PHARAOH HAD A HARD HEART
ROMANS 9:16–18
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden
(Romans 9:17–18).
Several days ago we considered briefly God’s sovereign control of history, and we mentioned the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Today we want to consider this in more depth.
We see in verse 18 that the reverse side of God’s mercy is His “hardening” of people in sin. This verse can be rather shocking. At first glance, it seems to say that God hardens the hearts of some people and then punishes them for the sins that flow out of their hardened hearts.
Such an idea is repugnant to everything the Bible teaches about God’s character and righteousness. God is not capable of committing an unjust act. There is no “darker side” of God’s personality.
Active Versus Passive Hardening
To understand this, we have to distinguish between active hardening and passive hardening. What we have in this verse is an example of God’s punitive judgment against a wicked man. Pharaoh was already wicked. Pharaoh already had an evil heart, out of which came evil continually. Pharaoh delighted in doing evil. If Pharaoh ever did anything good at all, it was as a result of the constraining and restraining work of God’s common grace.
One of the ways God punishes evil is to allow men to do what they really want, which is to become even more evil. As Paul puts it in Romans 1:24, 26, and 28, God “gave them over” to the evil they want to do. God does this by withdrawing His restraint, which has the result of allowing men’s hearts to harden against Him. Thus, God does not cause men to sin, nor does He make them bad. Rather, He simply lets them harden themselves, as a punishment for their wickedness.
CORAM DEO
God’s restraint on the wickedness of non-believers is what makes it possible for us to live in some semblance of peace and lawful order in our nation. Today, pray for your country. Pray for the conversion of its leaders, and pray that God will continue, by His common grace, to keep your leaders from becoming hardhearted against the truth.
For further study: Exodus 9:13–19, 27–35; 2 Chronicles 7:11–15: Hosea 11:1–11; 1 Peter 2:13–17.
TABLETALK
from ligonier ministries and teaching and encouraging believers • september 1989
GRACE & BEAUTY
Daily Studies From The Teaching Fellowship Of R. C. Sproul
publisher Ligonier Ministries executive editor Ralph D. Veerman editor Robert F. Ingram creative services Michael S. Beates; David K. Freeland
marketing/production W. David Fox; Melissa Prichard; Gretchen Suskovic
circulation Gwen Weber writer Sharon Anderson
LIGONIER MINISTRIES BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Bruce Fogerty
G. Richard Hostetter
Robert C. Legler
Stephen H. Levee, Jr.
C. G. Mills
Archie B. Parrish
Jim Seneff
R. C. Sproul
John Thompson
Ralph Veerman
Luder Whitlock
Charles Colson
(director emeritus)
Published by Walk Thru the Bible Ministries, Inc. under license granted by Ligonier Ministries, Inc. Copyright 1989, Ligonier Ministries, Inc. This Bible study is based upon teaching material by Dr. R. C. Sproul. Unless noted, all Scripture quotations in this publication are from the Holy Bible, New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishers.
member evangelical press association
on the cover: Ballerina. Four by Five, Inc., New York, NY.
robert ingram • editor
Coram Deo
Thursdays used to be my day to recreate beauty. For almost nine years in the pastorate I consistently took Thursday as my day off. To the casual “Thursday” observer I was always and forever working in the yard, tending my rose garden, painting our house, and working on my tennis game. In actuality I was conscientiously laboring to produce as much beauty as I could humanly achieve in each of those areas.
Long ago I realized that in the field of the arts I would never produce beauty. I can’t sing, I can’t dance, I can’t draw. Therefore I realized I would have to turn to other areas in which to produce beauty. I’ve learned to love to sweat in the Florida sun if it results in being able to admire the loveliness of a freshly cut rose.
My goal to recreate beauty has been heightened by the way today’s culture apparently scorns it. The ugly and grotesque are now vogue. That which is obscene and base (watch five minutes of MTV to see what I mean) threatens the delicate, ordered perfection and harmony of beauty. The arts are the barometer of culture. They record the character of the present generation and even predict the character of future ones. A century from now, what will today’s expressions of art and culture say about our concept of beauty?
Even more significant than the loss of beauty in the arts has been the loss of spiritual beauty: the beauty of holiness that is implanted through regeneration. This beauty is revealed most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ.
Only the eyes of faith may behold the loveliness of Christ. For the believer, Christ becomes the Pearl of Great Price, wholly desirable and the chief object of spiritual affection. He is adorned with holiness and beauty that becomes ours through His sacrifice on the cross. Through grace bestowed on us, we become beautiful in the eyes of God.
This month’s issue of Tabletalk, while not neglecting natural beauty and the arts, focuses significantly on the beauty of Jesus Christ. If Coram Deo means to live life before the face of God, we hope that you are exhorted to a new appreciation for who and what is truly beautiful. Our prayer is that you will be newly inspired to join the psalmist and “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (Psalm 29:2 nkjv). ■
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