In verses 34-40 we saw the reality of God's disciplines in our lives and the purposes for those loving disciplines. We saw how critical it is to be able to recognize when we are being disciplined and when the challenges we face are not discipline at all, but have other good purposes.

But in today's passage we will look at some related issues that can undermine the goal of discipline. These are lessons related to fake repentance, fake faith, fake obedience, manipulative tears, and how God handled those things. I think this paragraph can be hugely instructive to both adults and to children.

The difference between regret and repentance; presumption and faith (v. 41)

But - perhaps the most confusing thing in this passage (at least to some Christians) is why God would treat their confession of sin (and they did confess that they had sinned, right?) and their willingness to do what they had previously refused to do as being fake repentance and fake obedience. After all, didn't they say, "We have sinned against the LORD"? Why does God not take their confession of sin seriously? Well, verse 41 may on the surface seem like repentance, faith, and obedience, but there was a reason why God rejected it. Verse 41 says,

Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD; we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.

Why this was regret and not full repentance (v. 41a)

We will look first at why this was regret and not true repentance. And you parents need to take note of this because many parents are fooled by the same counterfeit repentance in their children. It doesn't matter how many times you tell your child to do something, he ignores you - until the tool of discipline finally comes out and you are about to discipline the child. And suddenly your child shows great remorse. "Oh, I'm sorry daddy! You were right! What I did was wrong! Please don't discipline me!" Isn't that repentance? Some parents think so. But it is not repentance when the change in attitude only happened when the tool of discipline finally comes out. And actually, this was the last in a series of disciplines that the Lord had brought for various kinds of disobedience in the book of Exodus. The people were stubborn and willful - until God brought out His tool of discipline. Only then were there tears and statements of loyalty. But as soon as the rod was put away, these leaders always resorted to their same rebellious attitudes. Their heart had not changed at all. And as Dr. Krabbendam used to say, "The heart of the matter is the matter of the heart." So this passage is one of many illustrations in the Bible of the difference between regret and true repentance. Let's compare the two.

Regret is manifested in fear-based compliance versus a genuine change of heart.

First, regret is manifested in fear-based outward compliance rather than in a genuine change of heart. The whole purpose of discipline is to disciple the child into righteous responses that come from the heart. If a child is only remorseful or obedient when threatened with punishment, it suggests their response is motivated by fear of pain rather than a true understanding of right and wrong or a sincere repentance over their actions.

So let’s examine this. God told them that they were about to receive His rod of reproof in verses 34-40, and in verse 40 He specifically told them, "But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’" Suddenly they insist that they now sincerely want to obey God's earlier command to go in. They say, "we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us." Note their pretense at sincerity - "just as the LORD our God commanded us." But hadn't God just commanded them to do something different? Yes, He had. He had told them (metaphorically) to go to the bedroom where he was going to have a heart-to-heart talk with them and they were about to feel the negative repercussions of their disobedience. It's very similar to a parent taking his child to the bedroom for discipline, and suddenly the child is claiming to want to be totally compliant and he doesn’t need to go to the bedroom. Why? Their compliance is not to please God. It is only to avoid the discipline. In contrast, true repentance submits to God's disciplines and recognizes that the discipline is a good part of the training that that they need. They embrace the discipline and seek to learn from the discipline.

Regret feels bad about the consequences, whereas repentance feels bad about offending God.

Second, regret feels bad about the consequences of their actions, whereas repentance feels bad about offending God. That's a big difference. And when we deal with our children, we need to distinguish between feeling badly about the imminent discipline and feeling badly about the sin against God. And by the way, rebellion must always have consequences, even when there is genuine repentance. That’s another area where parents can easily mess up. In any case, God was not fooled by that.

Regret acknowledges sin and focuses on sin, whereas repentance turns from sin and to God and focuses on pleasing God.

