Daily Bible Readings YLT January 29th

At first Pharoah's heart is ignorant, " Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken to His voice, to send Israel away? I have not known Jehovah and Israel also I do not send away" (Exodus 5:2)As he hears Moses tell that "the God of the Hebrews hath met with us", a revolutionary thought for a kingdom which worshipped remote gods which neither speak nor hear, the Pharoah's only understanding is that Moses is seeking to free the people from its works.As God continues to reveal himself to Pharoah through Moses' words and the extraordinary events that God brings as Moses holds out the rod of authority in accordance with God's words and commands, we see Pharoah's reaction is to harden his heart. It is one thing to be ignorant of God but when that ignorant heart is not open to learn, is not humble to listen, is full of its own judgement and prejudice, that is to block the way for God to soften our heart and to hear His voice call us to Himself. It is in this meaning that God says, "I will harden his heart". It is a result of encountering God, not of God acting upon him. For God does not override our moral choices, does not make us become anything but what we choose to be. There is always a choice. Pray that our hearts might be softened by God, that we might have hearts of flesh and His law will be written in our hearts that we might choose to do what is right and pleasing in His sight. "This is my beloved son. Listen to Him."Someone somewhere has explained the effect God has upon a person's heart in this way: God is like the sun which shines on butter and on clay; the first melts before Him in humility and recognition of our own sinfulness, as Peter said " Depart from me for I am a sinful man, oh Lord (Luke 5:8); the second dries and hardens and cracks before Him in pride and self-righteousness and superiority, thinking we are better and know better and judge better than God, "Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken to His voice".