Spare the rod, spoil the child

Hey, remember the time that I opened up a store and then promptly fell off the face of the earth for two weeks? Yeah, lets pretend for just a minute that that didn't happen. Because I want to share something really really cool.

Let me start off by saying that the story I'm about to tell is 100% true and did actually happen with me present:

So, once upon a time, I was sitting in a sermon, in a country/state that shall remain nameless, listening to a preacher that shall also remain nameless because... bless his freaking heart. In this sermon, he read from Proverbs 13:24 KJV "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." Yeah, we usually think of that verse as the "spare the rod, spoil the child verse".

Anyways, this nameless pastor used that verse to say that spanking your children with objects is not only biblical, but demanded by God as punishment. Yeah, I wish I were making this up. You know what else I wish I was making up? He brought CHILDREN up on the stage, as he had a large cane in his hand, and asked them individually "If you were disobedient, and I hit you with this cane, would you disobey again?" And as each child gave an obvious, timid "no," the pastor looked into the congregation with a smug grin, knowing that his way was right and we were all stupid and could go crawl in a ditch. Yeah, there wasn't a person in the audience that wasn't thoroughly uncomfortable during this sermon. It was all people talked about in church for the next several weeks.


The rest of this blog post is internet research, speculation, and a hearty dose of opinion. So put your big girl panties on, because I'm about to tear that terrifying preacher a new..... uhh... patch in his blue jeans. Because I've had my coffee this morning, and I'm ready to kick some hineys. I'm not going to try to delude myself into thinking I'm some sort of theological mastermind. I'm just really good at googling stuff.

So, I looked it up (Thanks Google, who needs an Masters in Divinity when you have the INTERNET!) and I saw that the Hebrew word for "rod" in Proverbs 13:24 is "shebet". Other parts of the Bible use "shebet" as a term for a "shepherd's rod."

Get ready for the jump.

I would like to place some speculation and say that the "shebet" in Proverbs 13:24 is a shepherd's rod. Whoa, hey now!

Guess what else I learned? There are five ways that a shepherd uses his rod.

1) A symbol of guardianship over the sheep.
2) To ward off invaders or animals attacking the flock.
3) The rod could be thrown very far, on the ground next to a wandering sheep, startling it back into the flock.
4) Counting (sheep were counted as they passed under the rod)
5) The rod was also used to part the wool of a sheep so that they shepherd could check for infections or wounds

The rod was not actually meant to hit the sheep! To hit the sheep with the rod would make the sheep both fear and hate the rod and the shepherd. It's a little hard to watch over a flock of sheep when they are afraid of you or hate you. So the rod was used for Authority, Security, Guardianship, Protection, and Care. Hm..

Get ready for another jump.

This verse is not supposed to be a verse on punishment. This is a verse on how to take care of your kids! Show them who the parent is, protect them from danger, warn them from trouble, watch over them, and make sure they're healthy. Obviously if you refuse to do those things, there is something weird about how you feel about your children. If you don't spank your kids, it doesn't mean that you don't love them.

This is not some sort of anti-spanking stance, I still don't know how I feel about it yet. But puh-leeeeease don't try to justify spanking your kids with this verse. It doesn't make sense. Find another reason. And if this verse was your only reason for spanking your kids, you may have a lot of thinking to do about punishment.

Take that, What's-His-Name!

I may send him this link... But that would be witchy. Muahaha!

See you next W...whenever. Maybe next week. Maybe not. It's a mystery.

I'm going to go find a stick to beat my dogs with now.