Jeremiah Chapter 19:11 "... ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter’s jar is smashed and cannot be repaired..."
verse 15 "...because they were stiff-necked and would not listen to my words."
The best medicine for a stiff neck is to obey God quickly and fully. God is a merciful God and long suffering. Here is how Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines stiff necked:
(a.) Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, stiff-necked pride; a stiff-necked people.
(a.) Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, stiff-necked pride; a stiff-necked people.
Rebellion is identified in a variety of ways, but the Lord often associates it to someone with a stiff neck. Society should find this concept easily grasped. A stiff neck impedes the head from bowing. Moses directly associated the stiff neck with rebellion when he said, “For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck” (Deuteronomy 31:27). Like Moses, the Lord identified the rebellion of the children of Israel when He stated that they were “a stiffnecked people” (Exodus 32:9). Isaiah likewise attested to this truth by stating that rebellious people had a neck of iron sinew and a brow of brass (Isaiah 48:4). These descriptive terms demonstrate that rebellion is exemplified by an individual who refuses to bow and allow the mind to be changed. He has an unyielding spirit.
The next time you think about being stiff necked remember the words of the prophet Jeremiah here in Jeremiah chapter 19. God wants us to obey for our sake not just for His. HE loves us and wants the best for us.
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