When I was growing up my older brother was in the agricultural organization 4-H and as a member was required to raise a sheep, goat, cow or pig. He chose a sheep. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Lucy the sheep. Now at that time He was about 16 and and I about 12. He was working after school to help pay for that one great constant in life, car insurance, so he would often toss me a few bucks and I would go take care of Lucy. I would give her food, water and well, fight with her about almost everything. Sheep. If you’ve never been around sheep, well, they’re stubborn. And kinda mean. Lucy marched to the beat of her own drum. She did what she wanted when she wanted, and nothing would change that. Maybe it was because of this stubbornness but she would ram you if you turned your back to her. There were many days after dealing with Lucy that I thought long and hard about lamb chops for dinner that night.
But did you know that out of all the animals in every phylum and genus that God chose to compare us to sheep? Yep, I found over 82 verses about sheep and in the majority of them, God either compares us to sheep or directly calls us sheep. So, God clearly sees a comparison between us and Lucy the sheep…I wonder why?
Today in Deuteronomy 9 we find a chapter where Moses is recounting the sins of the people against God. The golden calf, their refusal to enter the promised land, their going after other gods, their taking wives of other peoples, their grumbling against God’s provision and, well, the list goes on and on. What I found this morning in my study time was quite an interesting word count. Remember that the Bible is a big book with smaller books and within those books are chapters, within those chapters are sentences and within those sentences are words…the words of God. Study the words and hear God. Let’s look at some of the specific words God repeats quite often in Deuteronomy chapter 9.
Stubborn (3 mentions)- Stubborn means “having or showing dogged determination not to change one's attitude or position on something, especially in spite of good arguments or reasons to do so.” The Israelites were not just stubborn in all things, but stubborn towards God and His laws. They were stubborn in their sinful ways. God gave them laws that would offer them an abundant life and they were stubborn, choosing to go their own way, the way that they thought would satisfy their flesh. And folks, don’t think that you or I are any different than an Israelite in 3000 BC. There is no expiration date in the Bible, God says we are all sinners and like sheep have all gone astray. (carefully notice the two “alls” in that last sentence) In a bitter bit of irony, I always thinks it’s funny when I discuss this truth with someone, and they disagree. The true definition of stubborn, being stubborn about believing that God says your stubborn.
Depending on the translation of your Bible, instead of stubborn it might say stiff-necked. Let me go back to another Lucy the sheep story. If I ever needed to move or lead Lucy, it was like a WWF bout with Hulk Hogan, the fight was on. If you pulled her left, she went right. If you pulled her right, she went left. And if you wanted to lead her, she would lock up every muscle in her body and freeze. Now Lucy wasn’t a very big sheep, but when she dug in those hooves, it was like a ship’s anchor buried deep in the red clay of Combine. She was moored tight. You see, she had stiffened her neck and would not be led, even to the greener grass I had for her. Lucy the sheep and God says, us too, can both be stiff-necked.
Rebellious (3 mentions)- To rebel is “to act in or show opposition or disobedience.” When we are stubborn and stiff-necked to God, we are being rebellious and as it says in our definition, disobedient. Folks, all God asks is that we be obedient to Him in the same love that He first showed to us. God gives us very simple rules for life that will protect us, guide us, bless us and allow us to live a fruitful and purposeful life for Him. A life that will be abundantly full of joy, freedom and goodness. And all you must do to claim this life is be obedient to His rules and His commands. That’s it. But unfortunately, out of the 6 billion people on the planet today, the majority are still like Lucy the sheep. Refusing to be led, living rebellious, stiff-necked lives as God only wants to lead them in love.
Turned aside (2 mentions) – This one needs no definition. If I give you clear directions to get from point A to point B and you end up getting lost because you thought you had a better way, you have turned aside from the directions you were given. God gives us clear directions for life. He gives us a map in His Holy Word and it tells us where to find the good stuff and how to avoid the bad stuff. If you follow His Word to the letter, you will find great purpose and blessings in life. If you turn aside from His directions and go your own way, you will find strife, turmoil, angst and dissatisfaction.
Provoked (4 mentions)– To provoke is to “stimulate or incite someone to do or feel something, especially by arousing anger in them.” You can see now that we are lining up our dominoes and as the first falls it causes those that follow to topple. Out of stubbornness we become rebellious and out of that rebellion we turn aside which then provokes God. Just as if your child were to flippantly tell you no, that they would not do as you asked them, God can be provoked by His sheep that just will not listen and be obedient.
Many people today have a completely discombobulated view of God thanks to society as well as their own sin nature based beliefs of God. We discount and reduce God to an old bearded guy sitting on a big fluffy cloud of love and because of that love, He somehow must rest in that singular emotion and cannot therefore formulate others. Folks, if God loves, He hates. If you want a specific verse, go right now and check out Malachi 1:1-3. God loves yes, but God also hates. He hates sin and the all the things that sin creates in us.
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” Pro 6:16-19
Now if you carefully extrapolate this to conclusion, you will find a simple equation. God gives us clear rules to live by in His Word. But because of our sin nature, we are stubborn and rebel and turn aside from His Word. As a result of this we provoke Him to anger because we have created sin in our lives which He hates. Pretty simple. But never fear, here is where God’s great love comes in. He doesn’t just cast us aside or destroy us, He saves us from what we deserve because of our sin which is eternal separation from Him. In order to reunite us with Himself eternally in Heaven, He sent His Son Jesus. The sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross saves us from the hate of God brought about by sin in our lives. Jesus saves us from the wrath of God that we deserve because we cannot help but provoke God with sin.
Folks, just like Lucy the sheep we have all gone astray and relied on our own ways. (Isa 53:6) Our desires to do what we want, when we want reveals our true stubborn, stiff-necked nature. As a result, we turn aside from the way that God has for us and it results in us provoking God to anger. But with Jesus, it all changes. As you call upon Jesus to save you from the anger that God has for sin, He will send you a Helper. The very Spirit of God will rest in you and help you. The Holy Spirit will convict you to turn away from the sin in your life that will provoke the righteous anger of God. All you must do is be obedient and follow. There’s no place for a stiff-neck in this equation. As God carefully and lovingly slips that halter over your neck today, lovingly reciprocate and let the Lord lead you to greener pastures.
After all, every sheep needs a Shepherd.
“For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.” Ezekiel 34:11-16
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