ROMANS 9:10-23

Q: I can't believe that a loving God would purposely chose some people for eternal destruction. Is there some other meaning to these verses?

This passage poses no problem for thoroughgoing Calvinists who believe in double predestination (people are predestined to be either saved or damned). They will point out that the “fair” thing for God to do is condemn all mankind since we all sin. If He chooses to save some, it is strictly due to his grace.

Other Christians still have problems with these verses. Arminians (Christians who stress free will) go to Romans 1:18-32 with its threefold “God gave them up...” to show our responsibility for our actions (see verse 18 especially). C. S. Lewis: “There are two types of people ultimately: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done' and those who say, 'My will be done.'”

A number of different Hebrew and Greek words are used to convey the idea of hardening:

hzq = to strengthen

kbd = to make heavy or unresponsive

qsh = to sharpen

poroo = to petrify

skleruno = to make dry or stiff

Sometimes the particular synonym has significance. One commentary I consulted said that one Hebrew word is used when Pharaoh hardens his own heart, and another one is used when God hardens his heart. If you check it out in an Analytical Concordance, you will see that statement doesn't hold up.

Hardening of hearts by God is first applied to enemies of the Israelites only

Pharaoh and the Egyptians (Book of Exodus; I Samuel 6:6)

Sihon, King of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:30)

Canaanites (Joshua 11:20)

It is only in the time of the writing prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah that all Israel is included. But prior to that time Israel had already hardened their own hearts. See Hebrews 3:7-13, quoting Psalm 95.

As an interesting exercise, look for all the instances in chronological order of God hardening Pharaoh's heart in Exodus 4-14. God starts out in 4:21 by saying “I will harden.” This appears to be an absolute statement, but (a) “if” clauses are sometimes missing in OT prophecies even though the prophecy is conditional upon man's reactions; (b) foreknowledge by God of future events is not really the same as predestination; and (c) it doesn't state when God is going to do it.

The next instances of hardening in the Exodus passage either say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart or that his heart was hardened (leaving the question open as to who caused it). Then we at last get to the point where God is definitely stated as the “hardener.” But even after that time, the text states, “Pharaoh sinned yet again and hardened his heart.” So we can conclude that he still had a measure of free will even at that point and could have repented if he wanted to.

This same principle of a chosen vessel for destruction still having responsibility over his own sinful actions is also seen in the case of Judas (John 13:18-19; Luke 22:21-22).