Topical Bible: Heart: Hardened Hearts: Others

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In biblical theology, the concept of a "hardened heart" is a significant theme that illustrates the spiritual and moral obstinacy of individuals who resist God's will and truth. The hardening of the heart is often depicted as a condition that prevents individuals from perceiving, understanding, and responding to divine revelation and moral imperatives. This entry explores instances of hardened hearts in others, as depicted in the Scriptures.

Pharaoh of Egypt

One of the most prominent examples of a hardened heart is Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt during the time of Moses. The narrative in the Book of Exodus describes how Pharaoh's heart was hardened, leading him to refuse the demands of God delivered through Moses to let the Israelites go. The hardening of Pharaoh's heart is mentioned multiple times, with variations indicating that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and at other times, God hardened it. This duality underscores the interplay between human free will and divine sovereignty. Exodus 9:12 states, "But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had told Moses."

The Israelites in the Wilderness

The Israelites themselves are depicted as having hardened hearts during their wilderness journey. Despite witnessing God's miraculous deliverance and provision, they frequently exhibited unbelief and rebellion. Psalm 95:8-9 warns, "Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, where your fathers tested and tried Me, though they had seen My work." This passage serves as a cautionary reminder of the consequences of spiritual insensitivity and disobedience.

The People of Israel in the Prophets

The prophetic literature often addresses the hardened hearts of the people of Israel, who persistently turned away from God despite the warnings and calls to repentance delivered by the prophets. Isaiah 6:9-10 records God's instruction to the prophet Isaiah: "Go and tell this people: ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’ Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes." This hardening is portrayed as both a judgment and a consequence of persistent rebellion.

The Religious Leaders in the New Testament

In the New Testament, the religious leaders of Jesus' time are frequently depicted as having hardened hearts. Their resistance to Jesus' teachings and miracles is attributed to their spiritual blindness and pride. Mark 3:5 describes Jesus' response to their hardness: "And looking around at them with anger, grieved by their hardness of heart, He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored." This incident highlights the tragic irony of religious leaders who, despite their knowledge of the Scriptures, failed to recognize the Messiah.

General Warnings Against Hardening the Heart

The theme of hardened hearts extends beyond specific individuals to serve as a general warning to all believers. Hebrews 3:12-13 exhorts, "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." This admonition emphasizes the importance of vigilance and mutual encouragement within the community of faith to prevent spiritual insensitivity.

The biblical portrayal of hardened hearts serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers of resisting God's truth and grace. It calls believers to remain receptive to the Holy Spirit's work, to cultivate a responsive and obedient heart, and to heed the warnings of Scripture against spiritual obstinacy.

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1 Samuel 6:6
Why then do you harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had worked wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?
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Library

The Duty of the People of God to Excite Others to Seek this Rest.
... THE DUTY of exciting and helping others to discern ... for their conversion, and our
hearts were solicitous ... conscience grows seared; the heart hardened; the devil ...
/.../baxter/the saints everlasting rest/chapter ix the duty of.htm

The Patient Teacher, and the Slow Scholars
... So here we have a self-revelation, as by one glimpse into a great chamber, of the
deep heart of Christ, the great ... 'Are your hearts yet hardened?' by which ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture d/the patient teacher and the.htm

Jesus Angry with Hard Hearts
... the Savior because of the hardness of our hearts, and yet be ... of temptation, and sins
grievously, and yet at heart he may be by no means so hardened as the ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 32 1886/jesus angry with hard hearts.htm

The Apostolic Love.
... Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts; that they ...
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be ...
/.../kuyper/the work of the holy spirit/xxxvi the apostolic love.htm

The Weeping Saviour.
... of the impenitence and obduracy of the human heart. ... Jewish village, and the few
impenitent hearts that were ... a mournful picture of the hardened hearts in every ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/macduff/memories of bethany/xii the weeping saviour.htm

The First Great Group of Parables.
... [The four soils are four hearts into which truth is sown. The first heart, represented
by the wayside, is one which is too hardened for the Word to make ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/liv the first great group 2.htm

The Two Storms (Jesus Walking on the Water)
... If their hearts had not been hardened, the miracle of the loaves would have ... they
considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened. ...
/.../chadwick/the gospel of st mark/chapter 4 35-41 6 47-52 the two.htm

Greeks Seek Jesus. He Foretells that He Shall Draw all Men unto ...
... and he hardened their heart; Lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive
with their heart, And should ... Had God, however, hardened their hearts by a ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/cxii greeks seek jesus he.htm

On Dress
... Whatever ye do yourselves, do not harden the hearts of others. ... Now, to-day, before
the heart is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, cut off, at one stroke ...
/.../wesley/sermons on several occasions/sermon 88 on dress.htm

Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief.
... supernatural works which He does towards us are in the heart, and impart ... so it is
that, as the Israelites for forty years hardened their hearts in the ...
/.../newman/parochial and plain sermons vol viii/sermon vi miracles no remedy.htm