Deuteronomy 21:18-23

Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. We'll be in the Old Testament this morning.! The book of Deuteronomy.

! Sometimes it's called that.

Not because there is another law given, but because the same law is repeated. We've got to understand where we're at in the book of Deuteronomy.

God has graciously delivered His people out of Egypt. He's brought them through the Red Sea. He's fed them with manna.

He's given them drink and water from a rock in the desert. He's brought them, by the time we get to Deuteronomy, they are at the very edge of the promised land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But there's been a lot of things go on during that time. An entire generation of Israelites has died out because of disobedience.

And you can read about that in the book of Numbers. So this second generation, because what happened in the book of Numbers, they were disobedient.

They didn't believe God. God said, you have tempted me these ten times. And because of that, I'm finished. I'm finished with you. You're going to die in this wilderness.

Every one of you that are over the age of 20, you will die in this wilderness because of disobedience. Those of you 20 years and younger, you will go on to the promised land.

So that's where we're at. This is the second generation of Israelites. Minus Joshua and Caleb, of course, because they were the only two that truly believed God.

And Moses, of course. But here we are. They're at the edge of the promised land. And Moses, per God's command, is repeating the law to this second generation of Israelites getting ready to go into the promised land.

And he spends really about the first 11 chapters or so of Deuteronomy doing just that. Then chapters 12 through 21 are the application of said laws.

How they're supposed to use the law of God to live their lives. And then we get to the very end of Deuteronomy 21, which is where, with the Lord's help, we'll be preaching from this morning.

This is a passage of Scripture that many people would stare away from. Many people in the church stare away from nowadays because they just see it as harsh.

They see it as sharp. But folks, the same God that spoke in the book of Deuteronomy is the same God that is alive and well in 2026.

So it's not irrelevant. And God has not changed. God says in the book of Malachi, I am the Lord and I change not. So he has not changed even in the least.

So that being said, in Deuteronomy chapter 21, beginning at verse 18, says, 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, then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place.

And they shall say unto the elders of the city, this our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.

And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones and that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear.

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death and he be put to death and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day.

For he that is hanged on a tree is a curse of God. That thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Back to verse 18 in Deuteronomy 21. It says, 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, on into verse 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.

What we're talking about here in Deuteronomy 21, these last few verses, this last little passage of the chapter is not just a child that is having a bad day.

A child that is being slightly rebellious. A child that is just saying no, or whatever the case is. Folks, we have one here.

We have here in this scripture, in this passage, it says, Will not and would not hearken. And these things, this is true rebellion. And rebellion against father and mother is not causing honor to come to the father and mother, which is part of the Ten Commandments that you can read about in Exodus 20.

He says, If a man had a stubborn and a rebellious son. Again, we're not talking about a little four or five year old. We're talking about someone who is of age.

They know the difference between right and wrong. They know the difference between good and evil. They know what they should do. They know what they should not do. But this child that's being brought up here, this son that's being brought up here in the scripture, is described as being stubborn and being rebellious.

And that is essentially what you and I were before Almighty God saved our souls. We were stubborn and we were rebellious. We were stubborn against the commandments of God.

We were stubborn against the laws of God. We were rebellious against the commandments and the laws of God. We were rebellious against the word of Almighty God.

Every one of us at some point in our lives thought that we had it all figured out. We thought that we were smarter than God. We thought that we were smarter than our parents. We thought that we were smarter than our grandparents or whatever the case was.

But we thought that we had it all figured out. We didn't need any help whatsoever. We needed no laws. We needed no statutes. We needed no judgments. We needed nothing to help us along the way because we thought that we had it all figured out.

And that is what it is to be stubborn and to be rebellious. Rebellious. But in this context here, we're talking about not only stubbornness and rebellion against the father and the mother, but stubbornness and rebellion against the very law of Almighty God.

And our rebellion against the law of God is essentially sin. That is the reason that Jesus Christ had to come here, suffered and bled and died on behalf of rebel sinners.

We were rebels against God. We were at enmity with God. We were the enemies of God. At some point in our lives, you may deny it all you want to, but the Bible says otherwise.

The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God and sin against God is rebellion against God. Again, here in the Scripture, 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.

Folks, the call has gone out here in this passage of Scripture. The call has gone out to this rebellious son, to this rebellious child. The call has gone out.

The chastening has happened. Regardless of what kind of chastening it was, whether it was a slap, whether it was someone being fussed at, whatever the case was, chastening had occurred, and the Bible says that he would not hearken to the voice of his father or to the voice of his mother.

