The words of the Apostle, "So then he has mercy on whomever he chooses, and he hardens the
heart of whomever he chooses" (Rom 9: 18) are highly puzzling, even
scandalising, to some. In the circumstances, it is essential to know the
background of this utterance of St Paul in his letter to the Romans, in order
to resolve the doubt.
God chose Israel as his own people. But they
rejected Jesus. Hence it was God's will that salvation should be given to the
gentiles. God can, by his almighty power, bring anyone he likes to salvation
and can punish anyone he wishes to punish - this is the underlying principle in
St Paul's assertion in Romans (Rom 9:18), and it is in relation to this idea
that his above statement should be seen.
The
Background of the Old Testament
In order to proclaim God's name throughout the world
and to reveal his power he raised up Pharaoh (cf Ex 9:16; Rom 9:17). All the
same, Pharaoh became hard-hearted. This event in the book of Exodus is the
background of Rom 9:18. We read several times in Exodus that Pharaoh became
hard-hearted by refusing to grant freedom to the Israelites.
"Pharaoh's
heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go" (Ex 7:14).
The same idea can be clearly seen again in Exodus 7:22; 8:15,19,32; 9:7. The truth is that by his own fault, Pharaoh
hardened his heart (cf Ex 5:2). It is also true that God gave him several
occasions to be converted. But Pharaoh failed to make use of those occasions
and that is why God made Pharaoh's heart hard (cf Ex 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1,20,27;
11:10). Pharaoh could have cooperated
with God as Cyrus the Persian king cooperated with divine inspiration and gave
freedom to the Israelite nation. But he did not do so. We read in the Old
Testament that God made the hearts of many other kings also hard (for example,
cf Dt 2:30; Jos 11 :20). At the same time we must not forget that it is God
himself who will "remove from...(our) body the heart of stone and
give...(us) a heart of flesh"(Ez 36:2).
Jesus spoke in parables in order that "they may
indeed look, but not perceive and may indeed listen, but not understand; so that
they may not turn again and be forgiven" (Mk4:12). This is indeed a
statement similar to that in Rom 9:18. Jesus is here quoting an Old Testament
prophecy. "Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not
understand" (Is 6:9-10). Though the people listened to the parables
and teachings of Jesus, they hardened their hearts because of their own
stubbornness. This is the meaning of the statement in the original
Greek. The parallel statement in Matthew's gospel, "This is why I speak to
them in parables, because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear,
nor do they understand" (Mt 13: 13 RSV) is more explicit and clarifies the
idea further.
The
Thinking of the Ancients
We need to see the viewpoint of the ancients in the
statement “God hardened his heart.” The ancients did not clearly distinguish between
the divine power and human freedom behind any action. They did not either do
any philosophical analysis of the relationship between the two. Their guiding
principle was to depend on God and go forward.
"But who indeed are you, a human being, to
argue with God? Will what is moulded say to the one who moulds it 'why have you
made me like this?'" (Rom 9:20). Such trends of thought of St Paul are
worth remembering in this context. The ancient people saw God as the final
cause of all events. Man cannot of himself complete his sojourn in this world. The
ancients firmly believed that God is the controlling power and Lord of all
history. The truth is that even the sinful acts committed by man misusing his
freedom were ascribed to God by Israel !
But
we know that God does not make man commit sin. Neither does it mean that God beforehand
decides and hardens man's heart. Man
rejects God's love and call. God observes this and shows his displeasure
towards man. In order to make this clear the Bible says "God hardened
man's heart.” This does not conform to modern man's reasoning and thinking -
that is all. God is also all merciful. To realise that God shows mercy to man
is not difficult for us. That God who loves will also punish is a truth that stands
revealed in the statement "God hardens man's heart”. Salvation and
punishment go together. It is difficult at times to grasp this truth.
Man’s
Freedom and Hard-heartedness
The
history of man's first sin proves that though God's omnipotence is working in the
universe and in individuals, man has the freedom to choose evil.
Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, who lived in the beginning of the first
century (A. D), had grasped this truth very well, It is the freedom to love God or
to reject his commandments that makes man, man. A mechanical love and service
of God have no validity. True holiness is to fight the battles of life,
win the victory and be sanctified.
God
does not make man fall into sin. The word of God testifies that there is no
evil in him(cf Ps 5:4; Hab 1 :13). St James says this very explicitly: "No
one, when tempted should say, ‘I am being tempted by God'; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he
himself tempts no one" (1 :13).
All men are beggars before God. Those who prayerfully
stretch out their hands before God, the
King of kings, will receive blessings and graces from him. It is no use being
surprised at those who, because of their own fault fail to do so and consequently
do not receive his mercy. Even today, of the people attending a convention,
some achieve conversion of heart while others return with hardness of heart. At
the last judgement there will be sheep and goats. In short, God’s absolute power and man's freedom are two sides of the same
coin. One is at liberty to choose life or death (cf Dt 30:19).
Concluding
Thoughts
It is true that God chooses some and punishes
others. It was not the elder son Esau that he chose but the younger one, Jacob.
In the sight of God no one has the right to demand justice or claim salvation.
St Paul says very clearly that everything is God's gift and mercy. He has the
freedom to distribute his gifts to those whom he likes. Man, however, has to do
the works of justice, believe in Jesus Christ, the Apostle continues to
explain. St James too highlights the necessity to do works of faith.
It is a fact that even today there are numerous
people who refuse to listen to the word of God, and like Pharaoh and the Israelite
nation, harden their hearts. "Today if you hear his voice, do not
harden your hearts as in the rebellion"(Heb 3: 15). Let us listen
to the prophetic voice telling us to remove from our body the heart of stone
and replace it with a heart of flesh (cf Ez 36:26). If this heart
transplantation must take place in us we must have a heart on which the law is
written by the Holy Spirit (cf Jer 31 :33).
Source:
Questions PEOPLE Ask on the Bible by Dr. Paul Kariamadam
