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Question 9
Origen’s illustrations for Pharaoh—rain that produces either crops or thorns, and sun that softens wax but hardens mud—suggest God’s same good action can yield opposite results depending on the person; what does that imply about God’s intention in hardening, and what responsibility does it place on how we respond to God’s kindness, miracles, and patience?
Another way to ask: Origen says the same good action from God can soften one person and harden another. What does that suggest about why God hardens people, and what responsibility does it put on our response to God’s kindness and patience?

Direct Answer Origen’s illustrations imply God does not act with the intention to harden as a primary goal; rather, God’s good acts are like rain and sun—good in themselves—yet they harden those who respond with wickedness, placing responsibility on the person’s condition and response.

Support from Transcript:

  • Origen asks how a “good and just God could harden the heart of Pharaoh.”
  • He uses Hebrews’ land image: the same rain can produce “crops” or “thorns and briars” depending on whether land is “cultivated” or “neglected and uncultivated.”
  • Origen says God can show mercy while hardening another “although not intending to harden.”
  • He adds the sun image: “the same heat both softens wax and hardens mud,” without the sun lying about its effect.
  • Applying it to Exodus: Moses’ miracles “hardened Pharaoh because of his own wickedness,” but “softened the mixed Egyptian multitude” who left with Israel.
Discussion Follow-ups If God’s kindness can either soften or harden, what practices help us stay “cultivated” rather than neglected—so grace produces fruit, not thorns?

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