What happens when someone says no to God when they are faced with deciding for or against him?
When a person is faced with deciding for or against God and says no, the next refusal becomes easier. Their rebellion grows while their recognition of God's mercy shrinks, and repeated rejection hardens them, making it increasingly difficult—sometimes almost impossible—to break down their barriers of resistance.
Les teaches that God brings a person to a place of having to make a tough decision, as with Pharaoh. After each plague, Moses asked whether Pharaoh was ready to let the Jews go; Pharaoh could have said, "Let them go," but instead said, "I'll not let them go." Les explains this reflects human nature today: when people are brought to make up their mind for or against God and they say no, the next time it is easier to say no than it was the last time. Their concept of rebellion grows, and their concept of recognizing God's mercy gets smaller. As people get old and remain rebels against the grace of God, it becomes hard, almost impossible, because they have become so hardened. Every time they are confronted with believing the gospel and reject it, it becomes that much harder later to break down those barriers of resistance. So it was with Pharaoh.