I could go on about how Pharaoah hardened his heart first but there's one thing that I'm really interested in knowing.

If you know how powerful God is that he can harden people's hearts then why would you want to go against him? Why would you fight a battle that you know you can't win? Doesn't the 10 plagues showcase his power?

If I want to or not is irrelevant. God can harden or soften my heart so what I want is not important.

Did you know that God freed the Israelite's from slavery as a result? Why doesn't that make him a God who rescues?

Because they would have been freed earlier if he didn't harden pharaohs heart.

Its like you aren't even reading dude.

Then the Egyptians escape judgement as a result of keeping the Israelite's enslaved? No such thing as Passover?

If you believe that God hardens and softens hearts as he needs, then the only conclusion from that is that the Egyptians had no choice in whether they allowed the Israelites to leave.

Then explain to me Exodus 5:2 which is essentially where it all started.

Also, the Passover is the go to example of where God is a God who rescues first and then gives the Law. How would God show to us that He is a God who rescues if there were no such story? What if the story was that Pharaoh willingly let the Israelite's go?

I don't need to explain anything. God decided to send plagues, and then Pharaoh was going to let them go but God hardened his heart so he didn't. God softens and hardens hearts, so he could have easily softened pharaoh's heart and not done the plagues.

Why do you question God's methods? Besides the Israelite's were slaves to the Egyptians for Centuries. If you read the passage you would see that Pharaoh changed his mind many times. Why do you think he tried to pursue them over the Red Sea?

Didn't the Israelite's need to see God's power and learn obedience? Yet even they stumbled when they experienced it all first hand.

Question all methods. All of them. From every authority. Question all authority.

Pretty shitty method to accomplish all of what you're suggesting. Israelites need to see God's power to learn obedience? Lot of good that did since it took them like a week to start worshiping a golden calf.

So based on your argument, that it served a purpose, it was a shitty way to do it since it didn't even accomplish that purpose.