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NASB | Isaiah 7:16 "For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Isaiah 7:16 "For before the child will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land (Canaan) whose two kings you dread will be deserted [both Ephraim and Aram]. [Is 7:2] |
Subject: infant death |
Bible Note: Greetings Steve! The development for one child (when they come to an understanding of what "willful disobedience" is) is different from that of any other child, since all children learn and grow at different rates and in different ways.. So there is not a "fixed" age at which a child learns willful disobedience, but I would say that most children learn this by the age of 3. Once we learn what 'willful disobedience' is and we act upon it, then we have in fact sinned. But I have already stated that the fact that a person does not know the law does not nullify the fact of sin, if indeed a person has committed a sin. However, verses such as Matt. 19:14, Mark 10:14 and Luke 18:16 suggest to me that the Lord Jesus, who knows every single detail of each one of our individual lives, will not focus His wrath upon small children, but only on those who have willfully disobeyed Him. So Steve, I ask you: how is it that an infant has willfully disobeyed Christ? How is it that an infant has rejected Christ? Verses such as Matt. 19:14, Mark 10:14 and Luke 18:16 suggest to me that the Lord Jesus will take them under His care. Yes, you have quoted John 14:6. So let us look at John 14:6, my friend! :-) "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." [English Standard Version] After studying this verse, Jesus emphatically pronounces that He is the only 'avenue' to the Father. However, the problem with associating this verse to the "Age of Accountability" is: an infant does not have the capacity yet to understand that Jesus is the only way to the Father! And an infant has no way at all of acknowledging this and making a conscious choice to choose the Father. So therefore, I believe that John 14:6 applies to everyone who has the ability to make a conscious choice to put their faith in God, which would include everyone except the newborns and those who have never been able to react to this world or to anything in it due to serious mental disabilities. So let me ask you this: Do you believe that God would send a newborn baby infant to hell just because of your interpretation of John 14:6? I would disagree with you there, my friend, based on 2 Samuel 12:23, and so would MacArthur's NKJV Study Bible, which says, "12:23 I shall go to him. I.e., David would someday join his son after his own death (cf. 1 Sam. 28:19). Here is the confidence that there is a future reunion after death, which includes infants who have died being reunited with saints who die (see note on Matt. 19:14; cf. Mark 10:13-16)." [The MacArthur NKJV Study Bible, 1997, Word Publishing, pg. 444] I hope that I have answered your questions! Your Brother in Christ, Nolan |