Pharaoh, the World, and God's Speaking

As I am going through the book of Exodus, I am continually perplexed by why Pharaoh continually has his heart hardened as the Lord is unleashing his power upon Egypt to let the Israelites go. He even admits in 9:27 as the hail was falling upon Egypt that he was in the wrong and the Lord was in the right. Yet, even after this, his heart hardened and he refused to let the Israelites go. This did deeply bug me and I wondered why his heart kept becoming so hardened.

Egypt represents the world and Moses is representing those speaking the truth of God. A lot of times in  speaking to those who are not saved, their hearts are hardened towards the Lord. Even if we keep on showing the grace of the Lord to those who are not saved, their hearts still have been hardened and they have a hard time opening up to the Lord. I really do appreciate that Moses did not give up after the initial failure of the Pharoah letting the Israelites honor the Lord. Most of the time, as Christians preach to those who are of the world, they will not likely get through due to hardened hearts. Those who are not saved will find some excuse that will say that something is not of the Lord, such as the magicians for Pharaoh making him believe the plagues were not of the Lord. We cannot give up though. Through repeated showings of the Lord, hearts do soften.

Eventually, Moses's speaking does result in the Israelites leaving Egypt. I have not yet reached that in the reading, but the title of the book does give that away as Exodus means "a mass departure". Eventually, the Lord even shows those of the world that He is the true Lord in ways that are undeniable. It was through Moses's speaking (in conjunction with the plagues upon the world; the plagues symbolizing the calamities that befall us if we are those of the world) that the Lord was able to get the Israelites out of Egypt to fulfill His promise that they have a land of their own. (How wonderful it is that the Lord remembers His promises!)