4     Because I knew that you were 1obstinate,
     And fyour neck was an iron sinew,
     And your brow bronze,
5     Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
     Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
     Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
     And my carved image and my molded image
     Have commanded them.’
6     “You have heard;
     See all this.
     And will you not declare it?
     I have made you hear new things from this time,
     Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7     They are created now and not from the beginning;
     And before this day you have not heard them,
     Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8     Surely you did not hear,
     Surely you did not know;
     Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
     For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
     And were called ga transgressor from the womb.
9     “For hMy name’s sake iI will 2defer My anger,
     And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
     So that I do not cut you off.
10     Behold, jI have refined you, but not as silver;
     I have tested you in the kfurnace of affliction.
11     For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
     For lhow should My name be profaned?
     And mI will not give My glory to another.
1 Heb. hard
f Ex. 32:9; Deut. 31:27; Ezek. 2:4; 3:7
g Deut. 9:7, 24; Ps. 58:3; Is. 46:3, 8
h Ps. 79:9; 106:8; Is. 43:25; Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22, 44
i [Neh. 9:30, 31]; Ps. 78:38; Is. 30:18; 65:8
2 delay
j Ps. 66:10; Jer. 9:7
k Deut. 4:20; 1 Kin. 8:51; Jer. 11:4
l Lev. 22:2, 32; Deut. 32:26, 27; Ezek. 20:9
m Is. 42:8
The New King James Version. Nashville : Thomas Nelson, 1982, S. Is 48:4-11

Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass [Isa. 48:4].

From the very beginning, when God took Israel out of Egypt, He knew they were stiffnecked people. My friend, God did not choose them because they were superior, nor did He choose us because we are superior. God chose them and us because of His grace and because He saw our great need.