Deuteronomy 21:18-21--A Rebellious Son

Deuteronomy 21:18-21
English Standard Version
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A Rebellious Son
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

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If this passage were still followed today and parents took that job of disciplining their children (especially their sons) seriously, then so many of our problems with over-population of our prisons and juvenile detention facilities would be alleviated.

It was the responsibility of the parents and the elders of the community to protect the community from the foreseeable threat of someone who showed no respect for authority or discipline because such a person would certainly become more and more rebellious and commit more and more egregious sins and crimes.

The rebellious one is described as a glutton--that is one that lives to fulfill his own lusts, be that for food or sex, or pleasure, or whatever, and that he is a drunkard--that is that he is controlled by substances such as alcohol.  Note that this is a child still under the authority of his parents and he already probably has an alcohol problem (or use of other intoxicants).  Don't we see this pattern today with kids who start drinking and doing drugs and seem to live only for themselves and what pleases them while being rebellious to their parents in every way no matter how much their parents try to raise them correctly and discipline them?  We have no plan for what to do before they commit the crimes we know they are going to, but if the parents and the community kept their eyes open, they would see that such children would be a danger to the community.

It's also telling that the LORD doesn't say, "Save their lives because eventually my word may get through to them and may change them."  While that can happen, it's not the job of the justice system to have grace and try and get the bad people saved (because they may say anything, even things they don't mean to get out of trouble).  No, God tells the community to put such a child to death publicly as an example for all others and to let Him be the Righteous Judge of that child's soul.

It is the job of the justice system to purge the evil from their midst so that the innocent will not be caught up in judgment with the guilty, because God will not let the guilty and wicked go unpunished.  The people of Israel and the other nations will hear of the people of the LORD having this kind of love for His Law and will fear and obey.