Jeremiah 19:7-15: a reflection

7“‘“I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem void in this place. I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hand of those who seek their life. I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth. 8I will make this city an astonishment and a hissing. Everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. 9I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters. They will each eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies, and those who seek their life, will distress them.”’ 10“Then you shall break the container in the sight of the men who go with you, 11and shall tell them, ‘The LORD of Armies says: “Even so I will break this people and this city as one breaks a potter’s vessel, that can’t be made whole again. They will bury in Topheth until there is no place to bury. 12This is what I will do to this place,” says the LORD, “and to its inhabitants, even making this city as Topheth. 13The houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, will be as the place of Topheth, even all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the army of the sky and have poured out drink offerings to other gods.”’” 14Then Jeremiah came from Topheth, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the LORD’s house, and said to all the people: 15“The LORD of Armies, the God of Israel says, ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.’”

This is a heavy passage of judgment against Jerusalem, and at its close Jeremiah names the root of it all: I will bring on this city all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words. Behind all the coming judgment lay one stubborn refusal: they would not hear God's words. They had stiffened their necks, hardened themselves against hearing, refusing to listen to what God said; and this refusal to hear was the root of their ruin.

Notice what lay at the root of the judgment: a stubborn refusal to hear God's words. They had made their necks stiff, hardened themselves against listening, so that they would not hear what God said. It was not that God had not spoken; he had spoken, warned, called. But they would not hear; they stiffened themselves against his words, refusing to listen. And this refusal to hear was the root of all that followed. Everything flowed from this: they would not hear God's words, and hardened their necks against them.

That stiff-necked refusal to hear is worth taking to heart, for it is a danger for us too. God speaks to us, in his word, in warning, in conscience; and we can stiffen our necks against hearing, hardening ourselves, refusing to listen to what he says, especially when it is unwelcome. But such a refusal to hear is the root of much ruin, as it was for Jerusalem. Do not stiffen your neck against hearing God's words, hardening yourself against listening, especially when what he says is unwelcome; the refusal to hear was the root of Jerusalem's ruin. Keep your heart soft and your ear open to God's words, willing to hear even what is hard, rather than hardening yourself against listening; for a stiff-necked refusal to hear God, persisted in, leads to ruin, as Jerusalem would not hear God's words and made their necks stiff against them, and so brought disaster on themselves.

Lord, this is a heavy passage of judgment against Jerusalem, and at its close Jeremiah names the root of it all: I will bring on this city all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words. Behind all the coming judgment lay one stubborn refusal: they would not hear your words. They had stiffened their necks, hardened themselves against hearing, refusing to listen to what you said. Show me what lay at the root of the judgment: a stubborn refusal to hear your words. It was not that you had not spoken; you had spoken, warned, called. But they would not hear; they stiffened themselves against your words. And this refusal to hear was the root of all that followed. Take that stiff-necked refusal to my heart, for it is a danger for me too. You speak to me, in your word, in warning, in conscience; and I can stiffen my neck against hearing, hardening myself, refusing to listen to what you say, especially when it is unwelcome. But such a refusal to hear is the root of much ruin. Keep me from stiffening my neck against hearing your words, hardening myself against listening, especially when what you say is unwelcome. Help me keep my heart soft and my ear open to your words, Lord, willing to hear even what is hard, rather than hardening myself against listening.