M. Lynch's comment of a few days ago got me to pondering obedience and what characterizes the obedient heart or the obedient person. My research into the Hebrew brought back to me something that I had pondered before, but had never followed through to a conclusion. That is, that in both Hebrew and Greek, the concept of obedience is connected with hearing and with listening, and by implication, then once having fully heard, putting what is heard into practice.
If I am correct about authority, and that authority is conveyed in the word of command, then obedience would be listening, and hearing the command, and complying with it. If the word is not a command, but simply instruction, or teaching, or training, then listening would be allowing that teaching, or training, or instruction to become manifest in one's life, or in one's work. For example, we have what is called Mastery Training where I work, and we watch training videos on everything from driving a truck around corners to braking the truck to workplace safety. It is assumed that we will put this training into practice in our workplace, and that the workplace will be better as a result of the additional instruction.
In my Bible reading this morning I was reading through Jeremiah 17. Verses 19 - 23 include God's call to Jeremiah to go and to stand in the public gate through which the king of Judah go in and out and to carry God's command to the people that no burden was to be carried in through those gates on the Sabbath day. Presumably, Jeremiah did as he was instruction, and thus he heard the command of God and did what he was told. But the people were not as willing to hear as Jeremiah; for in verse 23 we read the following: Yet they did not listen or incline their ears, but stiffened their necks in order not to hear or take correction.
We have heard of a stiff-necked or a stubborn person before. Did you know that the imagery here is that the neck is stiff because it will not bend down to listen and pay attention to instruction? Correct listening is to bend the neck, to incline the ear, to pay attention, sort of like we do when one is telling a secret, and whispering something into another person's ear. The children of Israel, however, refused to be instructed, refused to take correction; they refused to bend down the ear. And thus they were disobedient, and refused to do all that the Lord had commanded.
God continues through Jeremiah in verse 24, "But it will come about, if you listen attentively to Me . . . then there will come in through the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David . . . . And then verse 27 But if you do not listen to Me . . . then I will kindle a fire in [these] gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem and will not be quenched."
Thus, listening in this passage is not completed until that which was heard was put into practice. This is Biblical obedience. The rebellious heart will not listen, will not be trained, and has stiffened its neck in an outright refusal to listen or to be trained. This is what is happening day after day in our society in this present day, and boy, are we reaping the whirlwind. We have a generation out of control because they have never listened, nor are they obeying, nor are they putting parental instruction into practice.
But I am also noticing from some of these posts that parents no longer believe that they can do any instruction in confidence. They are not allowed to be firm, to be insistent, to help that child listen better and more accurately, or to enforce any kind of obedience. There is almost the idea that to do so constitutes abuse, that it constitutes a violation of the child's personhood, that a parent's job is to allow the inner person of the child to come out without any intervention and without any corrective instruction or disciplinary action.
However, the Hebrew word that is translated correction -- they stiffened their necks so as to not take correction -- implies both punishment and teaching and training. It is used in the Scripture with the meaning of chastening, discipline, and rebuke, as well as for positive reinforcement, such as teaching and training. Thus, parents need to do both. Interestingly enough, employers do both, government officials do both; why should not parents do both of these also?
I submit to you readers that one of reasons for the chaos in society is that parents are far too timid and passive in their role in administering discipline and correction. Note God's attitude above: If you listen . . . then kings and princes will come in these gates sitting on the throne of David (a good thing!); but if you do not listen to Me . . . I will kindle a fire in these gates and it will devour the palaces of Jerusalem. God believes in punitive discipline and He used it in addition to teaching and instruction. Parents today should use it as well if they want to have any chance of causing their children to listen.
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