In
the Gospel of Matthew, there are two lovely passages describing Yahshua or Jesus’ astoundingly
deep love for innocent young children. These passages have led many Christians
and Messianics to believe that all children from the age of 12 and under will
be taken in the Rapture, having not reached the Jewish age of maturity, which
is 13. However, having been a mother and having experienced a young child’s
tantrums and vile moods first hand, my gut reaction to this teaching is to
reject it entirely.
As
an example, my own daughter was displaying her sin nature and her willfulness
to sin by the tender age of 2, albeit rarely at that point. Furthermore, based
on the horror stories that mothers of strong-willed children have shared with
me, I am sure my child is not the exception! In fact, many young children from
the age of two and up can be as vile and temperamental as their adult
care-takers.
In
order to determine what the Scriptures truly teach about children in the Kingdom of God, let’s take a look at what these
passages have to say:
Matthew
18:2-3 - “Then Jesus (Yahshua) called a little child (i.e. paidion) to Him, set him in
the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted
and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of
heaven.’”
Matthew
19:13-15 - “Then little children (i.e. paidion) were brought to Him that He
might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus (Yahshua) said, ‘Let the little children (i.e. paidion) come to Me, and do not forbid
them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.’ And He laid His hands on them and
departed from there.”
As
indicated in the preceding passages, I used Strong’s Concordance to analyze the
phrase “little children” in both passages, and in every case the Greek word
“paidion” was used, which means “infant” or “toddler.” Incidentally, this same
word was translated as “young child” in relation to the narrative concerning
“The Visitation of the Wise Men”, which is also in the Gospel of Matthew, a
passage of which follows:
Matthew
2:8 - “And he sent them to Bethlehem
and said, ‘Go and search diligently for the young Child (i.e. paidion), and
when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him
also.’”
This
analysis of the Greek word “paidion” that is used to define “little children”
and a “young child” in Matthew’s Gospel proves that Yahshua was not referring
to children over the age of 2 or 3 at the most when He called the “little
children” to come unto Him. Therefore, Yahshua was NOT saying that all children
under the age of 12 are innocent or are not under judgment.
Rather,
Yahshua was saying that ONLY little children who are still totally open, fully
trusting and virtually unspoiled by sin and willfulness will be lovingly
accepted into the Kingdom
of Heaven with open arms
and without judgment at the Rapture. Furthermore, Yahshua was warning His
disciples that ONLY adult believers who consistently display young child-like
trust, gentleness, kindness, faith and love for their Messiah and those who love Him will be allowed
to enter the Kingdom
of Heaven, and this is only possible if people are either very young and sheltered, or born again, having believed in Yahshua.
This
leads me to address the common Jewish and Christian doctrine that the Age of
Accountability is 13 and older, based on Jewish tradition. Although I believe that morality and work ethics go hand in hand, the predetermined age that society gives us to take on adult responsibility in earning a living and caring for the needs of those we love does not necessarily mean we are ready for these responsibilities. It also has nothing to do with our ability to sin, repent, and ask for forgiveness, which certainly occurs at a much earlier age than 13 in households where the parents discipline their children and teach them right from wrong.
Being a parent once myself, I remember that my child occasionally chose to disobey me, and to repeatedly do the reprehensible things that I told her not to do until she was punished for it in a way that she would not easily dismiss or forget. This was usually done by depriving her of some privilege for a time. God often disciplines us and gets our attention in the same way - by depriving us of the blessings and material things we want, and may even ask for in prayer - especially if they are not part of His will for us.
Importantly, we need to remember that the action of God's Grace, which is ONLY given to people who have faith in Yahshua as their Lord and Savior, does not end our moral responsibility for our actions. It also does not take away the immediate, worldly consequences of sin. All that it is and does is give us unmerited favor to repent in prayer, to ask for forgiveness, and know to that we are forgiven already when we repent and confess our sins to God. Best of all, Grace allows us to approach God's throne through Christ and ask Him to help us stop sinning, and to live a life that is pleasing to Him. But, again, this does not take away the consequences of our sins in this life. We still have to pay the price for our bad actions in this life, even if we are forgiven of them all in the next life.
Furthermore, if a person does not
have faith in Christ - they are NOT under Grace at all, and cannot easily approach God's throne. In fact, their prayers will not be heard by God unless He sees that they are truly seeking Him and wish to know Him better. Furthermore, God still judges unsaved people and deprives them of blessings when they sin and do not repent - no matter at what age they are at.
In this regard, parents should be judging their children’s character and their
works just as God does, especially any and all children with normal cognitive
ability over the age of 3 that can walk unattended, and can understand the
concept of yes and no enough to make decisions. The reason that we need to do this is based on the fact that the Bible says that ALL people will be judged, and all means all:
Romans
14:9-13 - “For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might
be Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 But why do you judge your brother?
Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
So
then each of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Therefore let us not
judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling
block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.”
