Stiff Neck

The imagery comes from the honor one would give someone of higher rank by bending the neck. A stiff neck is a refusal to give honor or deference to another.

Bill Onisick, reflecting on a theme in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, in which a weatherman (played by Bill Murray, who gets caught in a blizzard he failed to predict, doomed to relive the same day over again until he gets it right) sees a spiritual paralle. . .

The New Covenant was designed by God to circumcise the heart, making it possible for God's laws to be written in our hearts and reflected in our behavior.

Circumcision is a token, sign, or seal that one was the heir of Abraham. No physical sign has the power to transfer righteousness to the doer.

John Ritenbaugh continues to reflect on Stephen's incendiary message to fellow Hellenistic Jews (ostensibly given in hopes of their repentance), chastising them for their perennial rejection of prophets and deliverers, including the greatest Deliverer ever. . .

Israel consistently cycles through God's deliverance, apostasy through idolatry and immorality, God's chastening, national repentance, then deliverance again.

Richard Ritenbaugh, cuing in on Hebrews 3:7-17, a passage referring to the stiff-neckedness and evil hearts of our forebears, admonishes us not to imitate them in their hard-heatedness. The whole generation rebelled and went astray, never believing God; th. . .

Americans (indeed most of the industrialized world) tend to be skeptical, cynical, and jaded, demanding mountains of evidence before becoming convinced of anything. We run the risk of losing our childlike credulity, becoming calloused, hardened, and stiff-. . .

Sin, like junk food appeals to our sensual inner appetites, and may seem delightful in its initial stages, but it leads inevitably to death. We have an awesome responsibility, with the help of God's Holy Spirit, to change our inner nature, circumcising our. . .

As we approach the coming self-examination prior to Passover, we can apply six significant lessons taught to ancient Israel through the book of Lamentations.

Even though we are already damaged goods when God calls us, by embracing God's truth and seeking His help, we can break the bad habits which enslave us.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that the standards one lives by are not installed at birth, but absorbed through culture and education. Conscience, defined as "man's moral intuition which passes judgment on his own moral state," when applied to the Bi. . .

Korah, Dathan, and Abiram were not content with where God had placed them, but, in a spirit of pride, wanted to arrogate to themselves the office of Moses.

Under group or authority pressure, many people would willingly inflict torture on other human beings, especially if sanctioned by a scientist in a white coat.