He That Curseth Father or Mother

One of the passages of the Old Testament that was troubling to me as I have been trying to listen to the whole book this year is Deuteronomy 21:18-21: “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 out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; 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. 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” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). How could the Lord command parents to turn in their rebellious sons so they could be stoned by all the people? Surely this was only referring to those who were much older, perhaps even adults, who had fully shown they would reject all the commands of the Lord, but it is still very hard to understand. I was surprised today to see that President Oaks actually referenced this passage in general conference in a talk many years ago on honoring father and mother. He said, “The Savior reemphasized the importance of the fifth commandment during his ministry. He reminded the scribes and Pharisees that we are commanded to honor our father and our mother and that God had directed that whoever cursed father or mother should be put to death (see Lev. 20:9; Deut. 21:18–21; Matt. 15:4; Mark 7:10).” The Savior’s words that he referenced are these: “For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” He could have been referring to the passage in Deuteronomy or the one in Leviticus 20:9: “For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.” The fact that the Savior spoke of the commandment in His mortal ministry suggests that it really was a part of the law of Moses. President Oaks was quick to add in his remarks, “In this day, failing to honor our parents is not a capital crime in any country of which I am aware. However, the divine direction to honor our father and our mother has never been revoked.” We are certainly grateful that this is no longer a capital offense, but the fact that it ever was is challenging to understand.

               Often in podcasts about the Old Testament, scholars are quick to speak against the notion that the God of the Old Testament is harsh and all about justice whereas the God of the New Testament is full of mercy. They argue, rightfully, that it is the same God throughout and that there are many passages that show the Lord’s mercy and love in the Old Testament. For example, we have promises like these: “Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee” (Deuteronomy 7:12-13). But when I read passages like the one in Deuteronomy 21, I think, “Well, there are good reasons why the God of the Old Testament is known for being harsh!” There are many passages in the law that seem cruel and can be very difficult for us to understand today or reconcile them with the love and mercy Jesus showed in mortality. I appreciated this perspective from the Come, Follow Me manual: “So what should we do when we come across passages in the scriptures that seem troubling? First, it might help to consider each passage in a broader context. How does it fit in God’s plan of salvation? How does it fit with what you know about the nature of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?... In some cases, the passage may not seem to fit well with any of these. Sometimes the passage may be like a puzzle piece that doesn’t look like it has a place among the pieces you’ve already assembled. Trying to force the piece to fit isn’t the best approach. But neither is giving up on the entire puzzle. Instead, you may need to set the piece aside for a time. As you learn more and put together more of the puzzle, you may be able to better see how the pieces fit together.” For me, the command from Jehovah in the law to turn in rebellious children to be stoned by the people is certainly one of those puzzle pieces that doesn’t seem to fit. So I can, as this analogy suggests, set it aside and continue with the puzzle pieces that do fit in to the plan of redemption, trusting in this declaration from the earliest canonized revelation from the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith: “Remember, God is merciful” (Doctrine and Covenants 3:10).