Exo 14:1-4, 27-28 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharoah will think, "The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert... And I will harden Pharoah's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharoah and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this ... Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen - the entire army of Pharoah that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
The question : Why did God harden Pharoah's heart?
The Bible records very clearly that Pharoah hardened his heart repeatedly before the Lord hardened Pharoah's heart. The first reference in Exo 7:8-13, and others:
Exo 7:22 First plague (blood)
Exo 8:15 Second plague (frogs)
Exo 8:19 Third plague (gnats)
Exo 8:32 Fourth plague (flies)
It was only after Pharoah had repeatedly hardened his heart that God hardened Pharoah's heart [Exo 9:12, 10:1 and so on]
It is also true today. We will harden our hearts if we do not listen and obey His Word and His Voice.
Heb 3:7-8 Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert.
A person will harden his heart each time he chooses to disobey God. If he continues to do this, a time will come when God will withdraw His Spirit from that person, i.e. the Holy Spirit will no longer try to convict the person of sin. Without the Holy Spirit's conviction of sins, the person's heart becomes hardened "by God".
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