harden Pharaoh’s heart
Exodus 7:3
7:3 harden Pharaoh’s heart. This sovereign act of God, designed to make His power known (see Romans 9:17) might seem cruel except that Pharaoh volitionally hardened his own heart against God (e.g., Exodus 8:15), and so fully merited God’s judgment. Here is a succinct example of the great mystery, inscrutable to our finite minds, of God’s election versus man’s will. Like two sides of the same coin, both are real but can only be viewed and understood separately.