Was Pharaoh Treated Unfairly by God? Was He Given a Raw Deal?

"Was Pharaoh treated unfairly by God? Was he given a raw deal?"

Exodus is the story of how Moses, aided by God, leads his people from Egypt. Being that they are enslaved at the time this may seem like a big task, but Moses has God on his side; He has a covenant to fulfill from Genesis 15:13.

Moses is a slave living under the rule of the Pharaoh and knows that he will not be granted freedom just because he asks for it in the name of the God. The Lord also knows prior to all of this that the Israelites will not be freed easily, in Exodus 3:19-20 God says, "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go." It seems like God knows that is going to take a lot more than Moses asking to be freed for it to actually happen.

He goes on to tell pharaoh through Moses what it will take for him to actually release the Israelites. Exodus 4: 22-23 "then say to pharaoh, ‘this is what the lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, "let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'" Pharaoh did not listen, he never listened to the warning that God was giving him. Exodus is filled with examples of the king of Egypt not listening to the warning that he was being given. In Exodus 6, God explains that the Egyptians do not know him, nor does he have a covenant with them as he does the family of Abraham, so it does not surprise me that he hardened the heart of the Pharaoh.

There are times in Exodus where it clearly stated that God is hardening the heart of the Pharaoh, and others where it just states that his heart be came hard. The first plague of blood, his heart became hard, the plague of the frogs, is the same. His heart is hardened