Third, regret acknowledges sin and focuses on the sin, whereas repentance turns from sin and to God and focuses on pleasing God. Repentance is the flip side of the coin of faith - it turns from something and to something. It's obvious that they weren't turning to God since they ignore God's command in verse 40 to not go up. They were on time out. But they didn't like the idea of time out. They were just focused on what got them in trouble, not on what God wanted them to do right now. Right now, God wants them to go into the wilderness where He is going to disciple them out of their rebellion. And if they had learned from that, their time in the wilderness may well have been much, much shorter, just like He relented on some of the long-term consequences of sin in David's life and the life of some other believing kings (like Hezekiah) when they had genuine repentance. There were still consequences, but they were much less.

So if we are to imitate God in this, it would probably be worthwhile to instruct the child on what they are doing wrong. You can tell the child who is begging to avoid the discipline, "Previously you ignored my command, which was a loving command that was for your good. Now you aren't holding still when I told you to hold still while I discipline you; you are dancing around and trying to avoid the discipline. That does not show obedience. I want you to learn that these disicplines are for your good in order to train you in godliness, and it is godliness you should desire, not just avoiding the discipline. Can we pray right now and ask God to help you welcome the discipline because you want to be holy?" Good discussion is a big part of successful discipline.

Regret is self-focused - how our actions have hurt us, whereas repentance is God-focused - desiring a restored relationship with God.

Fourth, regret is self-focused - how our actions have hurt us, whereas repentance is God-focused - recognizing a broken relationship with God and desiring a restored relationship with God and desiring to serve and obey God. It's obvious here that they are still in disobedience to God in verse 40. Their whole goal is to do anything to avoid the discipleship of discipline. But God wants true discipleship, so He is not going to be talked out of one essential tool of discipleship - which is discipline. Too many parents get talked out of discipline, and in the process the children learn techniques of successful manipulation of their parents. It's not true discipleship into God-centered holiness.

Regret attempts to fix things without a real change of heart, whereas repentance seeks God's forgiveness, God's grace, and a renewed walk with God.

Fifth, regret attempts to fix things without a real change of heart, whereas repentance comes from the heart and seeks God's forgiveness, God's grace, and a renewed walk with God. Repentance is an embracing of whatever discipleship God gives to us because we desire holiness more than we desire comfort. There is a wonderful metaphor that Elizabeth Krueger uses in her book, Raising Godly Tomatoes. It is the metaphor of staking tomato plants. In discipline we are staking the children to be close. Ironically, when we do this consistently with the goal of godliness, the times of discipline become fewer and fewer. That's why the subtitle to her book is, "Loving Parenting With Only Occasional Trips to the Woodshed" - the woodshed being an old fashioned code name for the place of discipline in olden days. In any case, this point illustrates that regret attempts to fix things without a real change of heart, whereas repentance seeks God's forgiveness, God's grace, and a renewed walk with God. And it leads to peace. It really does.

Some Biblical examples.

Now, this may seem so theoretical that I want to give a couple of concrete Biblical examples of what we are talking about. Judas Iscariot is a prime example of regret. He regretted his betrayal and even returned the bribe money that had been given to him to betray Jesus. He no longer wanted that bribe money. It was burning a hole in his pocket. So, yes he wept over the consequences of his sin, but he didn't turn to God for forgiveness and he didn't appropriate God's grace to lead a new life. Instead, he despaired (Matt. 27:3-5). He was not responding in a way that would lead him to the goal of discipline.

The apostle Peter illustrates the exact opposite. While Peter had some similarities to Judas, he also illustrates some rather vivid contrasts with Judas. The similarities are that Peter also betrayed Jesus, and he also wept. But unlike Judas, he turned to God for restoration and was changed (Luke 22:62; John 21:15-19).

Another example is David. When David was disciplined by the Lord in 2 Samuel 24 (a discipline that was being meted out on his kingdom - that we looked at last time), David showed a true heart of repentance by saying in verse 17, "Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house." He welcomed God's discipline because he wanted to be holy.

So hopefully all of that has clarified in your mind the difference between regret and true repentance. This is so important for parents to understand.

Why this was not the obedience of faith (v. 41)

Well, this passage also shows the differences between presumption (which is often the flip side of regret) and faith (which is always the flip side of the coin of true repentance). Verse 41 again: "'we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready [and the literal Hebrew says, "you thought it easy"] to go up into the mountain." This illustrates five differences between presumption and faith.