And in return to that, he is not hearkening to the voice of God because we are talking here about, again, the law being given to the Israelites once again before they go into the promised land.

And if this child, this son, is rebelling against what the father and the mother are saying, and they are doing exactly as God has said, they are rebelling against the word of Almighty God.

Again, verse 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.

Regardless of how much we may have spent our lives in sin. Regardless of how secret we may have thought that that sin was.

The Bible makes it plain that our sin will not stay hidden forever. Numbers chapter 32, we read that be sure your sin will find you out.

Be sure of this. Be sure that your sin will find you out. We find that line in the book of Numbers again in chapter 32. You can read that for yourself later.

But our sin will find us out. Regardless of how secretive we think that we are being with it. It will be found out. This rebellious son here, he may have just been sinning within the walls of his own house.

He may have just been sinning against his father and his mother. But folks, sooner or later, that sin is found out. And the Bible here says that he is to be brought by his father and by his mother to the gates of the city and to the elders of the city at the gates.

What is this significant of? Folks, this was the courtroom of the cities back in the day. We read further back in the Old Testament in the book of Genesis.

We read where Lot sat at the gates of Sodom. We read in the book of Ruth where Boaz sat at the gates of his city. This is where court took place.

This is where legal matters were settled. This is where judgment was passed. And they were to grab, here in this passage of Scripture, they were to grab the rebellious and the stubborn child or son and they were to bring him to the gates of the city amongst the elders for what?

For judgment. For judgment. Be sure your sins will find you out. And that sin is ever to be judged by a righteous and a holy God.

A righteous and holy God cannot allow for sin. He cannot condone sin. He cannot let sin continue on without punishment.

It must be punished. His father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him to the elders of the city. And the elders of the city are the ones who are to pass the judgment to the gates of his place.

Verse number 20, and they shall say unto the elders of the city, this our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.

He's stubborn. He's rebellious. He's a glutton and he's a drunkard. Folks, in this time that we live in right now, as well as in the Bible days, but especially in the time that we live in right now, identity is defined by what our desires are.

If you identify with Christ, your desire should be to please Christ. Your desire should be to live the Christian life. Your desire should be to walk as closely as you can.

It won't be perfectly, but your desire should be to walk as closely as you can according to thus saith the word of God. But if your desires are not that, you're identified with whatever your desires are.

Whatever they may be, that's how we are identified in this day and this time in which we live. This man's rebellion and his stubbornness, this son of his father and his mother, his rebellion and his stubbornness were manifested in the form of drunkenness and gluttony according to their very words.

This is how it was manifest unto them. They said that he is stubborn and rebellious. He will not, here's these words again, he will not obey our voice.

It is not that he is incapable of doing so. It's not that he doesn't understand what they're saying. It's not that they are speaking a different language than what he can comprehend.

The fact remains that he will not obey their voice. And folks, the world is in the exact same shape now as this son is in this passage of scripture here.

They will not obey the voice of almighty God. They will not obey the word of almighty God. And that is what brings them to the gate of the city.

That is what brings them to the elders. That is what brings them to judgment. It's not the fact that they cannot, but the fact that they will not obey the voice of God.

This son here in this short passage of scripture would not obey the voice of his mother and father. He would not hearken to the voice. He would not pay any attention to the chastisement that came from them.

And people today are in the exact same shape with almighty God. They will not hearken to the voice. They will not hearken to the drawing of the Holy Spirit. They will not hearken to the word of God.

And they will not hearken to the chastening that may come in their lives of God sending something their way to draw them to him. And people say, well, that takes a cruel God to do that.

It takes a cruel God to do that. That's just not fair. Let me tell you what's not fair. What's not fair is a perfect sinless blameless spotless man who had never committed sin in his life going to a cross on a hill called Calvary to suffer in my place and in your place.

That's what's not fair. I don't want salvation based on what is fair because if it's based on what is fair, I will be in hell for all of eternity.

but if I base it on what God has prescribed within the passages of scripture, not only here in Deuteronomy, but all throughout the Bible, if salvation is based on that, if we hearken to the voice of Almighty God and we hearken to the word of Almighty God, if we hearken to the voice of Jesus Christ, who in Mark chapter one said, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of heaven is at hand, repent ye and believe the gospel.

If we hearken to those words and believe in the gospel and the Christ whom the gospel is all about, then we shall be saved.

