Rebellion

Good Morning,

While trying to rebuild Israel, Nehemiah wrote reminders of what Israel had gone through and why those terrible things had happened.

Nehemiah 9:16 “But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks, and hearkened not to thy commandments,”

vs. 17 “And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.”

Look at the list of wrongdoing:

vs. 16 “…dealt proudly… hardened their necks…hearkened not to thy commandments…”

vs. 17 “And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders…hardened their necks… rebellion…”

(They desired) “…to return to their bondage:”

Mankind is so full of self and rebellion that it is difficult to understand the love of God for us.  Yet, He does not leave us without chastening.  God allows situations to enter our lives to draw us to Him and to motivate us to turn from our wrong.  Rebellion cannot be ignored; God does not ignore it, nor should we.  Although we hate to be caught, being caught is necessary.  Whether it be speeding or lying, we need to have boundaries set up, and violating those boundaries demands some form of punishment.  

Ecclesiastes 8:11 “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”

When there is no correction, we lean more heavily on our rebellion and get stronger in our determination to be rebellious.   As parents, every time rebellion arises, we must deal with it.


I love what Brother Jim Rushing told us about his children.  When they would not take correction, or when their actions were relatively right but their attitude was wrong, they were removed from all activities with friends.  They sat with their parents in church and went soul winning with Mom or Dad; they were not allowed to sing in the teen choir, attend teen activities, or be alone in their rooms.  Every waking hour, they were with Mom or Dad until there was a change in their spirit.  In our current culture, I would also remove all media and limit the child’s or teen’s listening privileges to only that to which Dad or Mom is listening.  (For more details, read or listen to “Critical Stages in Child Rearing” by Jim Rushing.)

Too many parents are afraid to be mean.  Our adversary is mean beyond words, and we are in a fight for the lives of our children.  

Proverbs 29:1 “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”

We must correct rebellion, or it will soon be too late to correct. Notice what Solomon wrote: “while there is hope.”

Proverbs 19:18 “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”

Back to Nehemiah: if we expect to rebuild anything, correcting the spirit of those with whom we work is necessary, whether it be on the job or in our homes.   If you would like more information, we have albums of child-rearing messages in our church bookstore.  

Pastor