The more serious stiff neck

Somehow after taking my IPPT, I had a strain on my left neck muscle. That made my neck stiff.So you might be wondering, that can the more serious stiff neck be?

If you have not already know what I am hinting at, it is the stiff neck mentioned in the bible. The words "stiff neck" appeared in the bible for a number of times. And that being the case, one can suspect that the "stiff neck" is probably not the physical kind of stiff neck, but something else.

What my study bible said about "stiff neck" is "stubborn".

Ok. But stubborn in what way?

I believe the sermon link below can help us to understand this "stiff neck" condition in the bible.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/sermons/the-story-of-a-stiff-necked-people

One of the points raised in the sermon is that the people of Jerusalem prized the temple so dearly and that Jesus said he would destroy it and build again in three days - and Stephen says, "Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands."

And right here we get to the heart of Stephen's warning for us in this message. What was the root evil in all this resistance to God's will? Why did they resist the Holy Spirit ?

Stephen says that they offered sacrifices to the idol and "rejoiced in the works of their hands." "The Most High does not dwell in houses made with hands."

Those who accused Stephen wrongly are stubborn because they chose to derive their joy - their fulfillment, their meaning , their sense of significance - from what they could achieve with their own hands. They wanted a kind of god and a kind of worship in which they could demonstrate their own power, their own wisdom, their own righteousness, their own morality and their own religious zeal.

They got their joy from what they could achieve and not from God. Especially not from a God so free, great, sovereign and self-sufficient that he gets all the credit for everything good and won't let Himself be limited or controlled by anyone's man-made temple.

The temple in Jerusalem had become for many in Israel a symbol of what they could achieve—the work of their hands. And therefore the worship there had become a subtle form of self-worship—all very religious, using all the right language, but coming from uncircumcised hearts and stiff, rebellious, self-exalting necks.

It is a kind of stiff neck that only allows one's eyes to marvel at their own works of their hands, facing (angle of depression) downwards but not (angle of elevation) upwards.

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Faith (in God) looks away from itself and says ,"I trust God to be my provider and my satisfaction, my treasure, my help, my everything. I welcome you Holy Spirit because I don't have the strength or the will ... you alone can be what i need to be so that you get the glory, God gets the glory." ~ (John Piper)

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(dialogue from a Peanuts comic strip)

Linus: Hands are fascinating things! I like my hands. I think I have nice hands. My hands seem to have a lot of character. These are the hands which may someday accomplish great things. These are hands which may someday do marvelous works! They may build mighty bridges, or heal the sick, or hit home-runs, or write soul-stirring novels! These are hands which may someday change the course of destiny!"

Lucy: They've got jelly on them!

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Do you have this kind of stiff neck? Will you rejoice in God and in His truth and in His mercy, or will you rejoice in the work of your hands and your mind?

Let us not seek for self-gratification but God-glorification.

May the Lord be empower us to fight for joy in Him.