The Mystery of Children

Just recently, I was thinking about what it means to be a child. On this day assigned to the recognition and celebration of Children, perhaps we should take some time to remind ourselves again of the mystery called a Child.

So, what is a Child?

Biologically, a child is simply an offspring; a progeny. Scripture demonstrates this very clearly, but also goes beyond the implications of biology. What saith the scriptures?

[6] For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

[7] Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Isaiah 9:6-7 (KJV)

[28] And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son:

[29] And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

Genesis 5:28-29 (KJV)

In Scriptures, Children are symbols of Hope.

They are seen as evidences of deliberate intervention from God or as proof of an anticipated intervention. So for example, there is a challenge, and a family or an entire generation has been calling upon God, and in a certain season, a child is born. We will find that that, in or through that Child, the framework of the answers to their cry is captured. Such that the birth of that child wasn’t just a biological process but a very specific answer from God, embodied in a child.

[3] Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
[4] As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
[5] Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

Psalms 127:3-5 (KJV)

Secondly, Children are described as Arrows.

I know this sounds violent, but it isn’t really. It’s symbolic. An arrow is a projectile weapon of war, with a pointed tip, released with the aid of a bow. I wish I could dwell more here. Arrows are not ready made. They are made with diligence and skill. And by extension, so too are children. Children are vehicles or executors of increase. They are seemingly born as rough raw materials, but through diligence and skill, they can be made into arrows. Here’s the matter, in the hands of a trained and purposeful warrior, when fired they can go much further than the warrior can in the desired direction.

What this implies is that regardless of the current limitations, children can go beyond the limitations of the parents. Children are an act of God’s mercy in allowing a generation advance their frontiers. The warrior may not be able to get to the gates of progress, of leadership, or of prosperity, and he may not be able to discomfit the enemy of limitations, but by the mercies of God, he can launch his arrows at those gates, and there they would speak to the enemies (the word ‘speak’ here in context actually means subdue). What a generation could not subdue, they can shape, sharpen and launch their progeny to achieve the same.

Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.

Jeremiah 22:30 (KJV)

And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

1 Samuel 15:33 (KJV)

Thirdly, Children are carriers of Heritage.

They are symbols of continuity and perpetuity. Readers of Scripture will be familiar with those chapters on genealogy. They tend to go on and on and on – something almost whispers to you to simply skip them. But you see, the workings of God have a generational component about them. God is interested in vertical succession, and a child born is an opportunity to transfer the working of God to the next generation. In fact, in ordinal Jewish life, the only explanation they had for childlessness was the judgment of God.

[18] Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
[19] And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
[20] And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:
[21] That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 (KJV)

[17] And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
[18] Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
[19] 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.

Genesis 18:17-19 (KJV)

Fourthly, Children are chains of Succession.

They are carriers of grace and covenant. One of the burdens that God gave the parent-generation that came into the promise land was the necessity and responsibility of instructing their children. The covenant that God had made with them, a subset of that which God made with their ancestor, Abraham, included the progeny. Thus, when God intends to continue his covenant and grace with a man for generations to come, He simply makes this known by giving that man a progeny.

Did you notice that the prosperity and the continued performance of God’s promises to the parent generation is tied to how well they are able to bring up their progeny according to the ways of God? An untaught and untrained generation could signal the termination of the workings of God.

Therefore a child is a seed, a responsibility that must be undertaken with all sense of humility and understanding. The future is not AI, the future is not industrialization, the future is not virtual money. The future is and always has been Children. Whatever dominates, shapes and influences our children has taken over the future. It is that simple. It is that grave.

*For extra reading:

Desiringgod.org/articles/where-will-they-learn-to-work

Desiringgod.org/articles/train-them-up-in-jesus