And the
LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked
people! Exodus 32:9 NKJV
I
must admit, I find it hard to read this account of the children of Israel
without seeing in my mind a large group of people wandering through the
wilderness, hopelessly lost because their necks were too stiff to look around
and discover the right way to go. What
goes through your mind when you think of the term “stiff-necked”? As I thought about it, I began to come up
with quite a few adjectives that would describe someone who could also be
called stiff-necked, but after a few minutes, I thought it might be better to
see exactly what God had in mind when He chose to use this term when describing
His own children.
qâsheh; hard, cruel, severe, obstinate, hard,
difficult, severe, fierce, intense, vehement, stubborn, stiff of neck,
stiff-necked, rigorous (of battle). Also, severe…churlish, cruel, grievous,
hard((-hearted), thing), heavy, impudent, obstinate, prevailed, rough(-ly),
sore, sorrowful, stiff(necked), stubborn, in trouble.
Now
after reading this, my initial reaction was to believe this was a rather harsh
description. Yet when I began to
consider the reasons behind the passage from Exodus, it became clear to me that
the basic problem was the refusal of the people to submit to God’s will for
them. This despite the fact that God had
provided more than enough proof of His love by the number of miracles He had
performed for their benefit, not only during their captivity, but especially
after they had left Egypt and began their journey to the promised land.
With
that in mind, I began to better understand not only the anger God had towards
these people, but the frustration He must have felt as well. I began to wonder if the thought went through
the Father’s mind, “what do I have to do to get through to these people?”. It was at that point that the thought occurred
to me that circumstances haven’t changed much in the past four thousand years
or so. As we take a good look around us at
the world as it is today, especially here in our own country with some of the
changes society is trying to force upon us, I wonder if the term “stiff-necked”
could appropriately be applied to many today?
“You
stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy
Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
Acts 7:51 NKJV
What
was, and is, God’s reaction to those who choose to stubbornly refuse to accept
His guidance and follow His laws concerning our life on this earth? The Word of God answers that question quite
plainly.
So I
gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. Psalm 81:12
NKJV
Looking
at the “change” that has occurred in this country in recent years, do you think
we are seeing this very thing playing out all around us? How many of the decisions made recently are
in line with what is revealed in God’s Word?
How many laws have been passed in accordance to God’s revealed will for
our lives? Quite the opposite, thinking
they are smarter than God, society writes its own laws without understanding
what they are really doing is revealing their own ignorance.
Because
the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God,
nor indeed can be. Romans 8:7 NKJV
For
they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own
righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Romans 10:3 NKJV
Unfortunately
for myself, I couldn’t walk too far down the road of self-righteousness without
the Spirit reminding me that I too, have often been stubborn when it comes to listening
to His advice for me. So I decided to
look at what the opposite of stiff-necked could be, and if as a believer I
might somehow be exhibiting the character expected of someone who claims to
follow God’s will for their life. So
some antonyms for stiff-necked are;
flexible,
irresolute, kind, nice, pliable, pliant, reasonable, soft, submissive,
surrendering, weak, willing, yielding, broad-minded, complacent, compliant,
giving.
Not
surprisingly, a few of these jumped out at me as being traits expected of us as
believers who have chosen to accept Christ as the master of our lives, and to
allow the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts and actions in an unbelieving
world. So as I sat and asked myself the
question; do I really strive to exhibit these in my daily walk with God, I
looked up a few passages that came to mind regarding some of these traits.
I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
service. Romans 12:1 NKJV
I
have always loved this verse because Paul has a way of coming across at times in
a way which reminds me of Mr.Spock of Star Trek. In this case, the word reasonable is the
Greek word logikos, which is where we
get the word logic. In other words,
accepting Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, and giving our lives over to Him to
use as He will is simply “logical”.
Logikos; pertaining
to speech or speaking, pertaining to the reason or logic, spiritual, pertaining
to the soul, agreeable to reason, following reason, reasonable, logical.
And be
kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in
Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 NKJV
When
I asked myself if my thoughts towards those who are advocating the change we
see in our society today were kind, I failed miserably. Being kind to those who reject Christ and His
message is an extremely difficult thing to do, but it is what is expected of
us.
Therefore
submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NKJV
Likewise
you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be
submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the
proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 1
Peter 5:5 NKJV
If
I had to pick the one trait most believers struggle with it would have to be
submission. It seems most of us would
rather have our own way than give in to others, yet that is an act of pride,
and God has some definite thoughts on how He chooses to deal with pride. Jesus humbled Himself to the cross. Can we do no less? Just as in the Old Testament, many today
could be described as stiff-necked because of their stubbornness in regards to
God and His laws. Leave judgment to God, for His promise to us is that He will
in fact; judge the world for their stubbornness. If you see things as many believers do today,
that time of judgment is almost upon us.
Keep
watching.
