Deuteronomy 21:18

God established parental authority by the holy sanctions of His law, and demanded that children treat it with reverence. Disobedience to parents is one sign of the perilous times of the last days (2 Timothy 3:2). That shows how much God values the obedience of children to their parents. Parents represent God's authority. So when that authority is used for God, it is absolute, and it demands complete and unconditional obedience.

One son might think that being the firstborn gave him a right to rebel. Another might rebel because he was not the firstborn. But God does not tolerate rebellion. It springs from pride — from thinking that only your own opinions are worth considering. God has set up parental authority. Parents were to bring a stubbornly rebellious son to the elders of the city, at the gate, which was the place of judgment.

This law deals with the sin of disobedience and rebellion alongside drunkenness. That is not because drunkenness was the crime punished by death. It is because such stubbornness and disobedience to parents is so unnatural and cowardly that we can only trace it to the maddening influence of drink. At the same time, this shows that God will not accept drunkenness as an excuse for such a crime. Human judges ought not to accept it either, and usually they do not.

What an appalling scene! The LORD Himself, who "is Love" as He "is Light," commands parents to take hold of their own child. They must bring him before the elders and the congregation to be stoned! It was a private affair — a family matter. What had the elders and the congregation to do with it? God had something to say to it, and to see to it! In His sight there is, next to the abomination of an idol, nothing more horrible and unbearable than a rebellious child. His existence was a stain on the camp where God dwelt.

The stubborn and rebellious son, who is to be stoned to death, is another picture of the finally disobedient in Israel. In the future the part of Israel that repents and believes will be restored to the LORD's favour. They will inherit the glorious things promised to them. But the part of that nation that turns away from Him, going on in self-will and rebellion, will be cut off in judgment. The same judgment also falls on the rebellious and disobedient among the nations outside Israel. They claim to be children of God, but their disobedience shows they are not.

Striking contrast! In Deuteronomy we see the hand of God ruling in righteousness and carrying out judgment on the rebellious. In Luke 15 we see the heart of God pouring itself out on the poor repentant one, in a tenderness that melts the heart. God gives him the sweet assurance that getting back His lost one is His own deep joy. The persistent rebel meets the stone of judgment; the returning penitent meets the kiss of love.

The spirit of the present age is refusal to obey authority. "Disobedient to parents" is one mark of the falling away of the last days. We have helped it along by a completely false application of the principle of grace. We have also failed to see that the parent's relationship carries with it a power to be used in righteousness. Without that power, our houses must become scenes of lawlessness and wild confusion. It is no grace to pamper an unsanctified will.