And I'm glad, I'm glad that it's that way. I'm glad for the simplicity of the gospel. I'm glad that it doesn't matter what someone may have done last night, what someone may have done last week or last year, that they come to God in faith and repentance of their ways, they can receive salvation.

Joel says in Joel chapter 2 in the Old Testament there is coming a day that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be delivered. And Paul echoes that in Romans in chapter 10 when he says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

And folks that whosoever means whosoever. Whosoever believes the word of God. Whosoever harkens to it. Whosoever gives up their stubbornness. Whosoever gives up their rebellion.

They see their ways. They see they've offended the thrice holy God of the universe. And they see their need for salvation that comes only from Him. And they come to Him repenting of their ways and trusting in Jesus Christ and His finished work.

Then salvation can occur. Then salvation is obtained in the life of a sinner. And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for that because if it was left up to you or I, we would all be without hope.

Every one of us would be without hope. But it's not according to our plan. It's not according to what we think about it. It is according to what God says about it. 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. And all the men of His city shall stone Him with stones. My goodness. What are we reading about here?

People say, that seems so violent. That seems so wrong. That seems like going overboard. Again, folks, if we read anything in the Old Testament and we can't find a way to apply it to the New Testament church, then we've probably interpreted what we are reading in the Old Testament wrong.

if the elders come, all the men of the city shall stone Him with stones, that He die. And people will say, that's so brutal. Folks, that is what you and I deserve.

That is what I deserve. And that is what you deserve. And that's what we would have if not for the work of Jesus Christ. We would have judgment.

And we would have this type of judgment. We would have judgment even worse than this. Folks, this was temporary. A stoning could take from a few minutes to 15 or 20 minutes before the person was finally dead.

But we are talking between that and spending all of eternity in a place called hell. A place where the scripture says the one doth not. A place where the scripture says there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.

A place that the scripture describes as a place of outer darkness. A bottomless pit. It's described so many different ways. But it is for all of eternity.

It is for all of eternity. That's the judgment that I deserve. And that's the judgment that you deserve because we have all rebelled against God.

But God in His mercy. And God in His grace. And God in His long suffering. And God in His love. And His compassion.

And God in His omnipotence. And God in His omniscience. Sent His only begotten Son into this world to dwell amongst sinners.

To dwell amongst the rebels. To dwell amongst those which are stubborn against God. And to go to a hill called Calvary.

And to lay down His life on behalf of sinners. sinners. Paul says in Romans chapter 5 that God commendeth His love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

He didn't die for you because you deserved it. You were a sinner and I was a sinner. He didn't die for us because we wasn't so bad after all.

We were sinners according to the scripture while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us. Christ died for us. We say that all the time.

And people in the church world say that all the time. Christ died for me. But I don't think that the church world quite gets the depth and the gravity of what that means.

Christ died for me. Christ died in my stead. Christ died in a substitutionary place for me. It should have been me that got flogged.

It should have been me that got whipped. It should have been me that suffered the humiliation that he did. It should have been me nailed to the cross. It should have been me.

And it should have been you. It should have been all of us. That's what it means for Christ to die for us. For us. On our behalf. Because this judgment we're reading about here and the judgment that Jesus Christ took upon himself, every one of us deserve it.

Because every one of us have been rebellious. all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die. So shalt thou put away evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

When Christ died on behalf of sinners, all the world should hear the gospel. All the world, from what I read in the scriptures here, all the world eventually will hear the gospel.

not here in Deuteronomy, but other places in the text and other places in the scripture, we read that the gospel is going to go forth. The word of God will go forth.

In fact, the Bible says in Romans in chapter 1 talked about this just yesterday evening that the very creation of Almighty God and it wasn't from a big bang and it wasn't from evolution and it wasn't from this or from that.

It was from a God. It was from the God of the scriptures, speaking the universe into existence, speaking the world on which we live into existence, speaking all the stars, all the moons, all the planets, speaking the sun, speaking everything into existence.

When God did that, He knew what man would become before man was ever created. He knew that man would become rebellious. He knew that man would be stubborn against His ways and yet there was already a plan in motion for the redemption of man's souls.

But when God spoke these things into existence, knowing that man would be a sinner, knowing that man would despise Him and despise His laws and despise His word, despise His ways, God still made a way that we could be saved.

God still but that creation screams that there is a Creator. You cannot look out at the world and say this did not come from intelligent design.

We see a building, we know that there was an architect behind that building. We see a meal, we know that there was a cook behind that meal. We see anything and we know how it came to be.