Presumption acts without basing the actions on God's directions. Faith is always based on God's revealed commands and promises.

First, presumption acts without basing the actions on God's directions. In contrast, faith is always, always, always based on God's revealed commands and promises. If you try to walk on the water like Peter did, it is guaranteed that you will sink. Why? Because God has not commanded you to walk on the water or promised that you can do so. It is presumptuous to try to do something that God has neither commanded you to do nor promised that you can do. In the same way, this attempt to go into battle actually contradicted God's word in verse 40. Thus, it wasn't faith; it was presumption.

Presumption has confidence in one's own ideas and amounts to self-reliance. Faith is reliance on God's grace, God's will, and God's timing.

Second, presumption has confidence in one's own ideas and amounts to self-reliance. Faith is reliance on God's grace, God's will, and God's timing. Moses has already told them that God was not going to go with them to help them, so going up to fight would only be in their own strength. It was the opposite of faith. It was presumption.

Presumption is motivated by our desired outcome, sometimes trying to force God's hand to come through for our desires. Faith is submitting to God's will and God's desires even if the outcome is uncertain or difficult.

Third, presumption is motivated by our desired outcome, sometimes trying to force God's hand to come through for our desires. Faith is submitting to God's will and God's desires even if the outcome is uncertain or difficult. Many times our supposed prayers of faith are simply asking God to support our plans, agendas, and desires rather than seeking to see God's will done on earth as it is in heaven.

Presumption acts independently of God whereas faith obeys God even when obedience is difficult.

Fourth, presumption acts independently of God whereas faith obeys God even when obedience is difficult.

Presumption is rooted in wishful thinking whereas faith is footed in God's Word.

And fifth, presumption is rooted in wishful thinking whereas faith is rooted in God's Word.

Now - are we any different when we go through the formalities of obedience without truly doing it to please God? It may be putting in time with an accountability partner on Covenant Eyes or Accountable2You, while never truly dealing with the inner issues of concupiscence. We can fool our accountability partner on Covenant Eyes, but we can't fool God. Or it may be submitting to a parent and pretending to be a good boy when our heart of rebellion has still not been dealt with. While God does prescribe methods for discipleship (and those methods are important), methods without God's grace will not work.

In the case of these leaders, their fear of man had previously made them not want to face the Canaanites. Now, their fear of man was directed toward the fallout they would receive from their followers who would no doubt complain to the leaders when they had to go into the wilderness again - hardly an inviting prospect. So suddenly fighting the Amalekites seems easier than facing the wrath of their followers. They had changed their actions, but not their heart or their fear of man.

The New American Commentary also points out that the phrase "you were ready to go up" is literally (in the Hebrew), "you thought it would be easy to go up."¹ How could it be easy to go up if God had guaranteed that He would not go with them? Faith never thinks that we can do it on our own. That commentary goes on to say,

No amount of rationalizing about the ease with which they could accomplish their objective (v. 41) could outweigh the simple fact that the Lord was not with them (v. 42).

Maxwell and Ogilvie say,

Repentance is more than words. Their cry, “We have sinned against the LORD,” rings hollow when their actions are exhibited. Repentance means to turn away from our ungodly ways. No longer do we walk the wicked path. The fruit of repentance is a change of behavior.

They still were filled with unbelief. They disbelieved God’s threats. And they still were filled with self-will. They did not ask, “Will God permit us?” but arrogantly exclaimed, “We will go up and fight.”

Delayed obedience is disobedience. The test of obedience is a willingness to do what God requires at the time He requires it and not when it is convenient for us.²

Good words. So hopefully you have a good picture in your minds on why this is both counterfeit repentance and counterfeit faith. Faith trusts God's presence and His promises.

Why God was a good parent

But I will shows three ways in which God was being a model parent in all of this.

God's is always consistent with His "No" and "Yes" statements (Matt. 5:37)

First, God was always consistent with His "No" and His "Yes." If our kids can get us to be inconsistent in saying "No" then they have room to manipulate us. And it is almost guaranteed that eventually they will manipulate the parents. Matthew 5:37 is a passage that parents need to take seriously. It says, "But let your 'Yes’ be 'Yes,’ and your 'No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." Notice that Jesus didn't just say that failure to follow through on our yeses and nos is not a preferable way to go. No. He says that such inconsistency is of the evil one. Satan uses the inconsistencies in our parenting to train children out of true godliness and into formalism (which is just outward conformity). That’s not sufficient; but it is what many parents are satisfied with.

