Exodus 7:1-13 Study Guide: Hardened Heart

Community Group Study Guide — Hardened Heart
Exodus 7:1-13

Study Information:
What would it take for you to have boldness in your faith? Moses experienced a turning point in Exodus 6 and now expressed bold confidence in God while he was in Egypt. This came after the setbacks of Israel’s slavery getting more difficult (Exodus 5) and Moses’s own crisis of faith and God’s reminder to Moses of his unchanging nature (Exodus 6). We now see a different Moses who was willing to enter the court of Pharaoh and challenge him regardless of the consequence. Moses and Aaron were now prepared for the long process of Pharaoh’s hardened heart and God’s judgment on Egypt. In this study guide we will explore the nature of Pharaoh’s pride and hardened heart as well as Pharaoh’s doubt of God. 

Hardened Hearts
Exodus 7:1-7
Moses and Aaron displayed tremendous humility and obedience to go back to Pharaoh. Exodus 7:6 and 10 emphasize how they did all that the Lord commanded them to do. This trust and faith was tremendous considering what they had just gone through and their soft heart towards God served as a contrast to Pharaoh’s defiance and doubt. 

God sent Moses to speak in his place and to be “like God” with Aaron as his prophet. God spoke to Moses and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh. God again reminded them that there would not be an immediate change in circumstances, so they should prepare for Pharaoh’s heart to get harder and harder with every meeting (Exodus 7:3). God’s goal was to show his power over Pharaoh and Egypt so that the Egyptians would know that he was the Lord (see Pharaoh’s own defiance in Exodus 5:2, “who is the LORD?!”). 

The Hebrew word “hardened” changes throughout the text and was used interchangeably, likely to show us the multifaceted nature of Pharaoh’s pride. There are three different Hebrew words behind the English word “hardened.” In Exodus 7:3, the word for hardened is the same word for something becoming “heavy or weighty”. In Exodus 7:13, the word for hardened means “growing strong.” And in Exodus 8:15 the word for harden is the same word for “glory,” often a word applied to God. These words repeat and are used all throughout the plague narrative at different times. What we learn here is that a hardened heart and pride can look like someone’s heart becoming weighed down and immovable, or a trusting in their own strength or a selfish desire for fame/glory. Basically, a lot was going on in Pharaoh’s resistance to God and it was rooted in pride and trust in himself. At various times we read that Pharaoh hardened his own heart and at other times that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, basically God catalyzing where Pharaoh was already heading. 

Moses and Aaron were soft hearted in their humility and obedience to God, Pharaoh was hard hearted in his pride, arrogance and resistance to God. 

Much has been said about the spiritual dangers of pride, but followers of Jesus should always be on guard for pride since pride seeks to take the place of God and puts oneself first. In Christ we have such a great example of humility in Jesus’s selfless love and sacrifice in how he lived and ultimately the cross where he laid down his own life for our sin. Faith in Jesus and the grace of God empowers the believer to resist the devil and to fight pride so that we can trust God and love others as Christ has loved us.

Doubting God
Exodus 7:8-13
Pharaoh demanded proof that Moses and Aaron were sent by this powerful God, but as we learn int he text he did not really want proof. The first sign given to Pharaoh was the same sign Moses was told to show the people of Israel, his staff turning into a snake. If you’ve ever been hiking in the summer you’ve played the game “stick or snake” whether you knew it or not. Basically, you see something on the trail and you have to figure out is it a stick or a snake? Surprise, Moses and Aaron's staff was both! This was a fairly small miracle in the grand scheme of Exodus, but it was enough to being the process of displaying God’s power to Pharaoh and it served to harden Pharaoh’s heart with doubt because of how the Egyptians magicians responded.

Pharaoh’s court had wise men, sorcerers and magicians who presumably gave Pharaoh council from the divine gods and would do seemingly miraculous tricks. These magicians provided enough plausible denial for Pharaoh because they were able to recreate the staff turning into a snake through what our text calls “secret arts” but is elsewhere translated as “trickery.” 2 Timothy 3:8 referenced the historical names for these two magicians (Jannes and Jambres) and that their signs were all outward show and not inward spiritual power. Exodus 7:8-13 also emphasized that this replication of the staff turning into snakes was not done by the power of God like Moses did but rather through trade secrets and God proved his power over these magicians when Aaron’s staff swallowed up the magician’s snakes.  

What’s important for us to see here is that this gave Pharaoh just enough plausible deniability and evidence to keep doubting the power of God. Skeptics can usually find similar evidence to keep God at an arms length and to harden their hearts to the reality of God’s presence and power in the world. The danger here for Pharaoh is that this initial hardening of his heart will set up greater resistance to the other plagues and miracle that follow. 

For followers of Jesus, we should desire an ever softening of our hearts to God and God’s ways and a humble following of what God has commanded. Are you filled with wonder and awe at the power of God? Do you desire to follow him even when it is difficult? Do you see an increasing love for others in your life? These are just a few signs of God softening our hearts as we grow more and more like Jesus. 

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Read Exodus 7:1-13

What do you think Exodus is communicating to us with this idea of Pharaoh’s heart hardening? How do Moses and Aaron stand as a contrast to Pharaoh?

How are Moses and Aaron different in Exodus 7:1-13 than they were in Exodus 5-6?

The study guide talked about how the magician’s tricks gave Pharaoh enough plausible deniability to keep him resisting God. Does something similar apply to skeptics and atheists today? What are some reasons you think that?

What are some ways you can pursue a soft heart as you follow Jesus?