Proverbs 30:17 The eye that mocketh at his father, and
despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and
the young eagles shall eat it.
As this was written to Hebrews under the Law of
Moses and that an uncorrectable son could be stoned to death this Proverb is
quite understandable.
Deuteronomy 21:18 ¶ If a man have a stubborn
and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice
of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto
them: 19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him
out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 20 And they
shall say unto 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 And all the men
of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil
away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
Under the dispensation of grace given to the
Christian church which is not under the Law of Moses nor justified by it, we
would spiritualize this as a rather extreme warning to young people not to
disrespect their parents and expect to have anything good come of it. Christian
children are told;
Ephesians 6:1 ¶ Children, obey your parents
in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; (which is the
first commandment with promise;) 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou
mayest live long on the earth.
Christians are not under a national, theocratic
legal system as the Hebrews were supposed to be. God was to be their king and
these were the rules, both civil and religious for living. Many so-called
Christians in history have tried to claim that they were simply replacing the
Hebrew theocracy and attempted to set up a church-state monstrosity in order to
fulfill that twisted dream of replacing the Jews, only not with God as their
head, but a king or a pope or even an emperor acting in God’s place. The
Eastern Roman Empire, also called the Byzantine Empire, Russia under the Czars,
England, and countries ruled by Roman Catholic kings and emperors all attempted
to replace the Hebrew theocracy. Even the Puritans in Massachusetts lived under
a combination of church and state as one. This is called Replacement Theology.
It is my belief when Jesus talks about the “Synagogue of Satan” that’s what He
is talking about. Replacement Theology has the Christian Church as the
successor to the Hebrew Theocracy of the age of the kingdom ruled by David,
Solomon, and their successors.
Revelation 2:9 I know thy works, and
tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them
which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of
Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make
them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Christianity is different, though. It is the
first religion where their god does not dwell in a temple of wood and stone but
in their bodies. There were supposed to be no sacred spaces in Christianity
outside of the believer’s heart. God dwells inside each believer. Many
commentators have even shown how the tabernacle and the temple could be likened
to the human body.
God’s rules are not our civil law. They will not
be until He personally sits at the head of government during His millennial
reign. In America, we are supposed to be living under a secular government,
providing assurances that all religions can be practiced without fear or
interference except in cases where individual’s rights to life, liberty, and
the enjoyment of their personal rights are harmed by said practice. Many people
seem to have forgotten this. Just as President Obama lamented how the liberal
left had lost its Christian roots in his 2006 speech, “A Call to Renewal” so
has the conservative right forgotten that the Founders of this country, even
when they were devoutly religious personally, wanted a government that would
ensure that all men could worship freely or not at all.
As Ben Franklin said, it was his wish that
conditions were such that the Muslim Mufti of Constantinople could preach a
sermon in the middle of Philadelphia if he so chose. James Madison, the often-called
Father of the Constitution, was even against paid chaplains in the military. He
felt that religious organizations should provide their own lest their freedom
to speak should be hindered by government controls, and this has happened.
But, back to the Proverb. We are not called to
stone our unruly children, no matter how much some of you would appreciate the
opportunity. These are some of our commands with regard to how we are to treat
our children;
Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not
your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord.
Colossians 3:21 Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be
discouraged.
(Note: notice the parallel phrasing of these two
verses on the same topic, showing by the use of the words how anger and wrath
have similar meanings.)
If you are a Christian and you want to act as a
Christian parent then I would suggest you begin by having daily devotions with
your family, daily prayers and Bible reading. Take their concerns and prayers
to heart and show them by example that a day of praising God and being thankful
is a far better day than a day complaining about the boss, traffic, or your
neighbors. Spend more time relating to them and in God’s word and less time
watching the glass toilet or listening to whatever the latest trash Lady GooGoo
is spewing and perhaps you won’t ever have to wish you could haul your son
before the elders of the city, picking up a few good size rocks on the way.
Have you prayed with your children today? Have
you read the Bible to them or with them?
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