Submit to God’s Authority

Hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're at Deuteronomy chapter 21, verses 18 through 21. We're going to talk about what is it happens, what does it mean, what do you do when there's a child who grows up and is incorrigible or rebellious. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray. We'll get into God's word.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. Lord, you are a wonderful and gracious God, abounding in mercy and loving kindness. Lord, we pray that you would please help us to read your word, that your spirit would transform our hearts and our lives. Let us understand it. We need you, Lord. Please help us to take note of what this says and what it means for us in our lives today. In Jesus name. Amen.
Deuteronomy, chapter 21, verses 18 through 21. 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 who, when they have chastened him, will not heed him, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard. Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear. Wow, we got a hard passage. We need to ask ourselves, A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? So, A, what's this about?
It's about a son who's incorrigible. He's lazy. He's a drunkard. He's a glutton. He's rebellious. No matter what the parents have done, they can't seem to turn him around. He's dead set on breaking the fifth commandment. He will not honor his father. He will not obey his mother. He doesn't care about the land which the Lord their God is giving them and how this is going to affect him and all society.
Look yesterday at the type of son who's has to be given the rights of the firstborn, right? If he's the firstborn whether of the loved woman or the hated woman doesn't matter He's the firstborn but just because someone has a right to be the firstborn doesn't mean he gets to act However, he wants remember one of the reasons why? The inheritance had to go to the firstborn as he was chosen by God to be the leader of the family and here we find children we find a son who doesn't want to be a contributor to the family, doesn't want to be a contributor to the tribe or to the nation, and to reject the established authority of his parents is to reject the God who put his parents in authority over him, i.e. the Lord himself. And so we have this issue that what do you do with a son who's like this, who is a cancer, right?
His behavior and his attitude will spread throughout the community. The Lord says, if it comes to that horrible point. Dad can't just put him to death. Mom can't just just take care of him. No, no. Mom and dad, both of them have a part to play, mother and father to bring him to the elders at the gate. And there the community judges him.
And if this is broad and known throughout all the community that this is an incorrigible son, that he's corrupt and he's rebellious and he won't listen. Then it can be a capital crime. Then all the men of this of his city shall stone him with to death with stones. So you shall put away the evil word for evil, there could also be destruction or ruin. from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear." This rebellious son is meant to be an example. of don't do this. I'm going to give you this as a way of illustration.
On the ship, when I was in the Navy, we had a string of that's on a deployment. I mean, it was like every single day stuff was being stolen from the ship store stuff was being stolen from people's racks stuff was being stolen out of people's lockers. It was just person after person after person after person after person going to the captain or captain's mass and They were getting disciplined and disciplined and disciplined for thieving. So finally, the captain had an announcement for the whole ship, all 5000 plus of us. They said the next person. Who gets captain's mass, it's going to be an open mass, I'm going to throw the book at them.
And that night. That night, someone tested the captain's authority. It went to the ship store. And to try to usurp his authority and to almost bait him, they stole a can of Pringles. What's that, like 50, 75 cents a buck, something like that. I don't know. It was cheap.
But the next day, all 5,000 sailors were to be in dress blues in the hangar bay. And the whole hangar bay, all the ships were put up on the flight deck and we were all assembled in the hangar bay. And the captain was up on a galley up, up where they did work on different avionics from the, for the planes and down through the middle of our ranks. walked a man with mastered arms on either side of him, military police on his right and on his left, as they escorted this man in his dress blues. And as he ascended up into the stairs and he stood in front of everyone to see, it was put over the, over the speakers, the one MC, so all of us could hear.
And the captain told him he had tested his authority. He had challenged who was in charge. And for that grave offense, he was put on restriction for 45 days. He was knocked down in pay. They took half his pay for the month, times two months. And then on top of that, after he was not allowed to leave the ship for 45 days, knocked down and paid for two days, he lost his rank. And at the end of all of that, the day his restriction was done, he was dishonorably discharged from the Navy. Kicked out. No benefits. No Veterans Affairs benefits the rest of his life.
Why? Because he had challenged that authority. And the captain knew that if he didn't make this blatantly known, that there would be insubordination, rebellion, and even chaos on a ship that needed order. That's how society worked back then. We've lost a sense of society. We've lost a sense of communal responsibility in our society today. We see morals as just ethics to be debated, rather than really affecting our families and our communities and even our country. Not so in Israel, even when it was your closest of kin. What's the best verse to summarize all of this? Well, in my Bible, I'm going to underline verse 21.
What are we called to do? Do we submit to the authorities above us? Do we listen to those who God has placed over us? Do we honor them, or do we grumble and complain? Do we purposely do the opposite? Do we go after our own hearts? God's redeemed us from that. God's told us to honor the King, but to glorify Him. We're to submit to all those who are governing authorities above us, that the Gentiles might know that we follow King Jesus.
Do you follow the authorities placed above you? I'm not saying this is easy, especially in a sinful world. But even Jesus submitted to Mary and Joseph. Even Jesus, the perfect God and man submitted to imperfect parents. We with the Spirit of Christ to bring our Father in heaven glory as we submit to those who rule over us.
Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would forgive us. We're Americans and we like to rebel. We celebrate our rebellions. Lord, we know that there is an ungodly way when we rebel against authority just because it's authority. Father, we pray that you would please help us.
Help us, Lord, to follow after you. Give us wisdom, Lord. Make us submissive in a godly way. May you be glorified in our hearts and our lives. Please care for our children. Thank you, most of all, that you sent your Son, who obeyed perfectly for us. Thank you, that in Him we have life. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, may you take comfort knowing that Jesus Christ himself was humbled even in the likeness of a man, that the will of his father was found to be a perfect son and is your hope for life. I'll see you next time. Bye.