Judgment on Stubbornness

 

    We sometimes think of stubbornness as a good thing and as a bad thing.  God points out that stubbornness is always a bad thing.  It is digging in your heels and declaring you are right.  It leaves no room for more information, a new perspective, or a listening spirit.  There is a difference between standing firm and being stubborn.  Standing firm you listen, learn, and grow, but you will still do what is right.  Stubbornness shows a weakness of character that God will judge.

    God came to Jeremiah about the Jews that fled to Egypt.  He had given them a second chance and they revealed to be stubborn.  They insisted going their own path instead of standing firm and trusting God to protect them.  They revealed that they still did not understand God and why the nation was judged in the first place.  Now they were going to be judged.  They were sentenced to death for every Jew that willingly went to Egypt and their children.  

    This message from God is what probably got Jeremiah killed.  Chronologically, this was his last message.  Nothing is recorded after the defiant stubbornness of the people and Jeremiah giving them God's verdict.  They openly defied God, so why would they not willingly kill God's messenger.  It looks like Jeremiah did die in Egypt.  (The rest of the chapter is from when he was younger.  They probably didn't find his writing in order.)

    Evil angers God and a stubborn heart is evil.  It is rebellion hidden behind self-righteousness.  It is a rejection of God.  God had warned people over and over throughout the generations about His judgment.  No one wants God's wrath poured out upon them.  It is a curse., so why do we not listen?

Jeremiah 44