"Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, 'I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and make supplication to the Lord your God, that He would only remove this death from me.' (Moses) went out from Pharaoh and made supplication to the Lord. So the Lord shifted the wind to a very strong west wind which took up the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea; not one locust was left in all the territory of Egypt. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he did not let the sons of Israel go."

During the first seven plagues of Egypt, Pharaoh hardens his heart of his own accord and refuses to release Moses. But, in the eight, ninth, and tenth plagues Pharaoh relents. However each time the Lord now hardens Pharaoh's heart and keeps Moses and the Israelites in Egypt. This begs for an eschatological/teleological explanation - all things must move forward to a predetermined event. In this case I think it's the symbolic importance of Passover - would the story of Exodus be different if the Israelites were released after the seventh plague? Later on Pharaoh has reservations about pursuing the Israelites into the Red Sea, but once again the Lord hardens his heart and forces the action. Christian philosophy imposes a teleolgical structure on history - everything that has happened or will happen is structural and directed towards the Apocalypse - literally "the revealing" in Greek, the revelation of God's divine plan. What do you think? Have any alternate explanations?

Peace
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"At the risk of sounding ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by great feelings of love."
- Che Guevara