398. 8178. [Jer. 19:] verse 15. This is a summing up of what has preceded. "To stiffen the neck" is to behave stubbornly. How stubborn they are is known from their hatred, as well as from many other circumstances I could bring forward. They do not allow any truth to enter in without at once extinguishing it, just as happened to me. While, through His Mercy, I was contemplating the more inward parts of the Word of God the Messiah, they were then continually trying to destroy them. It was even quite often permitted that I should not be able to make out any coherence or connection, right to the end; so I was obliged to struggle with those spirits in various ways. The particulars are too abundant to be told even in many pages. [Understanding, Understand; Light]