Jeremiah 17:23
But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.
Judah and Israel disobeyed God, refusing to listen and stiffening the neck so as not to hear or receive instruction and correction. The instruction so refused included keeping the Sabbath holy, with its warning unheeded and its correction stubbornly resisted. The setting is the warning of Jeremiah 17:21-25, that Jerusalem would stand forever as the elect only if the nation as a whole preserved allegiance to Heaven by hearing and receiving instruction, a course that would bring continued favor and permanence. Instead their history was backsliding and rebellion, resisting Heaven's grace while abusing privileges and slighting opportunities, and by that course the condition for continued standing was lost.