Ex. 6:2 - 9:35
PrĂ©cis: God reiterates His intention to free the Israelites from bondage and to create a covenant with them. Moses goes back to Pharaoh to seek release of the Israelites. Pharaoh refuses and we see the first seven of the fabled plagues: blood, frogs, fleas, beetles, cattle disease, boils, and hail. Pharaoh relents after each plague begins, deciding to let the people go, but then God “hardens Pharaoh’s heart” and he refuses to allow them to leave.
Ex. 10:1 “And God said to Moses, ‘Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart.’”
If God has actually “hardened his heart” how can Pharaoh be blamed for his refusal to let the children of Israel go? Let me be provocative. Has God hardened the heart of Donald Trump and his enablers? If so, can they be blamed for their conduct, which, at least by some, was seditious and treasonous.
Some commentators declare that Pharaoh had free will but stubbornly refused to exercise it. He ignored the reality of the plagues. He chose “alternative facts.”
I contend that we “harden our hearts” when we are overcome by anger. We harden our hearts by believing lies. We harden our hearts when we disrespect the least among us: the poor, the widow, the orphan, the oppressed. Like Pharaoh, when we harden our hearts, no good can come to our country.
Despite his provocations, Moses continues to treat Pharaoh with respect, even with Pharaoh’s hardened heart. In this, we have a clue as to how to deal with our current situation (difficult though it may be to achieve): we must treat with fairness those whose hearts have been hardened, who have denigrated the spirit and letter of our constitution, who have actually waved the traitorous flag of the Confederacy through the hallowed halls of Congress. The fairness we treat them must be through the laws which all of us are required to abide by, even if they have failed to recognize this duty of citizenship in the United States of America.
Rashi suggests that Pharaoh’s heart was not “hardened” until he had forfeited the opportunity to repent. We need to be prepared to be open to those whose hearts have been hardened by years of lies and hatred and accept that while difficult, repentance is possible.
