If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. Deuteronomy 21:18-21
The last several days in Deuteronomy have been pretty harsh. Lots of stoning and purging. Today's passage talked about stoning the disobedient, oldest son. I have to wonder how bad a child's behavior had to be that the parents were willing to bring their child in front of the elders and have him stoned. I'm not sure what my threshold would be to take that kind of action. I really appreciate what the devotional had to say about this passage...
"While there is no record of anyone being executed under this law, this instruction still alarms and perhaps even embarrasses us because it doesn't seem very godlike. But there is actually great hope in this dark scene. Centuries later, a firstborn Son who obeyed his Father perfectly would be put to death - not for his own stubborn rebellion, but for ours. He would experience the curse that all rebellious sons deserve so that we can experience the blessing of the long, full life that he deserved. He experienced the ultimate curse so that we can enjoy unending blessing."
1 comment:
I appreciated today’s devotional as well. These are dark passages but it is a reminder of the seriousness of sin and the amazing grace of God.
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