Lesson
#7
The Old Testament: And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham
that thing which I do; Seeing that
Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of
the earth shall be blessed in him? For
I know him, that he will command his children and his household after
him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that
the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. (Gen 18:17-19)
The Psalm: God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy: rid [them] out of the hand of the wicked. They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course. I have said, you [are] gods; and all of you [are] children of the most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth: for you shall inherit all nations. (Psalm 82)
The Gospel: At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receives me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and [that] he were drowned in the depth of the sea. (Mat 18:1-6)
Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put [his] hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 19:12-14)
The Talmud: It happened that while Rabbi Meir was
lecturing in the House of Study on the afternoon of the Sabbath, his two sons
died at home. Their mother laid them
upon a bed and covered them with a sheet.
At the termination of the Sabbath, the Rabbi returned to his house and
asked where the children were. His wife
said to him, “I want to ask you a question.
Some time ago a person came here and entrusted a valuable article to my
care, and now he wants it back. Shall I
restore it to him or not?” He answered,
“Surely a pledge must be returned to its owner!” She then said, “Without asking for your consent I gave it back to
him.” She thereupon took him by the
hand, led him into the upper room, and removed the sheet from off the
bodies. When he saw them he wept
bitterly; and she said to her husband, “Did you not tell me that what has been
entrusted to one’s keeping must be restored on demand? ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
blessed be the name of the Lord’ (Job 1:21).
This story not only displays perfect submission to the divine decree,
but also shows that children were thought of as a precious loan from God to be
guarded with loving and faithful care.
Description of the Children Window
· Top Icon: Descending dove – perhaps symbolic of Pentecost when God poured his spirit out on all flesh including youth (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17).
· Main Window: Jesus, again in red, is surrounded by various children. Three of the children are holding special ‘childlike’ symbolic items. The child in yellow is holding a lamb. The child in green is holding a doll. The teen in aqua seems to be offering a flower. Interestingly, the two live images of children on the left are Peter Rohlf’s grandchildren. Peter is the president of Rolf Stained and Leaded Glass Studios, which built our windows. On both sides of the window are multitudes of people bringing children to Jesus.
· Bottom Icon: Three lilies – perhaps a reference back to the lilies of the field from the Sermon on the Mount, which take no thought for tomorrow (Mat 6:28).
The subject of Children is a very important part of biblical faith. The word children occurs some 1803 times in some 1516 verses. The range of the references of children in the biblical text covers many extremes. Children can be a part of a great blessing or a great curse. Sometimes, they are paradoxically a blessing and a curse.
In the biblical text, children seem to be given the opportunities to be either good or bad. There is also the opportunity for parents to influence this outcome. Jackie Kennedy once said something like, ‘If we mess up raising our children, it doesn’t matter too much what else we accomplish’.
The first mention of children in the bible is in reference to the hardships endured by women in having children. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in sorrow you shall bring forth children; (Gen 3:16a). Traditionally, this verse has been associated with the pain of childbirth. One of my professors thought it had a more general meaning. After all he said, ’delivering a 7lb baby would hurt anyone at any time’. He added, ‘the real pain in raising that child was going to be feeding it, clothing it, sending it to college and dealing with its future spouse – not to mention the pain of enduring any sickness encountered by that child.’ His point was that Adam and Eve’s perfect world collapsed and they had to do their respective jobs in a world that would now produce thorns and other hardships (Gen 3:18).
Bearing children became a big deal. And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die (Gen 30:1). Having a child meant great blessing. Having many children was considered as a special gift (Dt 28:4). On the other hand, sterility in marriage was thought to be a divine punishment (Gen 16:2).
There is an interesting verse in Ezekiel that describes the birth process of antiquity. And [as for] your nativity, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to supple [you]; you were not salted at all, nor swaddled at all (Ez 16:4). After Abraham, it became traditional to have male infants circumcised on the eighth day of their lives (Lev 12:3; Luke 1:59). The question has often been asked – why the eighth day? For millennia, it has been because of this verse. According to an often-quoted bit of medical science, the clotting factors in the blood of an infant peek at the eighth day after birth.
The naming of children usually came from the mother and reflected some aspect of the child’s birth circumstance (Gen 25:25). Later, in Jesus’ day, children were named for some relative (Luke 1:61).
