Does God ever give up on unbelievers?

Question

In Exodus, we read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Does that mean he gives up on people and won’t let them be saved? Is that how she shows his power?

Answer

Before we jump straight to an answer, let’s get the context of this question. In Exodus 7:1-4, we read that God told Moses that he would harden Pharoah’s heart when Moses told the king to release the Israelites from captivity in Egypt. Paul later wrote that God put Pharaoh in power so he could display his divine power over the human king (Romans 9:17 quoted from Exodus 9:16).

Some people understand this to mean that God would not allow Pharaoh to obey Moses’ command; in other words, Pharaoh had no choice but to disobey God. But is that true? No! Consider these passages between Exodus 7 and 9.

Ex 7:13 – “Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard” (the miracle of the serpent)

Ex 7:22 – “So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard” (the Nile turned to blood)

Ex 8:15 – “When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them” (the plague of frogs)

Ex 8:19 – “Pharaoh’s heart remained hard” (the plague of gnats)

Ex 8:32 – “Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also” (the plague of flies)

Ex 9:7 – “Pharaoh’s heart remained hard” (the death of Egyptian cattle)

Ex 9:12 – “The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (the plague of boils)

Notice that God repeatedly proved himself to Pharoah, allowing the king to harden his own heart before God finally stepped in and said, “You are out of chances!” Did God know that Pharaoh would not obey and that God would end up hardening him? Yes. Did God force him or require him to disobey? No, not at all.

But how could God have displayed his power over Pharaoh and Egypt if he had simply let the Israelites go free? In Egyptian culture (and many others), the king was considered to be a deity, a god. His word was not only law, it was divine. So, had Pharaoh obeyed the prophet of the Israelites’ God, he would have been his admission that their God was greater than he was. Ultimately, it would have been an incredible display of God’s power of Egypt and her gods without him having to lift a finger (so to speak). Instead, Pharaoh chose to learn the hard way, destroying Egypt’s economy and citizenry in the process.

Does that mean that God gave up on Pharoah? Does God give up on other people as well? I don’t think so.

We must remember that God is omniscient; that is, he knows all things, both what is real (what will happen) and what is only possible (but won’t happen). In Pharaoh’s case, God had already told Moses that Pharaoh wouldn’t listen and that God would have to step in. It wasn’t God who “gave up” on Pharaoh; it was Pharaoh who rejected God from the very beginning.

In the same way, God doesn’t give up on people today. He has already said that every unbeliever will stand before him “without excuse” (Romans 1:20). Why? Precisely because he has given them everything they need to seek him (Isaiah 55:1, 6; Acts 17:30-31; Revelation 22:17), including creation and their conscience (Romans 1:18-20; 2:14-15). If they refuse to respond to the information they have, God has no obligation to give them more. That doesn’t mean that he “gave up”; it means that he doesn’t intentionally give them more information to reject and bring even more judgment on themselves.

So, no, God doesn’t give up on people. They reject him, and he leaves them to their own destruction, even though “he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).