(1) In his dealings with humankind, Jehovah God has patiently allowed individuals and nations, although deserving of death, to continue in existence. (Ge 15:16; 2Pe 3:9) Whereas some have responded favorably to this by putting themselves in line for receiving mercy (Jos 2:8-14; 6:22, 23; 9:3-15), others have hardened themselves to an even greater degree against Jehovah and against his people. (De 2:30-33; Jos 11:19, 20) Since Jehovah does not prevent persons from becoming stubborn, he is spoken of as ‘letting them become obstinate’ or ‘making their hearts hard.’ When he finally does execute vengeance upon the stubborn ones, this results in a demonstration of his great power and causes his name to be declared.—Compare Ex 4:21; Joh 12:40; Ro 9:14-18.
A case in point is what God did in connection with the Pharaoh who refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt. Jehovah brought ten devastating plagues upon the land of Egypt. Each time that Pharaoh hardened his heart after a certain plague ended, Jehovah used this as an opportunity to demonstrate his great power still further by other miracles. (Ex 7:3-5, 14–11:10) Therefore, some of the Egyptians came to realize that Jehovah is a God who has to be obeyed. For example, when the seventh plague was announced, even some of Pharaoh’s servants saw to it that their own servants and livestock were safely sheltered before the destructive hailstorm began. (Ex 9:20, 21) Finally, when Pharaoh, after having released the Israelites, again made his heart obstinate and mustered his forces to wreak vengeance upon them (Ex 14:8, 9; 15:9), Jehovah destroyed him and his army in the Red Sea. (Ex 14:27, 28; Ps 136:15) For years afterward, God’s name was declared among the nations as they talked about what Jehovah did to the Egyptians on account of their stubbornness.—Ex 18:10, 11; Jos 2:10, 11; 9:9; 1Sa 6:6.
So it was not that Jehovah 'hardened' Pharaoh's heart,but the message from Jehovah caused Pharaoh to harden his own heart. Jehovah’s message and Jehovah’s dealings with the Egyptians caused Pharaoh to react in hard stubbornness and anger; and since the message and dealings were from Jehovah he may be said to have indirectly hardened Pharaoh’s heart. (Ex. 7:3; 8:15, 32) Another illustration of this principle is where Jehovah told Isaiah to “make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes”; he, Isaiah, was not to do this literally, but the message he declared made these rebellious ones unreceptive because it did not please them. (Isa. 6:10) .
(2) Jehovah God created the first human pair perfect and designed them to live forever.He placed them in a beautiful garden paradise and told them to fill the earth with offspring.It was not God’s thought that Adam should die and leave the Paradise of Eden neglected. The earth was not to be left uninhabited by humankind. God set before Adam the opportunity for eternal life on earth in the Paradise of Eden. This, however, was dependent upon Adam’s eternal obedience to his Creator and God. God put no disobedient leanings, no sinful tendencies, in Adam. God endowed his earthly son with the godlike qualities of justice, wisdom, power and love, with a perfect moral sense. However, in recognition of His own sovereignty over all the universe, it was proper for God, without any suspicions toward Adam, to test this earthly son of His. The test that he put upon Adam was a very small limitation of his freedom.
Gen.2:16,17 reads:“And Jehovah God also laid this command upon the man: ‘From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die."
Here the great Life-Giver set before his son Adam the prospect of either eternal life or eternal death. Disobedience to his divine heavenly Father would lead to positive death for Adam for time eternal. Loving obedience as of a son to a father would result in eternal life.
Both Adam and Eve had already taken in plenty of knowledge before they disobeyed the law at Genesis 2:16, 17. Their Creator, Jehovah himself, was directly involved in their education. For instance, he brought all animals and birds to the man for him to name them. (Genesis 2:19, 20) .
By eating of that fruit, what were they doing? The New Catholic Encyclopedia timidly suggests: “It could have been, simply, an open defiance of God, an insolent refusal to obey Him.” Is that not what Genesis clearly says? Romans 5:19 confirms the point: “By one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.” (The New Jerusalem Bible) The original sin was an act of disobedience.
While a sin of disobedience may seem simple on the surface, consider its profound implications. A footnote in The New Jerusalem Bible puts it this way: “It [the knowledge of good and bad] is the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting accordingly, a claim to complete moral indepe