... his town shall stone him to death

Before anyone gets too excited, let me set the stage on this. I was reading my Bible this morning and I happened to be in Deuteronomy 21. If you believe in God and in His Truth, which is documented in the Bible, you can't really argue with what I am about to share. I am NOT advocating that this is a practice we should all adopt. Perhaps a bit too much water has already flowed under this bridge. BUT, just imagine how different the world would be today, IF the Israelites had actually followed God's Word on this one!!!

A Rebellious Son
18 If a man 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 profligate and a drunkard." 21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

In all honesty, under this standard, I am not sure that I would be here today. I certainly remember a period in my life where I was VERY rebellious. I specifically told my parents that there were certain things about my young life that I enjoyed (and they disapproved of) that I was NOT going to change, and that there was nothing that they could do about it! Imagine that...

Fortunately, I am blessed with children that I would not have to turn over to the elders. Not everyone has been as blessed. I know parent who would do anything to get their kids "back on track." But, sadly there a way too many parents who just don't care. They've written off their children years ago.

Go back and look at the passage again. Who bore first responsibility? The parents. If the parents couldn't correct the behavior of a rebellious child, who was next in line? The Elders of the town. Think about it for a minute. Do you think that any of the elders would be surprised when the parents brought the child before them? No! I am sure that they already knew the kid AND his behavior. Now, who carried out the stoning... to DEATH? "...all the men of his town..." Do you think that all the men casting the stones knew the rebellious son? Probably...

Who benefited from this engagement? The community. "You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid." After the FIRST kid was stoned, how long do you think that it was before the next "bad" kid decided to mouth off to his parents?

God's Plans REALLY are the best. If His People had followed his instructions, Imagine what kind of communities we would live in today!