Stoning the rebellious son

I recently had the opportunity to teach on a set of verses from the book of Deuteronomy. These are verses that are often used by atheists and anti-missionaries in their attempt to make the God of Scripture look unmerciful. For context, here are those verses:

Deuteronomy 21:18 “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 who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, (19) 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. (20) 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.’ (21) 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. (select words boldened for emphasis)

The first thing to understand is that the stubborn, rebellious, drunkard son is not a child but a young man. It also says of him that he is gluttonous. This word might not be the best translated word for za’lal (H2151) which, while carrying the idea of living to excess, is first dealing with the idea of worthlessness. The final descriptive word tied to this young man, in verse 21, is the Hebrew word ra’ah, which is the word for evil or wicked. This isn’t a lazy kid living in mom’s basement drinking and playing video games all day. This is a young man who is narcissistic and is a danger to himself and to others. The punishment of stoning this individual was designed to protect family and community, view it more as a warning or deterrent.

When I gave this talk I asked the congregation what they would do if they came to realize that their child was a threat to other members of their family, or the community around them. What if they uncovered evidence that their child might have plans to kill a person, or people, perhaps in a mass causality type event? Would they turn them in? Would they close their eyes and hope for the best? It’s a difficult question because we have it ingrained within us, to protect our children at all costs.

Sadly, this scenario played out in the murder of Charlie Kirk. A young man, Tyler Robinson, was arrested for Charlie’s murder but only after being compelled by his own father (Matt Robinson), to turn himself in. Can you imagine the anguish that Matt Robinson must have felt knowing that he was compelling his son to turn himself into authorities in a state that still has the death penalty? Try to put yourself in Matt’s shoes. You love your son, you want to do anything for him, you want save and protect him from all of the harm that this world has to offer. And yet you know he has to face justice for his decision to take Charlie’s life. And then to do just that, bring him to the elders of the gate, so to speak, so that justice might be served.

Matt Robinson is not a hero, he is a grieving father who, in essence, was the parent of the rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21. He did what he was supposed to do, as unimaginably difficult as that had to be. Tyler won’t be stoned for his actions, but he very well may die for his sin. While we now, sadly, have a modern living example of what Deuteronomy 21:18-21 was sharing, and might have a better answer for an atheist who might try to use that in the future in some “Gotcha” moment, we now as believers have work to do. Our job now is to pray that Tyler Robinson repent and give his heart to Christ. In times like this it’s hard to remember, that we truly do not fight against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in high places*. Tyler gave into that wickedness and did the unthinkable, but he’s still somebody Yeshua gave his life for. I believe that if Tyler repents and is forgiven by God, that Charlie Kirk would be the first one to want to give him a hug. If that is true, and I really do believe it is, then the least we can do is pray for Tyler and hope he gets that hug.

* Ephesians 6:12