Tuesday 9th September
Read Deuteronomy 21:18-21
“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, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 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.’ 21 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.” (NIVUK)
There is harshness in this law. Stubborn and rebellious children will be put to death. It is a terrible warning to the people of Israel.
There is also gentleness. One parent cannot act unilaterally in bringing the rebellious one before the elders. Both parents must agree. The final act is not enforced by the parents but by the community.
One wonders if this law’s harshness and gentleness. Its judgments and its mercies are not purposefully designed to challenge our complacency towards evil in our midst and in our hearts? “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.” (Matthew 5:29-30) (NIVUK)