We know that someone with some kind of intelligence was behind it. People will lose their minds over a cell phone camera that's got multiple pixels upon it, but they look at the human eye, which has a blob more pixels on it and better imagery than any cell phone camera that's out there, and they say that did not come from intelligent design.

It's crazy what the world thinks. It's crazy what people think. It's crazy what I thought once upon a time. But I thank God, I thank God that He saved my soul, and He showed me exactly who I was, and He showed me exactly who He was.

Verse 22, now folks, we've been talking about a rebellious son for these four verses here. A rebellious son who deserves punishment. punishment. Now we get to the last couple of verses of this chapter in Deuteronomy, and I don't think it's an accident, and I don't think it was happenstance, that these verses were penned right after talking about a rebellious son.

Verse 22, it says, and if a man hath committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put, and he be, I'm sorry, and he, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day, for he that is hanged is accursed of God.

Now, the difference between this man that we're talking about in verses 22 and 23, and Jesus Christ, is that this begins with if any man hath committed a sin worthy of death, but folks, this has still got the gospel of Jesus Christ written all over it.

We know that sin was never found in Christ. We know that he never looked on anyone in lust. We know that he never lied. We know that he never stole.

We know that he never murdered. We know that he never done any of these things. The Bible says no guile was found in his mouth. That means that there was no deceit, no deception that was found in Jesus Christ.

We know this about him, but nevertheless, he suffered. Not only did he suffer physically, but he suffered mentally.

He suffered spiritually. He suffered everything that you and I deserve to suffer when he was crucified. he suffered physically, yes, from the whipping and the scourging and the beating and the people spitting upon him.

He suffered the humiliation for many of those things. He suffered the mockery for many of those things. And he suffered the physical death of being placed upon a tree.

But the Bible here says in Deuteronomy 21-23 that every man, every man that hangs upon the tree is a curse of God.

And that is the gospel. Jesus Christ hung in your place, yes, he died for you, yes, but he suffered on your behalf, yes.

But folks, he bore a curse on your behalf. And that's what the church many times does not gather. They do not grab a hold of that.

They don't understand the depth of that. It's that he bore a curse that you and I deserve. Christ bore this curse. And Paul takes this verse of Scripture here and in Galatians chapter 3 applies it explicitly to Jesus Christ.

That every man that hangs upon a tree is a curse of God. He is a curse. What does this mean for us? What does that mean for believers?

It means that he bore the curse. He bore the wrath. He bore the punishment. What does it mean for unbelievers? It means that he bore the curse. He bore the wrath. And he bore the judgment and the punishment that all of us deserve.

He was treated the way that you and I should be treated. Why should we be treated that way? Isaiah makes that very plain for us. In Isaiah 53, all we like sheep have gone astray.

We've all turned to our own ways. But God made a way in Jesus Christ that the curse that was placed on man in the garden in Genesis chapter 3 that that curse could be lifted off of us.

The curse was placed on man and it was placed on all creation. It has affected everything. That's why the Bible says the very earth groans for her rebirth.

Why? Because the curse affected the earth. And it affects you and I. It affects every animal that we know. It affects every plant that we know.

It affects every drop of water that we know. And it affects every person that we know. The curse affects all those things. But Christ hung upon a tree and bore the punishment for that curse upon himself.

And he did it voluntarily. I would not have done that. And you would not have done that. And even if I could have, it would have done humanity no good.

Only a spotless sacrifice. Only a blameless sacrifice. Only one without blemish. could have obtained salvation for all of mankind.

And there was only one available to do that. The Bible teaches in the book of Revelation that there was a search made in heaven. There was a search made in the earth.

And under the earth, there was a search made everywhere. And no one was found worthy to loose the seals of a book.

And that caused John to cry. That caused John to weep in the book of Revelation. One of the elders came to him and said, weep not. For the Lamb of God, He is worthy.

And folks, He is the one who is not only worthy to loose those seals in the book of Revelation, but He is the only one that was holy enough and righteous enough.

He being God manifests in the flesh. He is the only one that was able to lay down His life and to shed His blood and that blood to count for anything as far as eternity goes.

He is the only one that was able to do that. Again, He should be hung upon a tree, or if they would hang Him on a tree, His body should not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury Him that day.

What happened to Christ? After He died, He was buried. And He was buried the exact same day that He was crucified. If you remember in the Gospel accounts, the Pharisees and the religious elite of their time, they're the ones that demanded this happen because the Sabbath was the next day and they didn't want to be considered unclean or unable to participate in the Sabbath and the Passover, which was the next day.

