Being Stiff-Necked

"Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people."

Deuteronomy 9:6

God cautioned the children of Israel from thinking it was due to their righteousness God established them in the land of Canaan, for it was because the inhabitants of the land were wicked.  God described the Hebrews as "stiff-necked" which could truly be said of all people.

When God called His people as stiff-necked, it was not because they had slept with rocks as pillows the night before.  It was not that they were like a horse that resisted the tug of the reins made by the rider, for God told His people in Psalms 32:8-9 not to be like a horse or mule at all:  "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye. ⁹ Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, else they will not come near you."  God did not want His people to be like a horse without understanding that required physical restraints with eyes looking away from the rider:  God wanted His people looking to Him, seeking Him for guidance and listening for His voice, to be guided by His eye.

I watched video recently that provided an epiphany moment for me concerning the implications of being stiff-necked.  In the clip, a flock of sheep were feeding in the safety of a grassy paddock.  A couple of visitors to the farm tried to call the sheep, doing their best to imitate the farmer.  Their calls had absolutely no impact upon the sheep at all:  the entire flock continued to nibble at the grass with outstretched, stiff necks.  When the farmer called the sheep, it was not long before their heads quickly lifted from the turf and turned to face him.  The farmer held nothing in his hand, for his voice and presence had a captivating influence upon them.  They slowly began to amble over to the farmer--much to the delight and amazement of the onlookers.

God called His people the sheep of His pasture, and Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep, and His sheep hear His voice and follow Him.  God called His people stiff-necked because when He called, they ignored Him like the sheep that continued to feed at the voice of the stranger without even looking up.  These were God's people He loved and saved, yet they were intent on feeding their flesh and so focused on satisfying their own present desires they did not respond to His voice.  Being stiff-necked applies to Christians as well, for we too can be so caught up by the good grazing God has provided and thus do not seek Him and neglect to respond to His voice.  We might be more impressionable by the howl of wolves or the voice of strangers than by God who leads us with His word taught us by the Holy Spirit.

God told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 10:15-16:  "The LORD delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. ¹⁶ Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer."  It is evident being stiff-necked has spiritual implications, for the Hebrews were told to circumcise their hearts.  God told His people by the prophet Jeremiah to break up the fallow ground of their hearts, not to sow among thorns, and to circumcise themselves to the LORD (Jeremiah 4:3-4).  Better than fulfilling their duty of cutting off a bit of flesh from their bodies, they were to sanctify themselves to the LORD and present themselves to Him.  Praise the LORD Christians have the blessing of the New Covenant in the blood of Jesus, that we can be born again by faith in Jesus, have our heart of stone removed, and receive a new heart by His grace.

Let us not be stiff-necked like stubborn sheep but respond to the voice of God by looking to Jesus.  It was tremendously satisfying in the video to watch the sheep follow the farmer when he entered their paddock.  It was like they had completely forgotten how tasty the patch of grass was and just wanted to be where the farmer was, to go wherever he went.  May the LORD do this marvellous work in us.  Eating is a necessity for healthy sheep, but when the Good Shepherd calls to us we can be sure He knows our needs and will meet them.  Rather than looking to satisfy the flesh, we ought to be attentive to His voice and find our greatest satisfaction in drawing close to Him.

God Our Hope

It is fitting and good we should see God's hand at work in everything, for God is always everywhere and working.  God is able to cause all things to work together for good for those who love Him (Romans 8:28) and are assured of His everlasting love towards us nothing can separate us from.  By faith in Christ we can know God is for us even when everything seems to be against us.  It is looking to our Saviour Jesus--not the situation--Who brings rest for the weary and encouragement for the downcast.

While this is true, it is very hard for us to maintain this perspective in the midst of pain and grief.  In the book of Ruth, Naomi suffered heartbreaking loss during the 10 years she spent in Moab, for her husband and two sons passed away.  Ruth 1:6 says, "Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the country of Moab that the LORD had visited His people by giving them bread."  See how personal the provision of God was for His people, for He visited them by delivering them from famine.  Upon her return to Bethlehem, Naomi told people not to call her Naomi (delightful, pleasant) any more but Mara (bitter) because God had made her life bitter.  She said in Ruth 1:21, "I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?"  Due to her grief, sorrow and loss, Naomi blamed God for her bitterness of soul despite the food God gave His people, her loyal daughter in law Ruth, and the opportunity to safely return to her inheritance.

