A word of Torah:
One of the most challenging aspects of the story of the Exodus is the hardening of the heart of Pharaoh. While at times the text tells us that Pharaoh has hardened his own heart, other times we are told God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Traditional commentators struggle with this notion that suggests God takes away, or at least diminishes, Pharaoh’s free will. The ability of humans to make choices is at the heart of rabbinic Judaism’s theology. I remain unpersuaded by the traditional attempts to justify God’s actions.
Instead, I would like to take God out of the story, as it were, and read it as a struggle over freedom and slavery between its two main characters, Moses and Pharaoh. Last week, we saw how a new Pharaoh comes to power and sets our story in motion. He calls upon the Egyptian people to join in the oppression of the Israelites, who are dangerously increasing in numbers. Perhaps Pharaoh is really concerned about the Israelites or perhaps he sees it as an opportunity to get free labor for a massive Egyptian building project. You can imagine either idea might rally the populace to his side.
Moses then appears to Pharaoh and says: Let My people go! Pharaoh immediately acts to crush any rebellion by issuing instructions that from now on the slaves must gather their own straw for bricks. The Israelites turn on Moses who turns on God. While Pharaoh’s strategy is shrewd and successful, he underestimates Moses’ persistence.
With the start of the plagues, Pharaoh’s game plan is to acquiesce to Moses’ demands in order to get him to remove the current plague. As soon as the plague is gone, Pharaoh changes his mind. It is not clear whether this is a simple strategy or he keeps on second guessing his decisions. Moses not only persists—he uses Pharaoh’s concessions to keep on raising his demands until he obtains unconditional freedom for all of the Israelites. Moses understands that a struggle for freedom will face setbacks and will take time. It will not happen all at once.
Pharaoh is trapped by his sense of himself and by his adherence to the status quo. He cannot admit a mistake or even negotiate. He erases all evidence of vulnerability by “forgetting” Joseph. He loses the support of the Egyptians. In the end, his hardened heart of stubbornness will lead to his destruction at the sea.
In contrast, Moses will convince the Israelites to leave all that is familiar and journey into the unknown. That willingness to embrace rather than fear change is the foundation of freedom.
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