When we argue with our children, nag our children, wheedle, and threaten our children, we not only let our children know that our "No" isn't a serious "No," but we reflect poorly on God. We are in effect teaching our children that we don't mean what we say and that God doesn't mean what He says. We are teaching our children that there is room for negotiation. If our children have been sufficiently discipled, it should only take one command - and they do it. Just realize that the way you train children in obedience puts muscle memories into their character that will last them a lifetime. Be consistent.

God always follows through on His threats of discipline

Second, God always follows through on His threats of discipline. When parents fail to do so, it breeds slow obedience and manipulative obedience. It does not train the heart. And by the way, when you have the consistency to always follow through on what you said you were going to do, you don't need to get upset and frustrated. Frustration signals to your children that you are not in control. You need to just follow through on the discipline without the need for frustration. Imitate God. God always followed through on His threats of discipline.

God had already given a clearly defined window for obedience (vv. 19-31) and treats delayed obedience as disobedience (v. 43)

Third, verses 19-31 show that God had already given a clearly defined window of opportunity for the obedience to occur in. When that clearly defined window of time closed, God treated the delayed obedience as disobedience - because that’s exactly what it was. Delayed obedience is just a mask for disobedience. It is critical that parents understand this point. Too many parents settle for delayed obedience, but (at best) such laxity in parenting results in developing bad habits in our children - habits such as habitual tardiness, lack of follow-through, failure to follow a schedule, lack of self-discipline, and other problems. One author said,

Their window for obedience had passed. God had given them ample chances to gain their reward. Now the opportunity was gone. This is a principle throughout the Bible. God provides ample opportunity for obedience. And God greatly rewards obedience. But at some point, the opportunity to obey passes, and the consequence of disobedience prevails.

The difference between "obedience" in the flesh and true obedience (vv. 42-43)

But let's move a bit more quickly through the rest of the verses. In verses 42-43 we have another counterfeit highlighted. It is counterfeit obedience. And we will look at two differences between obedience in the flesh and true obedience.

Counterfeit "obedience" does not rely on God's strength (v. 42)

First, counterfeit obedience does not rely on God's strength. Verse 42:

“And the LORD said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’

God guaranteed that if they went up, God would not be with them in that fight, and it would lead to disaster. This means that they went knowing full well that they were going without God's presence or approval. Maybe they thought they could force God's hand to go with them, but I tend to believe they just thought that they could do it easily and in their own strength.

But our efforts without grace are just legalism. Even trying to follow God's law without grace is legalism. Engaging in Christian disciplines without grace is legalism. In John 15:5, Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing." Eugene Merrill says,

All warning notwithstanding, the armies of Israel rebelled ... against the Lord and presumptuously went up to the hill country (v. 43). Again the narrative of Numbers is helpful in clarifying the character of their presumption, for it says that “neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’S covenant moved from the camp” (Num 14:44). Of all the signs or prerequisites of holy war, none was more important than the presence of the ark in battle, for it and it alone symbolized the presence of the Lord among his people when its function was fully understood (cf. Josh 3:3; 6:4, 6; 1 Sam 4:3–19; Pss 78:61; 132:8). For Israel to essay successful conquest of Canaan on behalf of the Lord but without his powerful accompaniment was indeed the epitome of arrogance.³

And we must not teach our children that they can overcome their evil hearts and obey the Lord in their own strength - just by trying harder. Part of discipleship is constantly pointing our children to Christ and His grace as the only answer to the difficulties of obedience that they have been experiencing. And those of you who are mentoring young men and women need to keep this in mind as well.

Counterfeit "obedience" still rebels against God's desires (v. 43)

Verse 43 shows that their supposed obedience was in reality disobedience because it failed to follow God's leading and His desires.

So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the LORD, and presumptuously went up into the mountain.

