God and the concept of free will

The topic of free will is a controversal issue in the christian faith. This is greatly portrayed when both Pharoh and God harden the kings heart. Does this concept declare that free will is just an illusion? I think there is more than just a black and white area of this dispute. The fact of the matter is that I believe that God knows who you are, inside and out, your actions and motivations behind them. This also means that he knows what you are going to do and why you do them. So if he knows what you are going to do anyways, then he can also do things to cause the right reactions that are needed. So when God hardened Pharoh's heart, I think he knew that Pharoh would harden his heart anyways as was shown with his previous actions. Also I think it was a form of jusice for the Israelites oppression. When the king was given a warning (the staff to serpent) and went to the extreme of increasing the slaves workload and oppression, I think of it as the king slapping God in the face. It was a direct insult towards God and, as it is shown throughout the bible, God does not take these offences lightly. The plagues symbolized the offences that the slaves were subjected to. The blood in the river and the death of the first born portray the slaughter of the Israeli children by the soldiers of Egypt ordered  by Pharoh. Sickness, lice, frogs, sores, and locust could be attributed to things one must suffer through as slaves. The death of the Egyptian livestock could be considered parallel to the sickly and dying slaves and their livestock. The falling of fire and hail could represent the beatings and torture they went through as slaves. Finally, the darkness might indicate the darkness of not just the Pharoh's heart; but that of all the people of Egypt that saw the injustice and did nothing.