Stiff-necked.

God describes the Israelites as “stiff-necked” people in Jeremiah 17.  He adds –

• they do not listen.
• they do not pay attention.
• they don’t respond to discipline.

God is obviously not happy with them

I know God is saying that the Israelites are stubborn when he says “stiff-necked”.

As I’m reading this, I started to think about my own neck.  I have compressed disks in my neck so it’s always a little painful and will quickly become very painful and stiff if I do something to aggravate it.

When my neck is stiff, I find that I don’t turn my head very far to the left or right.  My sight becomes limited to what’s right in front of me.  I don’t see a lot of things around me and have a very small view of the world.  As a result, I probably don’t make as good of choices as I would if I was looking around, taking in more information and seeing a more complete picture.

When my neck is stiff, I am also in pain so my patience is short and I’m on edge.  It’s hard to focus and my frustration can quickly show.

All of these are negative things.  So I think God is not just calling the Israelites stubborn, he is also including all of these other issues that are part of having a ‘stiff-neck’.

No wonder God isn’t happy with them!

Please help me avoid all of the bad behaviors of having a ‘stiff neck’, Abba Father.