Three words show the counterfeit nature of this obedience. These three points are not in your notes. Sorry about that. But these three sub-points do illustrate the main point that is in your notes.

First, it was an obedience without listening to God's Word (or at least being selective on which words they would listen to). It says, "yet you would not listen." A big part of discipleship of our children is to teach them to follow through on everything we have asked of them, not just the parts and pieces they want to follow through on. We need to disciple them out of selective listening. And their response might have been, “Oh, no. We are listening. We are going to do what you asked.” And God’s response would be, “No. You aren’t listening to what I just said.” Selective listening.

Second, God is quite clear that this supposed obedience was in reality rebellion against the most recent command of the Lord. How could they think that they could please God on a previous command while rejecting His most recent command? And selective obedience in our children should not be treated as obedience. So there was selective listening and selective obedience.

Third, the Hebrew word translated as "presumptuously" is zadon, and means willful arrogant, prideful, stubborn, and defiant. Their response showed that they still were being stubborn and willful in doing things their own way. I have seen parents trying to help a child do something with a spoon, or a pen, or some other activity, but pushing the parent away and wanting to do the action their own way. And again, it is important that children not be allowed to give pretense at obedience while doing it defiantly. Discipleship involves teaching them not only the right standard, but the right motive, the right goals, and done in the right circumstances. They need to be discipled into all four quadrants of ethics. Deontology (that's the right thing), teleology (with the right goal), situationally (in the right timing or circumstances), and existentially (or with the right heart and motives).

And let me make another application while I am at it. I would say that we need to be ever so careful to not treat every child in exactly the same way. God treated rebels quite differently than followers who also had character issues, but were more compliant. Some of our children were quickly brought to true repentance, and others had to learn the hard way. But they all eventually learned. Often it was through a half day bootcamp of concentrated obedience training. And we will look at that later. Joel Beeke's book, Parenting by God's Promises, has a lot of practical wisdom for how to imitate God in our parenting of our children. In one place he said,

The aim of corrective discipline is to lead children to repentance; it is educational and reformative…Administering punishment to encourage repentance makes us sensitive to how children are responding. When disciplined, children must show signs of recognizing that what they did was wrong. A broken and contrite heart draws forth our mercy and affection. Stubbornness and hardness of heart may call for further punishment. Beware of false responses, for many children try to say the right things to get out of trouble. Look for sincere hearts of penitence over sinning against God (Pss. 32; 51).

... The more serious the offense, the greater care we should take in punishing it. Discipline that is inappropriate to the situation-either too severe to be warranted or too lax to be effective - will undercut all we are hoping to accomplish with our children.

We must administer discipline with firmness if it is to accomplish its goal. A few love taps will not work; it must hurt... Psalm 89:31-33 says: “If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.” God disciplines us as much as is appropriate and effective. As parents, we are to apply the same principle to our children.

Without God we are powerless against the enemy (v. 44)

Moving on, in verse 44 we see that without God they were utterly powerless against the enemy.

And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah.

It wasn't that the Amorites were so powerful; it was that Israel was so inadequate to the task without God's enabling grace. Sometimes God lets us do it on our own to teach us that we can't do it on our own. And since I have been applying this whole section to parenting, I would say that we need to teach our children to depend upon God's grace in all that they do.

But how can we consistently train them to do so if we parents trust our own abilities more than God's grace; or if we trust medicine more than God's healing power; or we trust our intuitions more than God's leading; etc. Listen to this rebuke of King Asa in 2 Chronicles 16:12. It says, "Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the LORD, but the physicians." It's not like the Bible doesn't approve of physicians. Jesus said that sick people do need a physician sometimes (Mark 2:17), and Paul notes that Luke was a "beloved physician" (Col. 4:14). So there is nothing wrong with using medical means. But God's rebuke of Asa was that he didn't trust the Lord for healing when he went to those physicians. There is a requirement for human responsibility, but we must trust the Lord in all that we do to bless our efforts. When our children see us adults doing that, it will become more natural for them to do so as well. You parents can only pass on what you yourselves have embraced and internalized.