Another reason why we can face difficulty to trust and rest in the almighty God is due to a guilty conscience.  Some 20 years after Joseph's brothers sold him to Ishmaelite traders, they went to Egypt to buy food because of a great famine.  Little did they know Joseph had been promoted to a position of great power and authority in Egypt second to Pharaoh!  They did not recognise him, but Joseph recognised them and spoke through a translator so they did not realise he understood them.  After he sent them away with food for their family, they were shocked to find their money returned in their sacks of grain.  Genesis 42:28 describes the scene, "So he said to his brothers, "My money has been restored, and there it is, in my sack!" Then their hearts failed them and they were afraid, saying to one another, "What is this that God has done to us?"  Previously Ruben, the oldest brother, reminded them how they sinned in their unloving treatment of their brother.  Though God was working through Joseph to save Egypt and his household, his brothers fearfully saw God as being against them.  Rather than acknowledging God's hand at work to help and provide for them during a famine, they suspected He was against them to punish them.

In God we always have reason for hope even when our situations seem hopeless.  Knowing God is good and for us changes our perspective when awful and unthinkable things happen.  Naomi and Joseph's brothers could not see the good God was doing because of grief and guilty consciences, yet Job blessed the LORD after he received the report of the loss of all his wealth and 10 children in a day in Job 1:20-21:  "Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. ²¹ And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD."  Job grieved, yet he also acknowledged the goodness and greatness of God.  We may not have the faith of Job who feared the LORD, but we worship the same awesome God Who is able to work all things together for good and will bless us forever.

God's Not Like Batman

Batman and other crime-fighting superheros in the comics, television shows or films often tempered their aggression when they caught the bad guys.  Often the superheros resembled a fisherman who embraced a "catch-and-release" approach because they were crime fighters--not the judge, jury or executioner.  I can't remember how many times I groaned inwardly when the hero who finally captured the criminal mastermind responsible for a murderous rampage and wanton destruction said in their best announcer voice, "I'm taking you to the authorities."  It's like the campy criminals knew Batman, Superman and Spiderman had their hands tied and wouldn't kill them, and they seemed to look forward to going to prison because it delayed their deserved punishment--not to mention the high likelihood of their escape, and thus could avoid a trial and sentence of judgment.

I wonder if people think God is a bit like Batman or Superman when it comes to their sin.  They have heard God is loving, merciful and kind, so they assume He is hamstrung from punishing sinners.  If arrested by the just God they would assume the attitude of a smug super-villain, extend their wrists and coyly say, "Arrest me then.  Guilty as charged."  Anyone who would think to do so does not comprehend the gravity of their sin, the unescapable, just penalty sin requires of eternal death and how God will see the sentence carried out with His furious wrath.  Even in fictitious superhero tales the criminals change their tune when merely threatened with death.  They go from boastful tough guys to whimpering babies when dangled by their ankles from a skyscraper.  Those unmoved by warnings of God's certain judgment are as Paul said in Romans 3:18:  "There is no fear of God before their eyes."  Everyone will bow the knee in the fear of God, for it is only a matter of when (Phil. 2:9-11).

The trouble for those guilty of sin is their fear of God may come after they are out of time because their lives on earth have come to an end.  At that stage it will be too late for them to make amends--as if anyone can be made righteous with God by even our best efforts.  The life of Ebeneezer Scrooge in the Dicken's Christmas classic was redeemed (from a worldly view) by his sudden embrace of philanthropy, yet those decades of selfishness, greed, envy and miserly disdain of others from a biblical view continued to condemn him before the righteous God into hell forever.  Giving presently would not absolve him of sinful greed for eternity.  Thinking he could redeem himself by his own sacrifices would only add to his chains.  God's word makes it clear there is no good we can do to excuse or exonerate ourselves from the wrong we have done or still do.  If all our best works are as filthy rags in God's sight, then there isn't any hope for us that arises from us.

