STUBBORNNESS – PART II
Series Verse: 1 Samuel 15:23
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry…."
"Stubbornness – The Pathway To Destruction"
Study Text: Deuteronomy 21:18-21
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.
In this week’s study we take a look at where stubbornness will lead you and
why it will lead you there. Of course by the title you’ve already figured out
the where – to destruction, but probably not the why. Well, within the previous
passage of scripture we are given hints why we need to abstain from
stubbornness.
First let’s go back to our definition of stubbornness as taken from Deuteronomy
9:16: "turning aside quickly from the way of the Lord." Our study
text tells us that if a man has a son who is stubborn (quick to turn aside from
the way of the Lord) and rebellious (exercising witchcraft or sorcery) he is to
take his son to the elders of the city (18th & 19th).
Now let’s back up a bit and look at the definition of sorcery/witchcraft:
the art or act of foretelling future events by an alleged assistance of evil
spirits. Now, we are going to try to break this down even further through an
example. Let’s say Sue (a child of God) has a co-worker, Bob (also a child of
God), whom she does not get along with. Every morning Sue and Bob arrive at the
office before anyone else but they barely speak to each other. Every morning
the Holy Spirit convicts both of them not only to speak to each other but also
to really sit down and talk. In their own wisdom, both of them rebel to the
prompting of the Holy Spirit. Stop!!!! Now, we know that two children of God
shouldn’t have this type of relationship, but what’s keeping it from
blossoming? Stubbornness & Rebellion.
If just one of them would yield to the Holy Spirit, then at least one of
them or possibly both would receive a supernatural breakthrough. Instead they
remain stubborn (turning aside from the way of the Lord) and they rebel. Now
during their rebellion this is what they are doing. Remember our definition of
rebellion – "The art or act of foretelling future events by an alleged
assistance of evil spirits." How do they foretell future events with the
assistance of evil spirits? Well, by walking outside of the will of God,
disliking each other and not trying to make the relationship a Godly one. Each
of them is saying, "I will not like you and I will never like you. I don’t
care what you do; we won’t be friends." Yes, Yes, Yes – they are
predicting doom with the assistance of evil spirits – the spirits of Strife,
Anger, and Hatred. And we all know that by following this path, destruction will
surely, surely follow.
In the 20th verse we are told that the parents of a stubborn and rebellious
son have the authority to go to the elders and say, "This our son is
stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a
drunkard." At this point if he is found guilty by the elders, the young
man will be subjected to death by stoning (21st). This is surely a severe
punishment for any crime, but ask yourself why such a severe punishment?
(1) Because evil spreads quickly and is never satisfied until all is
overtaken.
We should know without a shadow of a doubt that evil won’t
stop on its own. When unattended it will overtake and overtake and overtake
until everything and everyone has been consumed. Even at this point, evil won’t
let up. This is where oppression begins because the cry of evil is,
"Kick’em till they’re down, Kick’em when they’re down, Kick’em to keep‘em
down."
Under the old law that was given to Moses for the children
of Israel, God is telling them how to keep evil from spreading amongst them—At
the first hint of evil, destroy it (stone it)!!! Last week in Deuteronomy 9:14
we saw that in their stubbornness, the Israelites had resorted to evil
practices (worshiping a golden calf). The Lord had had enough so He told Moses:
"Let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under
heaven: and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they."
The Lord was going to wipe them out. He knew that it would be simpler to start
from scratch–with a new, obedient, group of people– but Moses’ prayers of
intercession stayed the Lord’s sentence of execution.
(2) Because stubbornness and rebellion lead to habitual sin.
Going back to the 20th verse– we see that the son’s spirit
of rebellion and stubbornness led to his habitual sin of gluttony and
drunkenness. This shows us one thing that we should really hold near and dear
to us – "The only spirits that we should have in us are the fruits of the
Holy Spirit." These are Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness,
Goodness, Faith, Meekness, & Temperance (Galatians 5:22).
What happens when we decide not to let the fruits of the
Holy Spirit reside in us. Well, it’s the same thing that happens when you don’t
take care of a garden. If you don’t "tend" it, the weeds (destructive
spirits or forces—like stubbornness and rebellion) will grow up and choke off
anything else that may want to grow. The weeds will rob the soil of the
nutrients and the earth of the "space" which could have provided
beautiful flowers. But I’m here to tell you child of God, if you would just
"tend" the garden, beautiful things will appear in the place of those
weeds of destruction. Instead of hate, love will grow up in the garden. Instead
of strife, joy will spring up in the garden. Instead of wrath, peace will bloom
in the garden. Instead of envy, temperance will bud in the garden.
So destroy those spirits of stubbornness and rebellion, and fill your garden
(your spirit) with the fruits from heaven, so you’ll bloom in a manner worthy
of heaven. You’ll be amazed as other people watch you grow. Yes, others!!!
Because once your change comes, that change you’ve always wanted, everyone will
ask "What are you doing? You look sooooo good. You have this glow about
you." And your response will be, "I’ve been tending my garden."
