A Stiff-Necked People

Certain phrases hit me the right way. I've always liked "wailing and gnashing of teeth" as a description of despair, and I've always enjoyed the Israelites being called a "stiff-necked people" by God. Exodus 32:9 is the first time (out of a total of 19 in the NIV) that this term will be used, and the last time it's used will get special mention by me on November 13th, since it comes at the end of a memorable speech.

But let's stick with this first instance. What precisely made these people "stiff-necked"? We can surmise they've been out of Egypt around six months at this point, and Moses had been on Mt. Sinai for 40 days receiving further instruction in the law. As quickly as that, God's chosen people decide to become idol worshipers. The part of this story that has always confused me is how quickly Aaron appears to acquiesce and go along with them.

Now the chilling part of this story is something I never realized, when God says to Moses, "Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." We know God promised Noah he'd never flood the world again, but he didn't say anything about not delivering divine judgment when necessary, and in this instance, he's ready to start all over again with Moses. Think about that--God has so little regard for this stiff-necked people he's ready to remedy this and move on to greener pastures.

Of course, he didn't (and this isn't the last time God will threaten this, by the way), and lucky for us today, an intervening person was there to allay God's anger and prevent a deserved judgment. Us modern-day Christians, not being a stiff-necked people, don't need intervention on our behalf, because we're nothing like those Israelites. We don't create idols, worship false gods or do anything of the sort. 

We do it every day, and each and every day, Christ intervenes on our behalf and saves us from the judgment we have earned and deserved. As we spend some time with the Israelites in the desert and in the settlement of their new home in Canaan, always remember that there are many more similarities than differences between us. Every person in history (even Enoch and Elijah) sinned and fell short of the glory of God. That's why the Israelites needed  Moses then, and we need Jesus today. Be thankful for both them and us that we have a forgiving God and for Christ who willingly bore the judgment that we justly deserved.

Scott