Proverbs 13:1
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A wise son heareth his father's instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.
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Sons live with fathers and see their weaknesses, sins, and ignorance. Sons, filled with the sinful folly of youth, don't like being told what to do by anyone, let alone this man they know also has faults. So they face a constant, difficult choice - submit or rebel.
But there is a God in heaven, and He has spoken: obey and honor your father. What is His cure for scornful sons? Capital punishment! Simple, appropriate, perfect! Tremble before God and your father (20:20; 30:17; Ex 21:15,17; Lev 20:9; Deut 21:18-21; 27:16)!
Young man, God chose one man out of two billion to be your father. He didn't ask either of you about the matter. The relationship was by His choice, and He gave him the office of father and 20-40 years of wisdom and experience before you wore your first diaper.
Authority on this earth is imperfect. No husband, father, master, or king is perfect. They make mistakes, and many of them. But it doesn't matter, for the office is to be feared, obeyed, reverenced, and trusted. This is the ordinance of God. And anyone debating it is a brute beast needing to be put down (II Peter 2:10-12; Jude 1:8-10; Romans 13:1-7).
Why else should you listen to your father? Consider. Fathers are handpicked by God, have experience you do not have, are emotionally stable, are not on a testosterone high, love you protectively, value your future, have much more knowledge, have a charge from God, know about loss and pain from foolishness, and live and sleep with your mother!
If you reject your father's instruction, you are a scorner - one of the worst names in the Bible (15:12; 24:9). You are worse than a fool (12:1). You are an arrogant loser (26:12). You think yourself wise, but you are a brutish idiot (26:16; 21:24). You are the cause of much of the world's trouble, and life is instantly better when you are gone (22:10; 29:8).
Of all things young men must flee, very important are any traits of the scorner. God will not be mocked, and all scorners will be punished (15:10; 29:1; 19:25; 21:11; Is 29:20-21). So it is a rule of the godly man's life to avoid even the seat of the scornful (Ps 1:1). All scorners should be marked, avoided, and despised as profane and dangerous criminals.
Eli warned and rebuked his profane sons, Hophni and Phineas; but they did not hear their father's instruction, for the LORD had already purposed to destroy them (I Sam 2:25). If we presume to reject the admonition of those the LORD sends, as pastors or fathers, how far are we from similar, certain judgment (II Chron 36:16). For rejecting those He sends is truly rejecting Him (I Sam 8:7; Exodus 16:8; Luke 10:16)!
This rule of wisdom applies as well to all other subjects of authority and instruction. Young woman, do you hear your father and mother's instruction? Married woman, do you hear your husband's instruction? Employees, do you hear your master's instruction? You daily face a choice - will you hear and reverence instruction or scornfully reject it?
We all arrive in this world ignorant and foolish, and the great and kind God of heaven in wisdom provides parents, husbands, masters, pastors, and magistrates to teach and guide us through life. Without them, the world would be total chaos and anarchy. How do you receive their instruction? As a wise man, or a fool? Or even worse, as a scorner?
How hard is it for you to receive the instruction, correction, warning, and rebuke of the man of God? You know he is a sinner as yourself, and you may see the weakness of his flesh. Yet he stands and speaks as an ambassador of the Blessed and Only Potentate, and disdain for him or his instruction will bring judgment (I Thess 5:12-13; Heb 13:7,17).
Our Blessed Lord was taught by His Father, and He rejoiced to do His every instruction (Is 50:4-5; John 8:29): even when it involved the sacrifice of His life, He learned obedience and became perfect through suffering (Heb 5:7-9). Let Him be our example!
Deliverance us, O Lord, from resisting Thee, Thy Word, and those that Thou dost send.
Cross-references:
Proverbs 14:6
Proverbs 15:31
Measure your wisdom right now. Answer one question honestly. Do you like to be corrected by someone you know has faults himself? Proverbs emphasizes this mark of great men often (1:5; 8:17; 9:7-9; 12:1; 13:18; 15:5,12,31-32; 23:9; Psalm 32:8-9).
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