“And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.”
Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted. The hardening is reported as predicted — God announced it in verse 3, and now it occurs. This is not the first hardening of Pharaoh's heart but the establishment of a pattern that will repeat throughout the plague narrative. The fulfillment of prophecy in real time is itself a form of authentication: God is not reacting to events; He is directing them. Isaiah 46:10 declares: I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. Pharaoh's predictable hardness is evidence that the God of Israel is the God of prophecy — the one who speaks outcomes before they occur and sees them come to pass. The hard heart is not a surprise to anyone in the room except Pharaoh.
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