Hardened

Was God done with ethnic Israel? Had he rejected Israel?

1. Paul’s salvation is evidence that God has not rejected Israel (11:1).

2. The number of believing Jews in the Roman church were evidence that God had not rejected in total ethnic Israel (11:2-5).

3. And I added, the many Christian Jews since the first century until today are evidence God has not rejected Israel.

4. And we learned, that just as He does His remnant from ethnic Israel, God preserves you and me by His grace.

But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh… Exodus 9:12

Matthew 12:36-40: - Jesus said, ³⁶ While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light….” ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸ so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn,  and I would heal them.”

Ephesians 4:18: ¹⁸ They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 

Romans 1:21 - ²¹ For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Romans 11:6-10

What were they seeking that they failed to attain?

They were seeking salvation and righteousness by their works.

Romans 11:8-10

First, what is a hardened heart?

A hard heart is an obstinate and calloused heart that fails to respond to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Hardened hearts pursue salvation and righteousness by works

Hardening displays a spirit of stupor

A hardened heart has eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear the truth of God

A hard heart refuses to obey God. (Ex. 7:13, 22). 

A hard heart returns to its callousness when his tough circumstances relented 

 A hard heart is oblivious to the spiritual realities around him (Ex. 8:19).

 A hard heart wants something from God (Ex. 8:28) but does not want God.

 A hard heart expects the Word of God to fail and does not recognize its faithfulness (Ex. 9:7).

 A harden heart remains hardened even under severe pain (Ex. 9:8-12).

 A hard heart may even say the right words (Ex. 9:27)

 A hard heart does not recognize its chaos (Ex. 10:7).

 A hard heart blames the messenger instead of owning their sin (Ex. 10:28).

Romans 11:9-10

A hardened heart always reflects the willful, self-hardening, and rejection of God by the sinner (Rom. 1:26-28).

"God, not only sees to it that the gospel is proclaimed to [the elect] outwardly, ... [but] also penetrates into the inmost being, opens the closed heart, softens the hard heart, and circumcises the heart that is uncircumcised. God infuses new qualities into the will, making the dead will alive, the evil one good, the unwilling one willing, and the stubborn one compliant."