Throughout
the biblical text, there are references to nurses and midwives that helped with
the raising of children. This might be
a bit of a misnomer since those mentioned in the biblical text were often big
heads of families such as Abraham with his brood. It would be hard to imagine that every child was raised under
such circumstances. However, many
family groups of the day were communal and the community village probably had a
large roll.
The weaning of children did not happen, in some cases, until the age of two or three (2 Macc. 7:27). According to the Talmud, a nursing mother was strongly encouraged to employ an ‘absorbent’ as a means of birth control. There was a fear that a nursing mother who became pregnant would potentially prematurely wean a child too soon resulting in death.
Children of both sexes were educated by their mothers (Pro 31:1, 2 Tim 1:5). According to tradition, a boy child, at age five, was trained by his the father. This education often included reading and writing in addition to spiritual disciplines in the faith. It also included a first hand education in the family business in the form of apprenticeships.
Raising children correctly was always a big deal in traditional Judaism as well as in our time. Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Prov 22:6). According to one of my professors, the Hebrew word for educate literally means to ‘chew the date’. In other words, it means that a parent should masticate a piece of food – a date in this case – and encourage the child to then consume it. This was a part of the weaning process whereby a child was introduced to solid food. The connotation is that if you show your children what is good and sweet to eat, they will learn and teach it to their children.
A wayward child was potentially fatal. And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against [their] parents, and cause them to be put to death (Mat 10:21). It is hard to imagine such a case, but scripture as well as the daily news is full of fulfillments of this prophecy.
Not all of the scriptures dealing with children are nice fuzzy scriptures that are fun to read. For example, a child who cursed his/her parents was considered to be under a divine curse (Dt 27:16). On the other hand, reverence for parents [the fifth of the 10 commandments] seems to be a prerequisite for prosperity (Ex 20:12). Disobedience including drunkenness and gluttony were punishable by death at the hands of the town elders (Dt 21:18-21).
While these scriptures seem to be all on the side of the parents, the scripture also champions the rights of the child, too. Inheritance rights are clearly spelled out in the Torah as well as provisions for daughters to inherit family assets.
Other hard scriptures for children include texts about children being taken by creditors as payment for debts (2 Kings 4:1). Also, children of slaves belonged to the owner. Illegitimate children had virtually no rights at all. At the same time, scripture is emphatic that we take care of such. Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy (Psa 82:3). James, the half-brother of Jesus, said Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world (Jam 1:27). There is some debate as to the difference between fatherless and illegitimate. I doubt God sees such a difference.
The concept of being a child has two important connotations. On one hand, it can express a state of ignorance and intellectual darkness (1 Cor 13:11). On the other hand, it is a state of required spirituality according to the text above. Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
It occurs to me that we are all children of the most high God as stated in the Psalm above. We can either be about the business of God or the business of rebellion. Paul invited us to be imitators of God. Be you therefore followers/imitators of God, as dear children (Eph 5:1).
Moses said, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live: (Dt 30:19) It is interesting to me that one would need to be encouraged to choose the right or best thing. However, the daily news again tells a different story.
Children are often referred to as Children of Light (Luke 16:8) or Children of Obedience (2 Pet 1:14). These are children who have a knowledge of God through Christ and are those who submit themselves to the will of God. On the other hand are those children who chose poorly. They are referred to as the Child of Hell (Mat 23:15), the Children of the Wicked One (Mat 13:38) and Children of this World (Luke 16:8).
The classic rock group of the 70’s – KANSAS – had a hit song called “Carry On My Wayward Son”. Its words continued with there’ll be peace when you are done, lay your weary head to rest, don’t you cry no more.
In this anthem of rebellion, the parent encourages the child. Perhaps the apparent waywardness is something the parent agrees with. One only need look at the Irish, Palestinian, Israeli, South African, Native American, etc. to find examples of children who do wayward things with the blessing of their parents.
On the other hand, it could be about a child who is wayward against the parent’s wishes. In this case, the parent seems to understand the plight of the child and encourages a hopeful, final outcome of peace.
May we all avoid such predicaments. The best way to perhaps avoid such an occasion is to follow the advice of Paul. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). Certainly the parents of children in the window of this study felt strongly enough to bring their children to Jesus even at the disdain of the disciples. Should we do any less?
In loving memory of Jack and Pat Real by Pete and Teresa Real, Bill and Betty Real Chaple, Bill and Wade Real Waggoner and Families
