Deuteronomy 21:15-23 - Inheritance, Rebellion, and Obedient Respect

Deuteronomy 21:15-23

Firstborn Inheritance Rights

15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, 16 then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. 17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

The Rebellious Son

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.

Miscellaneous Laws

22 “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

Here rights of the firstborn and rebellion meet with a final law about not allowing a man hung on a tree to be kept on it after dark, but buried respectfully to keep the land clean from further effects of sin.  The issue of the firstborn son as the inheritor was clarified to not be chosen by a question of who was loved more, but who was born into that right by God’s decree.  This is somewhat similar to we who have been chosen in Christ by the merit of our Father’s love as chosen to inherit and not because we have been more loved by the world for our good deeds.  God’s love is not earned.  It is the grace of His love in choosing us anyway and on His Son’s righteousness and not on our own merit.  Those who are unloved by the world are shown an abundance of His love in Jesus Christ, just as the son of the unloved wife received double that of the preferred one due to the chosen order of God made clear here.  As for rebellion, this law ensured that disobedience and rebellion against parental authority was to be answered by disciplinary measures, and if the son refused to obey and respect them, then he was to be taken to task before the leaders of the people to answer for his sin.  Surely we do not stone disobedient children today, but discipline is required and consequences are to be imposed.  As Exodus 20:12 first stated and Ephesians 6:1-3 explained further, it is God’s word to us that children are only rewarded with life by willing obedience to their parents because it is the right thing to do; the result of disobedience to the gospel takes it a step further in this analogy by resulting in eternal punishment for disobedience and disbelief of our heavenly Father in sending His Son to be likewise obeyed by repentance from sin and faith in His work and righteousness for us as His children.  These passages then address inheritance, rebellion, and obedient respect for earthly matters with a mindset as unto God.