4 And I did it because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass;
Verses like this make me wonder sometimes why the Lord chose
the people of Israel to be His elect. He knew that they would not be humble and
teachable, so why did he bother with them? I know He made a covenant with
Abraham and Jacob, but did it really have to extend to all their posterity,
relatively few of which would truly appreciate it? The only answer I can come
up with is that Heavenly Father needed a people who would eventually crucify
His son. It’s possible that any race would have developed the pride necessary
to do that terrible, and at the same time, necessary thing (leading to
wonderful results) of sacrificing their God, just as Israel did in spite of the
chosen status with Him that they enjoyed. Somebody had to do it, or there would
be no Atonement, and the Plan of Happiness would be foiled. So it had to be
done, but what a terrible thing to be the one responsible for doing it! (see
Matthew 26:24)
When someone’s “neck is in an iron sinew” they are
stiff-necked, and they can’t bow their heads in humility. When their brow is
brass, they are hardheaded. You can’t teach them anything, because no idea from
the outside can penetrate to the inside of their thick sculls. In short: pride.
The Lord knew of His people’s pride, so He needed to give evidence that He knew
more than they did. So he had his prophets prophesy, then the prophecies were
fulfilled. Then He could say after the fact, “See, I told you so. Now listen to
me, because I know more about what’s really going on than you do.”
