Bend or Break

Introduction

As we prepare our hearts for God's Word, I summon your senses and invite your intellect to the book of Exodus chapter 32, verses 1 through 14.

It is there that the Holy Spirit has highlighted our context for our sermonic time together this morning.

I want to preach from the subject, "Bend or Break: The Surrender That Sets You Free."

Bible Passage

Exodus 32:1-14 (KJV)

"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people:

Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people."

Context

In the text before us, we find a people who have just witnessed the greatest deliverance in human history!

They have seen the Red Sea split in two!

They have watched Pharaoh's army swallowed by the waves!

They have tasted manna from heaven and drunk water from a rock!

They have heard the very voice of God thunder from Mount Sinai!

And yet—in just forty days—they turn their backs on the God who saved them.

You see, Israel had a problem that wasn't just theological—it was postural.

God called them "stiff-necked."

Now, that phrase might not mean much to us in the 21st century, but in the ancient world, everybody knew exactly what God was saying.

The term "stiff-necked" comes from the Hebrew which literally means "hard of neck."

It's agricultural language

It comes from the image of an ox that refuses to bend its neck under the yoke.

When a farmer needed an ox to plow, the ox had to bow its neck to accept the yoke

the wooden frame that connected it to the plow and allowed the farmer to guide it.

But a stubborn ox would stiffen its neck, brace its muscles, and refuse to bend.

That ox was saying,

"I don't want your direction!

I don't want your guidance!

I'll go where I want to go!"

And God looked at His people

the very people He had delivered with signs and wonders—and said,

"I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people."

You won't bend.

You won't bow.

You won't surrender.

And if you won't bend, you will break.

I. The Setup: Impatience Breeds Idolatry

Now, walk with me back through the text in verses 1 through 6.

The Bible says in Exodus 32:1:

"And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron..."

Let me stop right there.

Moses had been on the mountain with God for forty days.

Forty days.

Now, forty days isn’t that long when you think about it.

Some of you have been waiting on a prayer request longer than forty days!

Some of you have been believing God for a breakthrough for forty months, or forty years!

But Israel couldn't wait forty days.

They got impatient.

They got restless.

They got anxious.

And here's what I need you to understand: Impatience is pride in disguise.

When you can't wait on God, what you're really saying is,

"God, Your timing isn't good enough for me."

When you take matters into your own hands, what you're really saying is,

"God, I can do this better than You."

Pride doesn't always look like arrogance.

Sometimes pride looks like anxiety.

Sometimes pride looks like control.

Sometimes pride looks like a person who can't sit still long enough to let God work!

Israel's impatience led them to idolatry.

They said, "Make us gods which shall go before us."

They wanted a god they could see,

a god they could touch,

a god they could control.

Because a stiff-necked people doesn't want a God who leads

they want a god they can manage!

II. The Sin: Replacing the Invisible God with a Visible Substitute

Look at what they did in Exodus 32:4:

"And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt."

Now, you have to understand—this wasn't just any idol.

This was a calf.

A golden calf.

And the calf was no accident.

You see, Israel had just come out of Egypt,

and in Egypt, the Apis bull was one of the most powerful symbols of deity.

The Egyptians worshipped the bull as a god of strength and fertility.

So Israel took the gold from Egypt

the very gold God had given them through the favor of the Egyptians

and used it to fashion an Egyptian god!

They took their deliverance and turned it into their destruction!

They took their blessing and bent it into blasphemy!

Let me make it plain:

A stiff-necked people will take what God gives them and use it to replace God Himself.

There are some people who got blessed with a good job, and now the job has become their god.

There are some people who got blessed with a relationship, and now that relationship sits on the throne of their heart.

There are some people who got blessed with money,

with talent,

with influence

and instead of using it for God's glory, they used it to build their own golden calf!

The danger of a stiff neck is that it will bow to everything except the One it's supposed to bow to!

III. The Diagnosis: God Sees What We Try to Hide

Now, look at God's response in Exodus 32:9:

"And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people."

Notice what God says: "I have seen."

You can't hide your heart from God.

You can't cover your pride with religious performance.

You can't mask your rebellion with Sabbath morning praise.

God sees the stiffness in your neck even when you're lifting your hands in worship!

Deuteronomy 9:13-14 confirms this:

"Furthermore the LORD spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven..."

God was so grieved by their rebellion that He was ready to wipe them out and start over with Moses.

That's how serious this is, family.

A stiff neck isn't just an inconvenience to God

it's an offense to God.

Because when you stiffen your neck against God, you're telling the Creator of the universe, "I know better than You."

You're telling the Alpha and Omega, "My way is better than Yours."

You're telling the One who holds your next breath in His hands, "I don't need Your guidance!"

And God says, "If you won't bend, I have no choice but to let you break."

IV. The Remedy: Humility and Surrender

But here's the good news—there's a remedy for a stiff neck!

Turn with me to James 4:6-10:

"But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up."