In stark contrast to the proud boaster, the beginning of Psalm 51 is an example of a contrite heart God renders righteous by faith in Him.  After he sinned, David wrote in Psalm 51:1-4:  "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. ⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight--that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge."  Instead of trying to justify himself, David humbly fell upon the mercy of the just, righteous God Who is merciful, loving and blameless.  This man after God's own heart showed great fear of the LORD Who is Judge over all.  Those who admit and repent of their sin by God's grace can receive forgiveness because Jesus has paid the price with His shed blood.  Only God is able to forgive sins, and Jesus was willing and able to provide atonement for the sins of the world.

I'm glad God is nothing like Batman, for the LORD God is able to forgive sin and provide eternal life for all who trust in Him--even if our thoughts and actions make comic book villains look tame.  Batman could only be at one place at one time and struggled at times to save himself in the moral cesspool of Gotham.  God sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to extend the gift of salvation to the whole world, and He is risen from the dead and seated in glory.  He's my hero, my Saviour, and God's will is for Jesus to be your Saviour too.

A Click Beetle and New Life

For the last two days, I encountered a strange, intermittent rustling noise that disturbed the early morning silence.  On a couple occasions I rose from prayer to try to find where the sound was coming from:  was it behind the lounge, near the window or in the attic?  This morning (for a few minutes) I was convinced the most reasonable explanation was the movement of air in the attic caused sound to come through the flexible duct through the register--until I finally found the culprit.  A click beetle had somehow made its way into the attic and found itself trapped in the white plastic lens of a ceiling light.  It could see it crawl up the lens, roll back to the bottom, and then stubbornly try again.

It is remarkable the beetle had the strength and endurance to continue actively trying to escape the ceiling light for over 24 hours with no water or food.  The constant effort to escape the plastic prison illustrated well the instinct God put in living creatures to keep living.  Later in the morning I was able to remove the plastic lens and relocate the insect to the front yard where the chance of survival for a beetle is far greater than in a ceiling light in my house.  The abundance of life on earth is unique in the observed universe, for God created living creatures and people and provides all that we need to survive and thrive.

This fight for survival in human beings is seen from the time we take our first breath until we breathe our last.  I am amazed by the great lengths people have gone to and severe trials and treatments people have endured to continue life on earth.  This desire to prolong our lives on earth impacts our desire for life beyond this earth, for God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  The Bible teaches that spiritually speaking we are all born dead in sins passed down through generations from Adam.  Our guilt is confirmed through making sin our own by practicing it, and God's word reveals we are bereft of hope and incapable of measuring up to God's perfect standard of righteousness.  Like the click beetle could not save itself from certain death in the ceiling light, so every human being is doomed to destruction because of our sin.  The best I could do was extend the chance of the bug living for a short while, but Jesus has done something infinitely better by providing assurance of eternal life for all who trust in Him.

While we were spiritually dead God said to us, "Live!"  God spoke a parable through the prophet concerning His redeemed people in Ezekiel 16:6 from the perspective of a traveller who found a discarded baby by the road with the placenta still attached:  "And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!'"  God saw people like newborns that had not been washed, swaddled, held and loved, and He was determined to do everything lost sinners needed to be adopted into His family.  So God sent Jesus to be the Saviour of the world, to lay down His life on Calvary so all who trust in Him can repent of sins, be forgiven and live with Him forever.  Jesus said in the latter half of John 10:10, "...I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  All who by faith enter the kingdom of God by faith in Jesus have an abundant life now and eternal life forever by Christ Who is our life.

It is like all our lives we have been trapped in a prison of sin, cut off from the living water of the Holy Spirit and love of God, and Jesus has set us free.  Having been born again by grace through faith in Jesus we are not merely given a better life now or optimal chance for survival, but we are granted the promise of abundant, eternal life we can enjoy today in the presence of our Saviour.  How blessed we are to have a Good Shepherd Who laid down His life so we could live, and by His resurrection Jesus demonstrated the victory over death and glorious life He has in store for all who love Him.