Joshua 11:20
Joshua 11:20 (see also Jeremiah 18:1-13)
For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Calvinist, James White, comments: “God hardening hearts to destroy a people? What of their libertarian free will?” (Debating Calvinism, p.359, emphasis mine)
They exercised it, and now God is fashioning them for a useful purpose. How is this any different than with Pharaoh?
It’s the same thing as with the hardening of Israel according to Isaiah 6:10, when we find out that according to Isaiah 65:2, God had reached out to them in grace: “‘I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, a people who continually provoke Me to My face, offering sacrifices in gardens and burning incense on bricks; who sit among graves and spend the night in secret places; who eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of unclean meat is in their pots. Who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!” These are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.’”
Question: Why did God “harden” Pharaoh?
Answer: Let God speak for Himself: “‘But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.’” (Exodus 3:19-20) That sure sounds an awful lot like the Calvinist’s old nemesis, Foreknowledge. Remember that God, as the Potter, has the sovereign jurisdiction to deal with the unrepentent wicked as He sees fit. But it doesn’t end there. It is God’s righteousness that ensures that His verdicts are just. Pharaoh will have no liability case against God on Judgment Day since God did not unjustly harden his heart. Out of his own free will, which God foreknew, Pharaoh was a wicked, hardened and stiff-necked individual, long before God had begun to test him. This is evident in the fact that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Exodus 7:13, 22, 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7) before God hardened it. (Exodus 9:12, 34-35, 10:1, 20, 27, 11:10; 14:8).
Question: Is God patient even with those whom He foreknows will reject Him?
Answer: On the basis of Isaiah 65:2, yes.
