You think that your description better than Bible? I am not convinced you were describing a tank. And the way you write was essay style at school or college, not the manner of writing in religious manuscript.
About the Bible saying God hardened pharaoh's heart, the following is from my posting last year.
Key points:
1. Will a powerful Pharoah listened to a lone ranger Moses and let the slaves walk away? We have to get real and consider human emotions when we read scriptures too, don't just read words. The scribes won't delve into detail to explain things (even if you think they should).
2. it is a case of the Bible assert God's sovereignty, everything that happen is attributed to God, they do not distinguish whether He caused it or He allowed people to proceed with their own choice - the Bible still said God caused it or it was His will.
Many Christians wonder whether God caused Pharaoh to stop the Hebrew slaves from leaving Egypt. Puzzled by the words "I shall hardened Pharaoh's heart and he shall not let them go," we debate over this issue. Hopefully, the following will help:
Egypt was the most advanced civilization at that time, and Pharaoh was king, He was commander of a powerful army, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, cavalry and chariots. Would such a powerful figure listen to Moses? To a person (Moses) standing with only a stuff in his hand, would the authoritarian say, “Ok prophet, I will let your people go as you ask”? Think about it and the answer is obviously no.
In fact, an Egyptian pharaoh was considered to be half-god half-human. The Egyptians worshipped other gods, not Jehovah. No doubt the king and his people heard the Hebrews' belief that the God of Jacob would lead them out of slavery one day but without seeing Jehovah's might before, the pharaoh would not believe Moses. Even among the Hebrews, many must have wondered whether God of their forefather Jacob was a just a myth - this was what it would feel like after seven or eight generations were enslaved for almost 400 years.
The Pharaoh could not afford to let the slaves go unless he had a death wish or wanted to abdicate. There were about 1/4 million Hebrew slaves; they were servants at Egyptian households, they labored at the pyramids and did work that are shunned by the Egyptians. Would the Pharaoh want to incur his people’s wrath by letting the slaves go? Would be choose to be hated, villified and ridiculed?
Consider these human factors and we will realize that Pharaoh would harden his own heart. So why then did the Bible say God harden his heart?
For all events, the Scriptures would only sum them up in a few words. The Bible doesn't explain situations in detail. It is not trying to be a novel that describe everything. While reading, we have to think about how things happened, what people did, and how they felt. The Scriptures does not delve into how things unfold gradually at ground level. Instead, whatever that happened - layers and layers of human drama and interaction - is just stated in a few words.
And the words of Scriptures assert God’s sovereignty.
To say that He hardened Pharaoh is a manner of writing that asserts His sovereignty. The Scripture portrays God as active, as if He causes all things to happen, even if He only allowed them. Such was the way of writing during biblical times. The writers did not distinguish between whether God cause or allow something to happen -- unlike the way we analyzed today. We have to understand their mindset. In Judah and Ephraim, when the Israelites continued to indulge in idolatry, Isaiah lamented, "Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? ?" [
Isaiah 63:17] However, this does not mean God literally cause then to harden. It is just the way the Hebrews use words as they write Scriptures.
Today, too many of us read words only -- and try to analyze words only. We try to think up many theories to explain tough issues, such as how God hardened Pharaoh's heart. However, we will do better to know that it was simply the way the scribes wrote.
