In an epic showdown between God and the Pharaoh of Egypt, God sends 10 plagues against the stubborn ruler of Egypt to show him, his people, and the Israelites God’s incredible might and power.
The story of the plagues can be a case study of Pharaoh’s heart–a heart that remained hard in the midst of disaster for his country.
In Sunday’s sermon on September 7, 2025, named “Symptoms of Stubbornness,” our pastor looked at how a hard heart will act towards God based on a study of one of the plagues, a hail storm, in Exodus 9:13-35.
Left to ourselves, we can stiffen our egos, and then God can harden us with repeated movement in our lives when we continue to be resisting and unrelenting in our hearts.
First, as is discussed in the sermon, a hard heart towards God will 1) Disregard God’s clear warnings.
In the 7th plague, hail, God warns the people to take shelter and bring in their livestock.
In a like manner, God warns us on how to deal with our relationship with Jesus.
Jesus warns, in Luke 6:46, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?“
And James warns in James 2:26, “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.”
Second, a hard heart towards God will 2) Demand God’s relief and deny Him true repentance.
Pharaoh pays lip service to God but his heart is far from the Lord.
In Exodus 9: 28-29 the text reads, “Then Pharaoh sent and called Moses and Aaron and said to them, “This time I have sinned; the LORD is in the right, and I and my people are in the wrong.
Plead with the LORD, for there has been enough of God’s thunder and hail. I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer.”
But Pharaoh did not keep his word. He didn’t let the Israelites go.
Without repentance, we can still ask God for relief. Pharaoh wanted relief from God’s judgment but didn't want to know God or repent.
Jesus will separate those who know Him from those who don’t. He wants us to know Him.
Third, a hard heart towards God will 3) Delay obedience exhausting all other options.
Delaying in my response to God is the nature of a hard heart.
Hebrews 3:12-13 says “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
That is why it is important to build your tribe who will encourage you in your walk with Christ.
So, just as a reminder, a hard heart towards God will:
1) Disregard God’s clear warnings.
2) Demand God’s relief and deny Him true repentance.
3) Delay obedience exhausting all other options.
God wants to go deep and peel back the scales of our stubbornness.
God promises to replace our heart of stone with a heart of flesh.
In Ezekiel 36:26, God says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Am I disregarding God’s clear warnings? Am I demanding God’s relief and denying Him true repentance? Am I delaying obedience?
Examining my heart will help me repent, and staying in community will keep me in line. These two things will help me see my heart softened toward God.
And that will give me hope in God’s deliverance in my life.
—Ann Elizabeth Yeager