The Anatomy of a Stiff Neck Text: Isaiah 9:13-17
Introduction: When God's Mercy is Spurned
We live in a sentimental age, an age that has tried to domesticate God. We want a God who is a celestial grandfather, a divine therapist, a cosmic affirmation machine. We want a God whose love is unconditional in the way a jellyfish is spineless. But the God of Scripture, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is a consuming fire. His love is a holy love, His mercy is a terrifying mercy, and His judgments are righteous altogether. And when a people, particularly His covenant people, mistake His patience for permission and His warnings for idle threats, they place themselves in a position of extreme peril.
Isaiah has been laying out a case against the northern kingdom of Israel, and by extension, against all nations who follow their suicidal path. God had sent them lesser judgments, what we might call warning shots across the bow. He had allowed their enemies, the Syrians and Philistines, to harry them and devour pieces of their land. These were God's severe mercies, His gracious blows, intended to drive them to repentance. But like a stubborn mule that only kicks back at the goad, Israel refused to get the message. They doubled down on their pride and arrogance.
The passage before us today is a detailed diagnosis of a nation suffering from terminal impenitence. It is a description of what happens when a people will not learn the easy way, and so must learn the hard way. It is a lesson in the anatomy of a stiff neck. And it is a lesson our own nation would do well to heed, for we are drinking from the same poisoned well of pride, led by the same sort of blind guides, and are ripening for the same kind of judgment. This is not just ancient history; it is a spiritual diagnostic manual for our own precarious times.
The Text
Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they seek Yahweh of hosts.
So Yahweh cuts off head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.
The head is the elder and the highly respected man,
And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.
For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.
Therefore the Lord is not glad in their choice men,
Nor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking wicked foolishness.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
(Isaiah 9:13-17 LSB)
The Unteachable Heart (v. 13)
The root of the problem is laid bare in the first verse of our text.
"Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek Yahweh of hosts." (Isaiah 9:13)
Here is the core issue: a resolute, stubborn refusal to connect the dots. God had struck them. The verb makes it clear that their recent calamities were not random acts of geopolitical bad luck. They were divine blows, purposeful and measured. God was disciplining His people, as a loving father disciplines a son (Hebrews 12:6). The purpose of the striking was to produce turning. But the people refused to make the connection. They felt the pain of the blow, but they would not look up to see the hand that delivered it for their own good.
This is the essence of a hard heart. It is not a lack of evidence, but a suppression of it. They would rather attribute their suffering to anything else, bad policy, weak defenses, their enemies' strength, than to their own sin and God's righteous judgment. To acknowledge God as the one who struck them would be to acknowledge His authority and their obligation to Him. It would require repentance. And so, they remained willfully blind.
And because they would not turn back, they did not "seek Yahweh of hosts." Seeking follows turning. Repentance is not just stopping the bad stuff; it is turning to God. But they wanted nothing to do with Him. They wanted the benefits of His covenant without the obligations of it. They wanted His protection without His rule. This is the constant temptation for God's people, to treat God like a cosmic vending machine instead of the sovereign Lord of armies, Yahweh of hosts.
The Collapse of Leadership (v. 14-15)
Because the people refused the lesser judgment, God promises a greater, more catastrophic one. It will be sudden and total.
"So Yahweh cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day. The head is the elder and the highly respected man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail." (Isaiah 9:14-15 LSB)
God's judgment here is aimed at the entire structure of the society, from top to bottom. The "head" and the "palm branch" represent the elite, the leaders, the respected elders. These are the men who ought to be the repository of wisdom, justice, and faithfulness. They are the ones who set the course for the nation. The "tail" and the "bulrush" or reed represent the lowest and most contemptible part, which Isaiah explicitly identifies as the false prophet.
This is a devastating indictment. The civil leadership, the "head," has failed. But the spiritual leadership has become something utterly vile. The prophet who should be the conscience of the nation, the mouthpiece of God, has become the "tail." The tail of an animal is the part that covers its filth. The false prophets are those who provide theological cover for the nation's sin. They speak smooth things, they prophesy peace when there is no peace. They are the tail that wags the dog of public opinion into the ditch of apostasy. They teach lies, telling the people what their itching ears want to hear, confirming them in their rebellion.