Lest anyone misconstrue what Paul was saying in the above Scripture about not judging our brothers and sisters in Christ, let me clarify. Paul was NOT asking believers to ignore infractions of the spiritual condition, or INTERNAL Moral Laws among believers such as the Ten Commandments, but about the laws pertaining to EXTERNAL things such as clean and unclean foods, and the ritual observances of the Law.
Rather, Paul was pointing out that some brethren were too tied to the old ways and too weak in their new faith to partake in all food with thanksgiving, or to break with the Jewish traditions surrounding celebrating God's Feast Days, and those who were living in the liberty of Grace should not judge them for sticking to tradition, nor should those who liked sticking to tradition judge those who did not. But at the same time, he warned that all of us would one day have to give an account of our lives to God, and we should be mindful of trying to please God above all else.
Sadly,
for those who do not live in a manner that is pleasing to God, the Great White
Throne Judgment awaits them, when all will be judged by their works. Of course,
we know that no one can be saved by works alone. So, unless these people showed
amazing love for others during their lifetimes, and also finally see the love of Christ and claim Him as their Advocate and Mediator before God at that
moment, they will be damned for all eternity:
Revelation
20:12-15 - “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books
were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the
dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in
the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades
delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one
according to his works.
14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Though
the Last Judgment will include children, only God knows how He will judge them.
I do think God will be more lenient with the very young, but that is besides
the point. These Scriptures explain that everyone will be judged, both
believers and unbelievers, and they will be called to give an account of their
lives. For this reason, all people will likely be raised up as young adults at
the Last Judgment so they can speak plainly and give an accurate account of
themselves, even little children. But if a child dies before the age of 4, it
stands to reason that they will not have much to be judged over, so they will
likely find the experience of standing before God to be a pleasant experience
rather than a frightful or terrible one.
My
whole point in bringing this controversial issue up is that the assuming that
age 13 is the “Age of Accountability” is a popular doctrine without any
scriptural basis. Believers need to wake up and see errors like this in their doctrinal
thinking, and to think about the consequences of holding on to such false
doctrine. After all, it’s the children that suffer the most for this because
they are not being disciplined properly, and are not being held accountable for
their actions at a young age.
I
don’t know about you, but I have seen three-year old children throwing tantrums that
would make the Devil proud. I have also seen 3 to 5-year old kids behaving like
animals fighting over a cheap toy, and parents standing idly by without
correcting the bullies in the bunch. How can parents not see this as sin? It
makes no sense!
And let’s
not forget the fact that the devil is no respecter of persons, especially children!
There is a demonic realm that can use animals and people - including young children
- to do evil acts with or without the permission of their host if they are unsaved.
There are also generational and familial curses due to past unconfessed sin within
family lines that children inherit the moment that they are conceived. Many Messianics and Christians are blind to this though. It’s
like talking to the wall when it is brought up!
People don’t
want to face the fact that little children throw hideous tantrums all the time because
they have not been disciplined properly, have a sense of entitlement (which some immature adult Christians also display), and they are listening to the devil whispering in their ear, which says they will get
what they want if they act bossy and temperamental because their parents do not know how to discipline
their children. In this way, young children can be highly manipulative - a trait
that God hates, by the way - and they can be crueler than adults.
Based on what
I have discussed here, the Jewish and Christian concept of the “Age of Accountability” being
age 13 needs to be questioned. Furthermore, the doctrine that ALL little children
are to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven also needs to be questioned. Yahshua did not
say this at all. As the graphic that I created for this article emphasizes, Yahshua
said that all believers must be LIKE sweet, relatively innocent little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. That means we can’t be filled with our own importance, or burdened with hatred or anger if we want to be acceptable to God and worthy of Heaven.
This isn’t the case for children unless these children have been raised in a loving homes
by godly parents, or that have found forgiveness, love and healing in God’s loving
and protective arms. Only when we know that we belong in God’s loving arms basking
in His Glorious Peace and Presence are any of us worthy to enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. Sadly, from
what I have seen in my ministry from professing believers who disagree with me,
that is not the way some Christians and Messianics behave. Instead of being kind and even-tempered, some believers seem to revel in insulting and putting down those whom they disagree with - often to the point of obscenity.
So, instead
of teaching watered-down doctrines that misuse the gift of Grace that Yahshua
gave to us with His incredibly painful sacrifice for our sins, we need to grasp
onto the fact that all of us need to be like little children. This means children who haven’t been
tainted by the unrepentant sin, mistrust and fear of their parents or care takers. In order to be acceptable as the Bride of the
Great King of kings who is our Adonai and Bridegroom, Yahshua Ha Mashiach, we ALL need to be like unspoiled, untainted innocent little children. This means we need to be covered by the cloak of perfection Yahshua gives us when we believe in and love and follow Him. Indeed, only those who truly follow Yahshua by keeping His commandments are truly saved and born again!
It’s
time for the Church to wake up and root out false doctrine, because Yahshua is
coming soon in the Rapture, and those who are not prepared to meet Him will be
LEFT BEHIND!
Maranatha, My Brothers and Sisters in Christ!
Yahshua is coming VERY, VERY SOON!
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