Reverent rebellion: Why policing attachment is recommended in the Bible

Many parents believe children should be "kept down", usually by way of punishment, and that children should not rebel against parents. This is a misunderstanding of children and Scripture, as the Bible, when understood in context, recommends reverent rebellion of children towards parents, meaning children then were expected to rebel, or else parents were suspected of being too hard on children.

Every single adult is guilty in relation to children, and is deserving of DEATH and DESTRUCTION merely for existing in relation to children, with parents/adults being meek and shamefaced in relation to children, and parents being shut up in the Lord. Parents especially are to esteem their children above all else, putting children first, and parents last, leading to dutiful and selfless submission to children and their every need, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting securely and safely in parents. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents. This is a form of respect that isn't compliant or fearful, but is one borne out of safety and security in relation to parents. It is where you respect parents enough to give them a piece of your mind. Children in biblical times demanded their every need, ordering parents around with petitions for needs and a redress of grievances. Attachment parenting was the norm then, and children up until age 3 were breastfed by their mothers, with mothers snuggling next to children with both parties in the nude, in skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy. Children went naked wherever they went, yet were supervised by parents wherever they went as well.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or abuse, meaning the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child, including the slightest of offensive touch and speech perceived by the child, referring to striking a child, punishing a child, or any entitlement perceived by the child, namely want to the point of imposition perceived by the child. This commandment in vs. 21 is the Apostle Paul lifting up the Law for Greek Christiam parents who were in the habit of punishing children. Punishing children, under the Law, carried severe penalties, and in Paul's day, punitive parents were excommunicated by their home parish, and such was a fate next to death in the Greco-Roman world, which was hostile to Christians. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of chenek (bloodletting, or hanging parents up like poultry). Under the Law, punishing children was seen as kidnapping/grand theft, and such was a capital offense, thus the whole church investigated the interlopers who supported the punishment of children. Such was an implied offense in the Old Testament under the Eighth and Tenth Commandments, but lifted up in the New Testament because certain people were not treating their children with respect. The rod verses in Proverbs are repealed verses, as they depict not "biblical spanking", but instead a dated form of judicial corporal punishment for ADULT children - the 40 minus 1 lashes, as a final warning before an offender was put to death for committing a capital offense, after a criminal trial. Minor children never were whipped, as children under the age of majority were deemed incompetent to stand trial, and thus were not culpable for any criminal acts or civil wrongs that they committed. Any anger then was to be saved for the courtroom exchange, which children could not be charged in, and therefore even the slightest of parent anger was seen as abuse. Most parents then were likely incapable of anger towards children of any caliber. 

Children then were not like children today. Children were expected to cause mischief, and parents then laughed along with the jokes children played on adults. Usually, children made messes or destroyed property and thought it was funny, and so did the adults. Adults then, namely parents, thought childhood mischief was funny. Children were also more direct towards adults, namely parents. Parents especially were submissive servants to children, and children demanded things from parents, namely things they needed, and they were loud and in-your-face about what they needed, sometimes inadvertently screaming in the faces of parents, either to demand or to complain, and parents took it. Parents simply cried when children became too aggressive towards them for their toleration, as they had no parent anger to lash out at children with...This context may be somewhat dated, but most of it, if not all, can be applied today.

Children played freely in biblical times, yet, at the same time, children were supervised. Play was high-risk then, and most games carried sexual undertones, as Hebrew and Christian parents then did not shelter children from sexual realities. The most high-stakes game was "marriage". Christian marriage in the biblical context involved a contract signed by sexual intercourse on the dotted line. Most children simply embraced to pretend-play a marriage, but when a boy showed intent to penetrate a girl, the two were separated, and the boy was instructed on chastity, the sternest consequence a good Hebrew or Christian parent meted out. Parents then kept children safe if they didn't understand the instructions. Children then went naked everywhere they went, and thus parents could tell a boy's intentions by his gait. This is to give you an idea of how free children were in biblical times.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them burn in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!