Hard Hearts

1 Samuel 6:6
Why do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh did? When he [ That is, God ] treated them harshly, did they not send the Israelites out so they could go on their way?

The amazing story of the ark continues. It lived with the Philistines for seven months of destruction and death. First it assaulted the idol they brilliantly housed it with, and then it took a tour of towns, killer plagues accompanying it. God's hand was very heavy on them.
They realized at last that this holy box was the source of God's wrath, and that they must get rid of it. But how? The knowledgeable suggested including a gift for God in the form of gold rats and tumors. I wonder about those gold tumors. A gold rat one can imagine, but the tumors? Maybe just a blob of gold?
I wonder when they asked what guilt offering they should send if there was a bit of rebellion, which the advisors tried to quell with the reference to Egypt and the Pharoahs whose hard hearts were evidently legendary? God had already begun treating the Philistines harshly, and the wise thought best to cut their losses.
When the going gets tough, do not harden your heart. It can get tougher yet.