He was buried the same day, just as the Scripture here says it should be done. His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury Him that day, for he that is hanged is a curse of God.

That is the depth of the Gospel. and that is the depth of the saying Christ died for me. Christ was again treated as you and I should have been treated and should be treated.

None of us deserve heaven. None of us deserve salvation. None of us deserve life everlasting. None of us deserve any of these things because we've all been like this rebellious son up here in the first four verses that we went through.

And we're all like this one in verse 22. If a man have committed a sin worthy of death. And you might say, well what is a sin worthy of death? Is it murder? Is it adultery?

Is it this or that? Folks, anything, anything that goes against the Word of God is a sin that is worthy of death. Because God is perfect and holy and righteous.

And He cannot and will not allow sin before Him. But Christ has made a way. Christ has made a way in Himself and in His sacrifice.

When He said in John chapter 19, it is finished, He was talking about His work that was being accomplished on that cross where He uttered those words.

His work for the salvation of lost sinners was complete. His blood had been shed on behalf of sinners. The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.

There is no remission of sin. There is no forgiveness of sin. There is no removal of guilt. I praise God for Isaiah chapter 1 where God says to His own people, Israel, He says, come, let us reason together, saith the Lord.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. God made a way that that could happen, not only for Israel, but for anyone who will come to Him in faith and repentance, believing on His Son and the gospel of His Son.

That thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance. This is the last line of verse 23. Folks, we are promised a land over yonder somewhere.

Somewhere beyond anything that we can see. In the nighttime, we can see stars that are supposedly millions of miles out there. I don't know. I've never been out there.

I've never measured the distance. But we can see stars that are a great way off. We can see planets at certain times of the year. We can see other planets. But somewhere beyond all of that, there is a land that we are promised.

again, it says that that thy land be not defiled. Why would the land be defiled? Because someone who was accursed was hanging upon a tree for over a day?

Because a rebellious son hadn't been punished? Yes, that would have defiled the land. The folks, sin. It boils down to sin.

Sin is an archery term. It means to miss the mark. To miss the target that you're aiming for. That's what sin is.

We miss the mark. Every one of us miss the mark. But not Christ. Christ came and in perfect obedience to the Father, which you and I have never been able to accomplish.

I don't care how long you've been saved. You and I have never accomplished perfect obedience to the Father. But Christ did. And Christ finished a perfect work on that cross, on Calvary.

A perfect work of salvation. So that you and I could inherit a land that is not defiled by sin. There is no death there.

There is no crying there. There is no disease. There is no heartache. There is no sadness. There is no depression. There is no need for graveyards there.

There is no need for pharmacies there. There is no need for any of these things there. There is no need for eyeglasses, praise God. Why? Because sin is not there. And sin is why we have eye problems.

Sin is why we have hearing problems. Sin is why we have heart attacks. Sin is why we have death. Death was not part of the picture until sin creeped in in the garden.

And when sin came into the picture in the garden, God pronounced death. He said what would happen before the forbidden fruit was eaten. He said, you would surely die.

Now, did Adam die immediately? Did Eve die immediately? No. They went on to have children. Even after that. Adam lived 900 years according to the Scripture.

And people will snarl over their nose and say that's impossible. Folks, the Bible makes it very plain in more than one gospel of Jesus Christ that with men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible.

Everyone, everyone lived a ripe old ages back then, except maybe Abel. And that was because sin had creeped in through his parents. And because that sin had creeped in, Cain killed him.

Cain murdered him. It's amazing to me. It is absolutely amazing to me. It only took two generations.

You had Adam and Eve. You had Cain and Abel. Two generations before murder came to planet Earth. Abel was the first person, as far as we know, buried on planet Earth.

His was the first funeral, which should open a lot of eyes. It wasn't the father, it wasn't Adam, the elder, but it was his son, Abel.

That should open a lot of eyes. It doesn't matter how young you are. There is no guarantee for tomorrow. There is no guarantee that you'll have time to repent tomorrow, because you may not see the light of tomorrow.

I encourage you today to look deep within your heart, deep within your soul, deep within yourself to see if you are this rebellious, stubborn child that we were reading about a few verses ago, that would not hearken to the Word of God, and that will not obey, or to see if you have indeed repented of your ways, and believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And that is what I encourage you to do today, is repent and believe there is no other way unto salvation. That's my message for this morning. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen.