Jeremiah 32:33
And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.
God taught His people persistently and earnestly, rising up early to teach them, giving much light and evidence through the Holy Spirit. Yet they refused to listen, would not humble themselves and confess their wrongs, and would not receive instruction and correction. They turned away from Him instead of toward Him, refusing to heed the instruction He repeatedly gave them.
To turn the back and not the face to God is to turn the face away from the Sun of Righteousness. It is to fail to receive His grace. Those who so turn do not turn toward Him to receive what He offers.
That turning away takes concrete form in a selfish course contrary to self-sacrifice and justice between man and man. It is seen in combining to raise wages and in robbing God's treasury. It is seen in acting selfishly and unjustly over wages at the Office, showing unwillingness to receive God's correction. Such conduct reveals hearts hardened by enmity against brethren, by selfishness and stubbornness.
It also means trifling with and resisting the Holy Spirit and following evil imaginations. It means sustaining one another in wrong and keeping unfit men in positions of trust. It means seeking to harm and depreciate God's messengers and message.
When God puts His Spirit upon messengers sent with precious light, those who turn away do not accept the Holy Spirit's manifestations as precious tokens from God. They do not see its bright beams. This want of reception leaves character unsymmetrical and far from Christlikeness for want of the Holy Spirit's efficiency.
Such refusal displeases God and causes evil angels to exult. It brings His judgment, and its peril is greater than Pharaoh's. No further light is given until the steps are retraced and the stumbling blocks laid before others are removed. Amid the perils of the last days God will turn His face utterly away, so most earnest seeking of the Lord is called for.