Notice the connection. When the head goes bad, the tail flourishes. Corrupt civil leaders and corrupt spiritual leaders are two sides of the same debased coin. The politicians want to be told that their policies are blessed, and the celebrity pastors want the access and influence that comes from telling them so. The head wants flattering lies, and the tail is more than happy to provide them for a price.
The Blind Leading the Blind (v. 16)
The practical result of this corrupt leadership is national disaster.
"For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion." (Isaiah 9:16 LSB)
The imagery is stark. The leaders, the guides, are mis-leaders. They are taking the path of destruction, and the people are following them right over the cliff. The Hebrew for "brought to confusion" can also be translated "are swallowed up." They are being devoured. The people are not entirely without blame, they are willing participants, but the primary responsibility is laid at the feet of the leadership.
This is a permanent principle. A nation rises or falls with its leadership, both in the state and in the church. When the pulpits are filled with men who preach lies, or who are silent in the face of evil, the people will be swallowed up. When the halls of government are filled with men who reject God's law as the standard for justice, the people will be led into confusion and ruin. And we see this all around us. We are a nation brought to confusion, a people being swallowed by the consequences of our rebellion, precisely because our guides have led us astray.
The Pervasiveness of Corruption (v. 17)
This corruption was not limited to the elites. It had infected the entire body politic, from top to bottom, leaving no one untouched.
"Therefore the Lord is not glad in their choice men, Nor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking wicked foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back, And His hand is still stretched out." (Isaiah 9:17 LSB)
The judgment is so severe because the sin is so pervasive. God takes no delight in the "choice men," the young warriors, the flower of their youth. They will fall in battle, and God will not spare them. This is shocking enough, but what follows is even more so. He will not have compassion on the orphans and widows.
This should stop us in our tracks. Throughout Scripture, God presents Himself as the ultimate defender of the orphan and the widow (Deut. 10:18; Psalm 68:5). To harm them is to invite God's fiercest wrath (Exodus 22:22-24). So for God to withdraw His compassion from them indicates a level of societal rot that is almost absolute. It means the categories of "innocent victim" have been erased by universal guilt. The widows and orphans have become just as godless and wicked as everyone else. The corruption is total.
The reason is given: "For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth is speaking wicked foolishness." The infection is systemic. It is not a few bad apples; the whole barrel is rotten. From the respected elder to the grieving widow, the nation is characterized by godlessness in heart and foolishness in speech. When a nation's conversation is saturated with folly, when its public discourse is profane and untethered from reality, it is a sign that judgment is not far off.
And so we come to the terrifying refrain that punctuates this entire section of Isaiah: "In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back, And His hand is still stretched out." This is not the hand of blessing. This is the clenched fist of judgment. The previous blows were not enough. The coming decapitation of the leadership will not be enough. More is coming. God's righteous anger against sin is not easily appeased, and His work of judgment will be thorough.
Conclusion: The Only Hope for a Stiff-Necked People
This is a grim and terrifying passage. It describes a people who have become experts at ignoring God. They are sermon-proof, judgment-proof. They are so stiff-necked that they cannot look up to see the God who is striking them. And as a result, their entire society unravels, from the head to the tail, until even the most vulnerable are caught up in the systemic wickedness.
Our nation is walking this same path. We have been struck with warnings, and we have responded with pride. Our leaders, both political and often spiritual, lead us astray. Our public discourse is filled with wicked foolishness. We are a people ripening for a severe judgment.
So what is the remedy? The remedy is to do the one thing Israel refused to do. It is to turn back and seek Yahweh of hosts. It is to connect the dots between our sin and our suffering. It is to repent.
But the ultimate answer to the outstretched hand of judgment is found in another outstretched hand. On the cross, the hands of the Son of God were stretched out and nailed to the wood. There, the righteous anger of God that was stored up against sin was poured out upon Him. He became the head and the tail for us. He, the true head of the corner, was cut off in our place. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, taking the lowest, most contemptible position, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
The outstretched hand of God's wrath can only be satisfied by the outstretched hands of God's Son. For those who refuse to turn to Christ, God's hand remains stretched out in judgment. But for all who, by faith, turn to Him, who seek the Lord of hosts, God's hand is stretched out still, but now it is in gracious invitation. He offers not a blow, but a pardon. He offers not wrath, but welcome.