Stiffneckedness

When a person is (1) in error and (2) decidedly committed to remaining so. He won’t budge, won’t humble himself, and won’t ask the Lord to remove his scales of darkness. He remains a devoted disciple of unbelief, leading to wickedness that is borne upon the shoulders of his ignorance.¹ Covenant of Christ defines stiffnecked as stubborn and unyielding. They wear stiff necks and high heads, yea,… because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations (2 Nephi 12:2). Stiff necks means men do not bow in reverence to God’s will; they’ve got another agenda rather than God’s, so their neck is stiff and they won’t bow to Him. High heads means they’re proud of what they know. Mankind needs to realize that no matter how much they think they know, none of them know that much. No one ought to hold his head high. All ought to be willing to become as a little child and heed and hearken to the Holy Ghost that pleads with men to repent and forsake their false ideas and false traditions, and return to God.² King Benjamin explained something which ought to give all men pause: The Lord God saw that his people were a stiffnecked people [a stubborn people, CE], and he appointed unto them a law, even the law of Moses (Mosiah 1:16). The people who God claimed as “His people” were nevertheless “a stiffnecked people.” He didn’t abandon them because of their spiritual stubbornness, nor did He reject them because they were suffering from their own pride and self-will. They were still “His.” But because they were unable or unwilling to really come to Him and be redeemed from the fall, He gave them something to trouble them: the law of Moses. King Benjamin showed the wisdom of a godly king. He warned about the foolishness of God’s people. It is a powerful insight into what God prizes and what God thinks of those who, because of their stiff necks, will not bow down in prayer to seek His presence.³See also IGNORANCE.