Why did GOD HARDENED the PHARAOH S heart in the book of Exodus?

If God actually "hardened" the heart of Pharaoh, then the Egyptian would not be responsible for what happened as a result of his having a hardened heart. God would be responsible. [This is basically the same as a question related to why God created the Devil. That would mean that the Satan was merely carrying out God's will for the Devil. He wasn't; Satan was created as a perfect angel, but made himself into the Devil by rebelling against the Creator.]

Now here's the trick: When the Bible says that God took some action or other, it normally means that he allowed it or permitted it to happen. Usually such things are not the kind of actions that God would take, hence, if he did take such an action, that would be out of agreement with the rest of the Bible, which could not be. So, it's better to take the adjusted view of such statements.

If you read through again you might notice that there are times when it says that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and times when Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

Usually when people question the events here they are asking if God over-rode Pharaoh's will by hardening his heart.

I'd ask you to look again.

Because Pharaoh's heart is hardened /after/ God's challenge of him.

God does not over-ride Pharaoh's will by "zapping" him to be hardened and rebellious to use as a tool.

God hardens Pharaoh's heart by challenging him and his authority. A hardened heart is Pharaoh's response to being challenged by and losing to God. God did not remove Pharaoh's free-will.

Remember that Pharaoh (and the people) saw Pharaoh as a deity - a god.

Each of the plagues challenges that in a specific way.

You're not understanding the phrase "hardened his heart". It means that God gave Pharaoh the wherewithal to do what he wanted to do in the first place. It's not God making anybody do anything.

It's a literary device. The British would have said pharaoh was being bloody-minded. My mother would have said he was being hard-headed. It's not a cook-book. Don't take every word as literally true.

There is no record in Egyptian history of anything like that. And the only pharaoh who died drowned was Ptolémée XIII Philopator, a long time after that "story" supposedly happen (he was Cleopatra the 7th brother).

Assume that it was true as it was written, then this God of the Hebrews is a terrible deity, influenced others to do bad things, then destroyed them so that his film script can play out with no regards.

Power brings corruption, starting from this God, and it passed on to this worshippers, and we see that everywhere. Is that why people keep using his name when committing crimes?

Pharoah really WANTED to do everything he did. God just let him go wild. Through his actions, Pharoah would serve as a warning example for all people today. It would magnify the TITLE of God and eventually, if people would read more than 3 verses, the personal name of God, Jehovah.

That's easy to explain: god loves killing innocent children and this gave him the perfect opportunity to do so. Any sane, reasonable person reading the Old Testament will see that god is a moral monster.

correction, pharaoh hardened his own heart

Apparently god couldn't pass up the opportunity to slaughter all the 1st born animals and humans. Rolls eyes