Judges 2:19
“And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.”
Stubbornness isn’t always a bad thing. I often teach my daughter that stubbornness can be good if you use it in a right manner. We ought to be stubborn concerning truth. We ought to be stubborn and oppose temptation. Stubbornness in itself is not bad if it is used properly.
On the other hand, stubbornness used improperly can be harmful. The children of Israel were very stubborn about doing wrong. God says, “…they ceased not from their own doing, nor from their stubborn way.” God was willing to forgive and help Israel, but their stubbornness kept God from helping them and instead caused Him to judge them. Let me show you some of the harmful stubborn ways that caused God to judge them.
The first stubborn way is found Judges 17:6 when it says, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” These people determined their own righteousness. They didn’t follow God’s commandments, but they did what they felt was right. When you start justifying your own sin as good, then that is very harmful to your spiritual well-being. Often we try to classify sin. We look at sin and say that one sin is worse than another. Friend, all sin is bad! I’ve yet to find a good sin in the Scriptures. You must be careful about being so stubborn about trying to justify your actions that you look at your sin and don’t see it as wrong.
The second stubborn way is found in Judges 2:4 when it says, “And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people lifted up their voice, and wept.” These people wept when they heard about their sin, but they never changed their ways. You can weep all you want to about how bad your sin is, but God is not as interested in a show as he is in action. I’m all for you being contrite about your sin, but move beyond the weeping and repent from your sin.
The third stubborn way is found in Judges 2:17 when it says, “…they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in…” As soon as the man of God was dead, they quickly went back to doing wrong. Do you only do right in the presence of the preacher? Let me remind you that the preacher is not the one who will judge you, but God is the One Who judges. Don’t be so stubborn about your sin that the only time you do right is when you are in the presence of God’s servants.
The result of these stubborn ways is found in the verse above when it says, “And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more…” Christian, if you don’t correct these stubborn ways, you will find yourself going deeper and deeper into sin. There is no stop to the depravity that your stubbornness will take you if you don’t deal with it. I encourage you to be careful about having the harmful stubborn ways in your life. Instead of giving your sin a pass, deal with them and redirect your stubbornness to fight sin. This is the only way to turn harmful stubborn ways into helpful stubborn ways.