology and the Exodus narrative’s own sequence
Weaknesses
- The text does say God initiated the hardening in Ex 4:21 (before the plagues begin)
- Romans 9 is harder to read this way
Further Reading
- Wesley, Explanatory Notes on the Old Testament, on Exodus 4:21 and 9:12
- Wesley, Sermon 58: “On Predestination” and Sermon 128: “Free Grace”
- Jerry Walls and Joseph Dongell, Why I Am Not a Calvinist (IVP, 2004)
Sovereign Purpose (Reformed / Calvinist)
Tradition: Reformed / Calvinist Summary: God sovereignly ordains both the hardening and the salvation for his greater glory.
Calvin, Edwards, and the Reformed tradition take the texts at face value: God actively hardened Pharaoh’s heart as part of a sovereign plan. Romans 9 is the definitive commentary. God’s justice is not determined by human standards of fairness; God is the potter, humanity the clay.
Strengths
- Takes the strongest texts seriously (Ex 4:21, Rom 9)
- Theologically coherent
- Produces awe and humility
Weaknesses
- Raises acute problems for divine justice
- Can feel fatalistic
- Wesley’s critique: it makes God “worse than the devil”
Further Reading
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion III.23–24
- Jonathan Edwards, Freedom of the Will (1754)
- John Piper, The Justification of God (Baker, 1993)
- Thomas Schreiner, Romans (Baker Exegetical, 1998), on Rom 9
Ancient Near Eastern Idiom
Tradition: Academic / Linguistic Summary: Hebrew idiom attributes to God what God permits; “God hardened” means “God allowed the hardening.”
In Hebrew thought, the distinction between God causing and God permitting is often collapsed. “The LORD sent an evil spirit” (Judg 9:23) means God permitted it. Ancient Near Eastern texts routinely attribute all events to divine causation.
Strengths
- Linguistically grounded
- Avoids imposing modern philosophical categories on ancient texts
Weaknesses
- Can sound like explaining away the text
- Romans 9 seems to go beyond mere idiom
Further Reading
- John Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament (Baker Academic, 2006), ch. 4
- Terence Fretheim, Exodus (Interpretation, 1991), excursus on the hardening
Narrative Theology / Character Formation
Tradition: Narrative / Pastoral Summary: The hardening motif reveals how encounter with God intensifies existing character — for better or worse.
Terence Fretheim notes that the same sun melts wax and hardens clay. The plagues are revelatory encounters; Pharaoh’s hardening is the tragic result of encountering God with a heart already committed to self-deification.
Strengths
- Pastorally rich
- The “sun on wax and clay” metaphor preaches well
- Works across theological traditions
Weaknesses
- Doesn’t fully resolve the philosophical tension
- Romans 9 presses harder than narrative theology alone can answer
Further Reading
- Terence Fretheim, Exodus (Interpretation, 1991) — the best narrative-theological Exodus commentary
- Terence Fretheim, The Suffering of God (Fortress, 1984)
- Brevard Childs, The Book of Exodus (OTL, 1974)
- The “sun on wax and clay” image originates with Origen, Commentary on Romans on 9:18