Harsh קָשֶׁה

We are in chapter six of Exodus. Our word for today is one of the two reasons why the people did not listen to Moses sharing all the amazing things God was about to do. Let’s look at our word for today. קָשֶׁה hard, difficult, severe, strict, heavy, stubborn. It is used 36 times the Old Testament. We find our word used in the sense of stiffening the neck as a figurative expression of refusing to listen. Jeremiah 17:23 Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were וַיַּקְשׁוּ֙ אֶת־עָרְפָּ֔ם [literally harden the neck] stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline. Jeremiah 19:15 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Listen! I am going to bring on this city and all the villages around it every disaster I pronounced against them, because they were הִקְשׁוּ֙ אֶת־עָרְפָּ֔ם [literally harden the neck] stiff-necked and would not listen to my words.” This is similar to how our word is used in our chapter today. Exodus 6:9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and קָשָֽׁה harsh slavery. It would be easy for us to judge the people thinking they were stiffening their neck so they refuse to listen. But this expression is not used here just our word harden so this is not the sense we find our word in our chapter. God is clearly saying that the people were just too broken for what God was saying through Moses to be able to understand and listen because of the effect of all the years of slavery. Today we would call this trauma because this greatly affects how one perceives their life especially their future. If we think about it God allowed Moses to grow up in Pharaoh’s house where there was a lot of opportunities and the future looked bright. Contrast this with the Hebrew people who were slaves that faced hard work every day with the threat of being beaten if they didn’t accomplish what was required of them. They had very little if no hope of their future being any different that it was every day before. If we think about it 430 years is a lot of generational slavery. My grandparents were slaves, my parents, I’m a slave and my kids will probably also be slaves. So this is completely understandable why the people didn’t listen to Moses. The good news is that even when there seems to be no reason for hope God is there and is our hope. God also knows that we are weak and understands our trauma. Psalm 103:13-14 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.I’ll close with this great story of how God heard Hannah’s prayer out of the hard situation she was facing and gave her a son who would become a great leader of His people. 1 Samuel 1:10-17 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.” As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.” “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is קְשַׁת־ר֙וּחַ֙ [literally hardened spirit] deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.” Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”