7/19/2022

I wrote this article because my neck has been stiff for a long time.

• I began to wonder if there is a spiritual cause for the stiff neck in my Body.
• It turned out that there was.
• I wouldn’t have seen that cause unless I had written this article.
• You may benefit as much from reading this article as I did by writing it.

First Mention:

 

“And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!” Exodus 32:9

 

Here is the Hebrew word that is translated as “stiff-necked”:

• `oreph Meaning in Bible – Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon – King James Version (biblestudytools.com)
• It is mentioned 32 times in The Old Testament.

Last Mention:

 

“You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”   Stephen speaking at his trial in Acts 7:51-53

 

The characteristics which go along with being stiff-necked:

1. Uncircumcised in Heart & in Ears
2. Always resisting The Holy Spirit
3. Persecute The Prophets
4. Killed those who foretold the coming of The Just One ( Yeshua )
5. Became the betrayers & murderers of The Just One
6. Received The Law by the direction of angels & have not kept it

These characteristics are found in OT mentions of stiff-necked:

Here is the full context of the First Mention.

 

‘ “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’ ” And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!  Now therefore, let Me alone, that My wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them. And I will make of you a great nation.” ’  Exodus 32:8-10

 

• They had already rejected The LORD’s marriage proposal at Mount Sinai.
• They had received The Law at Mount Sinai.
• Now they had broken The Law by committing idolatry.
• They had taken themselves off the Way to becoming a Great Nation.

Here is how to become stiff-necked.

 

‘Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant that He had made with their fathers, and His testimonies which He had testified against them; they followed idols, became idolaters, and went after the nations who were all around them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do like them.’ 2 Kings 17:13-15

 

Here is how to stop being stiff-necked.

“Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” Deuteronomy 10:16

 

“And do not be like your fathers and your brethren, who trespassed against the Lord God of their fathers, so that He gave them up to desolation, as you see. Now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you. For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will be treated with compassion by those who lead them captive, so that they may come back to this land; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn His face from you if you return to Him.” 2 Chronicles 30:7-9

 

“Yet they did not obey Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck. They did worse than their fathers.” Jeremiah 7:26

 

“But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.” Jeremiah17:23

 

In scripture who is stiff-necked?

• Unbelieving Israel
• Old Jerusalem ( as opposed to New Jerusalem )
• Those who died in The Desert during The 40 Years of Wandering
• Those who chose to stay in Babylon

We are not a stiff-necked people if our Hearts & Ears are Circumscribed.

• But we can still stiffen our neck.

When do we do this?

1.  When we resist The Holy Spirit.
2.  When we chose to not keep The Law.
3.  When we commit idolatry.
4.  When we choose to remain in Babylon.
5.  When we choose to not repent when someone exhorts us to repent.
6.  When we take ourselves off the Way that leads to becoming a Great Nation

We can tell that we have stiffened our neck in several ways:

1.  We know that we have done one of the above things that stiffens our neck.
2.  The LORD will tell us.
3.  We can feel in our Spirit that we are resisting The LORD or The Holy Spirit.
4.  We feel in our Body that our neck I stiff.

What is the next step after realizing that our neck is stiff?

• Begin to seek to see what you need to do to unstiffen your neck.

I asked The LORD why my neck is stiff.

• He answered me.
• Here is what he said:

“I want you to know that you have been resisting Jane. This is because of your Pride. You have been thinking that you can see all of The Journey yourself. You can’t. Others will see parts of The Journey that you won’t see.

It’s as simple as that?

“Yes, it is.”

Clarification:

• There are other causes of a physical stiff-neck than a spiritual stiff-neck.
• Repenting of the cause(s) of a spiritual stiff-neck will not remove these other causes.
• I repented of the cause of my spiritual stiff neck.

You will learn to discern the presence of a spiritual stiff neck.

• You will learn to look for it when you discern it.
• You will learn to look for its cause when you discern it.
• You will learn to avoid ever having a spiritual stiff neck again.