Did you catch that?

God resists the proud—but He gives grace to the humble!

The same God who was ready to destroy Israel for their stiff necks is the same God who will pour out grace on a humble heart!

You don't have to stay stiff-necked!

You don't have to keep fighting God's direction!

You don't have to keep running your own life into the ground!

James gives us the prescription:

Submit yourself to God.

That word "submit" in the Greek is a military term that means to arrange yourself under authority.

It means to get in rank.

It means to stop being a rogue soldier and get under the command of your General!

Humble yourself.

The word "humble" here means to make low, to bring down.

It's the opposite of exalting yourself.

It's the opposite of stiffening your neck.

It's the posture of surrender—bowing your neck under the yoke of Christ!

Jesus said in Matthew 11:29-30:

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

You see, when you bow your neck under Christ's yoke, you don't find slavery—you find rest!

When you surrender to God's direction, you don't lose your life—you find it!

The yoke isn't bondage—the yoke is partnership!

V. The Prototype: Christ, the Anti-Stiff-Neck

Let me show you the ultimate example of surrender.

Philippians 2:5-8 says:

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

Jesus Christ is the anti-stiff-neck!

Where Israel stiffened their necks and said, "We'll do it our way," Jesus bowed His head and said, "Not my will, but Thine be done!"

Where Adam puffed up in pride and reached for forbidden fruit, Jesus emptied Himself and became a servant!

Where we resist and rebel and run from God's plan, Jesus submitted all the way to Calvary!

And because He bowed, God exalted Him!

Philippians 2:9-11:

"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow..."

Did you catch that?

Because Jesus bowed His knee in surrender, one day every knee will bow to Him!

Humility precedes exaltation.

Surrender precedes victory.

Bowing precedes blessing.

Application

Church, allow me to bring this home.

We are living in the last days.

We are living in a time when pride is celebrated and humility is mocked.

We are living in a time when everybody wants to be their own god, make their own rules, and go their own way.

But God is still looking for a people who will bend their necks under His yoke!

God is still looking for a people who will say, "Lord, not my will, but Yours be done!"

God is still looking for a people who will surrender their plans, their pride, and their preferences to His perfect will!

This week, I want you to practice the Daily Surrender Prayer:

Every morning, before you check your phone, before you make your plans, before you start your day—bow your head and say:

"Lord, I surrender my plans and my will to You today. Lead me. Guide me. Direct my steps."

This week, I want you to serve somebody.

Humility isn't just an attitude—it's an action.

Find someone who needs help, and serve them without expecting anything in return.

Bow your neck to the needs of others.

This week, before you make any major decision, seek God's guidance.

Don't stiffen your neck and say, "I got this."

Bow before the Lord and say, "Lord, what would You have me do?"

Closing: Bend Now, or Break Later

As I close this evening, remember this:

There are only two options for a stiff-necked people:

Bend or break.

Israel refused to bend, and they broke.

They wandered forty years in the wilderness.

A whole generation died without seeing the Promised Land.

All because they wouldn't bow.

But it doesn't have to be that way for you!

Today, God is giving you the opportunity to bend before you break!

Today, God is giving you the chance to surrender before you suffer unnecessary consequences!

Today, God is extending grace to the humble!

So I ask you this evening:

Is your neck stiff toward God's Word?

Bend it.

Is your neck stiff toward God's correction?

Bend it.

Is your neck stiff toward God's direction for your life?

Bend it.

Is your neck stiff toward forgiving someone who hurt you?

Bend it.

Is your neck stiff toward letting go of that thing you've been holding onto?

Bend it.

Is your neck stiff toward full surrender to Christ?

Bend it!

Because God resists the proud...

But He gives grace to the humble!

Because those who exalt themselves will be humbled...

But those who humble themselves will be exalted!

Because the one who tries to save their life will lose it...

But the one who loses their life for Christ's sake will find it!

Somebody needs to bow your neck this evening!

Somebody needs to lay down your pride this evening!

Somebody needs to surrender your plans this evening!

Somebody needs to tell the Lord, "Not my will, but Yours be done!"

Don't leave here stiff-necked!

Don't leave here holding onto control!

Don't leave here trying to run your own life!

Surrender to the God who loves you!

Submit to the Savior who died for you!

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and in due time—He will lift you up!

Bend... and watch God bless what you've released!

Bend... and watch God direct what you've surrendered!

Bend... and watch God exalt what you've humbled!

He's waiting on your surrender!

He's waiting on your yes!

He's waiting for you to bend your neck and say, "Lord, I'm Yours!"

Will you bend today?

Will you surrender today?

Will you humble yourself in the sight of the Lord?

If you will, He promised—He will lift you up!

All to Jesus We Surrender,

All To Him We Freely Give,

We will ever love and trust Him,

In His presence daily live.

We surrender all,

We surrender all;

All to Thee, our blessed Savior,

Today We surrender all.