Originally posted by CelandineBaggins
I have a question. I was reading in Exodus the other night and I came across this passage-
(Exodus 10:1, NIV) Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharoah, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them, that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the Lord."
God hardened Pharoah's heart so that he would not let the Isrealites go. Besides other obvious reasons, would Pharoah go to Hell for that, if it was God almost controlling Pharoah? If you dont understand my question I could make it more clear. Will Pharoah be punished for what God did, hardening his heart and all? This is simply a curious question, and I would appreciate all your responses.
Thanks. 
Before I get to the meat of a proper understanding of this issue you must first understand that, due to the Fall, man is
naturally rebellious. It is his nature to rebel against God. We are, by nature, children of God's wrath (Ephesians 2:3). If God does not intervene into the nature of man
he will naturally rebel.
Now, as to the passage you cite, when the Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, or anyone's heart for that matter, it just means that He withheld His grace and Pharaoh responded to the Israelites according to his fallen nature. It served God's purpose to have the most powerful man in the world oppose Him. Pharaoh was the closest example to a sovereign man the world has ever known. He basically said what would happen and pretty much made it happen. One of the differences between God and Pharaoh was that things come to pass according to the sovereign Will of God, whereas Pharaoh must do something to make his desires come to pass and even then there is no guarantee. What shows that he was actually not sovereign was exactly what God showed. God plainly states that the reason that He put Pharaoh in the position of power was to show the world that God,
not Pharaoh, was in charge. It was to show that God,
not Pharaoh, was the one with power. It was to show that the most powerful human being on the face of the earth was totally, completely, 100% subject to God's sovereign design.
Romans 9:17,18
For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "
For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
To make this verse clearer I will make some substitutions in bolded italics:
Romans 9:17,18
For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." Therefore He
gives grace to whom He wills, and
to whom He wills He
withholds His grace."
In closing let me restate, God does not work a hardness of heart into anyone's obedient heart. All that God does is withhold His grace, which He is not obligated to give in the first place, hence the term "grace," and man acts according to his fallen nature. This, for God's children, is one of the methods by which God exposes us to unrighteousness
to conform us to the image of His Son. Think about it. How can you learn patience if you never have to exhibit patience? God brings certain things about by His sovereign control of all creation for the purpose of exposing our weaknesses so that by being exposed we may rid ourselves, through His grace, of these iniquities. IOW, if you see that you have a problem with anger, God will continually bring about situations wherein you are challenged to respond in a godly way rather than in an ungodly, angry way. You ever notice that those things that you struggle with continually seem to come into your life? There's a reason for that. It is how God shows us our weakness and helps us overcome those weaknesses by recognizing that God's love has covered the multitude of our sins. We learn what His grace truly is by our weakness. And, just like Jesus, we learn obedience through our sufferings (Hebrews 5:8).
I hope this helps.
God bless