God does not accept remorse that is not true repentance - repentance and faith are flip sides of a coin (v. 45)

But let's move on. In verse 45 we see that God did not accept their remorse as true repentance. They once again have remorse. "Then you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you." Why? You would think that God would relent when they weep. But you see, where God is very gentle and compassionate to tears that flow from true repentance, He is not manipulated by false tears. And too many parents allow the tears of their children to melt their hearts when no true repentance is evident. Maxwell and Ogilvie say,

Rebellion wears many masks. Rebellion wears the mask of inconsistency. Yesterday the Israelites would not go up to possess the land. Today they will. [I found that very insightful. He says, "Rebellion wears the mask of inconsistency." What other masks does rebellion wear? He goes on to say,]

It wears the mask of stubbornness. They refused to listen to Moses or his message from God.

It wears the mask of arrogance. They “presumptuously went up into the mountain” (v. 43). They displayed an attitude of insolence toward God.

The mask of rebellion comes off in verse 45 when the defeated children of Israel “returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not listen.”⁴

God would not listen because He did not want to reward rebellion just because it masqueraded as non-rebellion by wearing various fake masks.

God gave many lessons during the disciplines of the next forty years (v. 46)

And finally, we learn that God gave them time to learn before He had them face new challenges in the wilderness. And this is where the boot camp concept comes up that provides a time for concentrated training.

Verse 46 says, "So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there." When you compare the chronological data of Numbers and Deuteronomy you find that they stayed in Kadesh exactly 8 months. This can be proved from a series of chronological events that I will share next week or sometime in the future, Lord willing. But simple logic proves that it was eight months as well, since the entire sojourn from Exodus to Joshua 5:10-12 was exactly 40 years to the day. That forty year period started and ended on Passover day. But Deuteronomy 2:14 says that from the time they left Kadesh till that same date was 38 years. All you have to do is to subtract the known dates before this chapter from 38 years, and you get a total of eight months in Kadesh. And I won't get into that today.

But why did God have them stay in Kadesh for eight months? I believe it was to train them to be ready for some of the next tests that He would deliberately introduce them to in the wilderness. Every one of those tests was perfectly designed to wean them from the flesh and to the Spirit. And I believe that the same was true of their sojourn in Kadesh. God gave them time to learn. And actually, Jeremiah 2:2-3; Hosea 2:14-15, and Hoea 11:1 all speak of this time as a time of betrothal and love where God was wooing Israel to Him and away from their idolatry, and doing so with cords of love. They were not wasted years as some people think. Over the next 38 years God trained the second generation to be disciplined soldiers of the cross. Every trial and every reward was preparing them to be disciplined soldiers of the cross. And this point has been recognized from very early times. I was reading early church fathers on this passage. Clement of Alexandria is a very early church father, and he says,

[This] was another kind of arrangement by which the Hebrews were trained... for a protracted time, to belief in the existence of one God alone, being inured by the wise discipline of endurance to which they were subjected.⁵

Or as Tremper Longman tersely words it, it was a part of "Israel's 'boot camp.'"⁶ And the apostle Paul wants us to learn lessons from all of their boot camp experiences. Part of our training of children was to have a boot camp with numerous new commands, followed by appropriate disciplines, so that in a short space of time they could learn to be consistent, quick, and have good attitudes in their obedience. The book I mentioned (Raising Godly Tomatoes) takes this to the next level by having that consistency 24-7. But we apparently needed occasional boot camp periods where there were a bunch of commands with instructions over half a day, and occasionally over a day or two. Boot camp is a wonderful tool for training children when things start getting out of hand. And the Fox family did a great job on that and Brian and Kit could train some of you young parents on how to up your game on parenting. But parents must learn these principles themselves, or they will have nothing to transfer to their children.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul applies lesson after lesson from next 38 years of these Israelites to our lives, and says,

Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come … Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. (vv. 11-12)

One more quote - this one from Raymond Brown. He says,

The Father’s best gifts are not distributed to people who simply have the right phraseology. They are reserved for responsive and dependent children. God is far more impressed by how we listen than by what we say.⁷

May all of us be like the second generation and learn to have joyful, prompt, sincere, and whole-hearted obedience. And may parents not settle for anything less in their children. Amen.