Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 8
Origen’s wax-and-clay illustration explains how the same divine “sun” can soften one person and harden another; what real-life examples have you seen where mercy, miracles, or rebuke produced opposite effects, and how does that shape the way you interpret “God hardened Pharaoh” without making God the author of evil?
Another way to ask: Origen says the same “sun” can soften one person and harden another. What examples have you seen where mercy, miracles, or correction helped one person but made another worse, and how does that affect how you read “God hardened Pharaoh” without blaming God for evil?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
The transcript’s examples show that the same mercy, miracle, or rebuke can lead one person to humility and another to greater rebellion, depending on the person’s heart. This supports interpreting “God hardened Pharaoh” as God acting justly and mercifully in ways that Pharaoh’s own wickedness turned into hardening, without making God the author of evil.
- Origen’s illustration: wax and wet clay in the same sun—“soften that wax…[but] harden that clay and make it like a brick.”
- David applies it to Pharaoh: repeated mercies and signs “made him worse and worse,” not because God “wanted to harden him,” but because of Pharaoh’s “own sinful, wicked nature.”
- He notes the same miracles “softened…other Egyptians who left along with the Hebrews,” showing opposite outcomes from the same acts.
- He gives another example: Jesus’ harsh words “softened” the apostles who were humble, but “hardened” the Pharisees because of “their own wickedness.”
- The host shares a modern illustration: someone saw “God do incredible things” on a mission trip but later “went into sin…deeper and deeper,” as if miracles had a hardening/revealing effect.