Do Babies go to Heaven? | Rapp Report Weekly Wrap-up 0003 | Striving for Eternity

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The Emotional Question of Whether Children Go to Heaven

This week we had to deal with a very difficult question that was emailed in to us. The question was, do children go to heaven? This is a very difficult question. If a parent has lost a child, it becomes a very emotional topic.

I want to be clear, as we deal with this wrap up, and we play all of the week's daily podcasts, that you realize that I too have lost a child. I'm not saying this as someone who is not suffering, and has not suffered a loss of a child.

The loss of a child does not mean that I should change my theology, or that I should try to make the Bible say something it does not. As you listen to this week's podcast, may you realize what scripture does and does not teach on this subject.

Here's this week's wrap up. We were asked the question recently on whether babies go to heaven. We would like to tackle this topic, however, we are also recognized that this is a very, very emotional topic.

This is one that often, and unfortunately, some people turn off their thinking because of their emotional experience that they have suffered. Let me start by saying that my wife and I have lost a child.

We lost a child that was still within her womb. We never got to meet that child, and there is an emotional part of us that wishes that we will see that child in heaven. Can I say that definitively? Well, I would say the answer is no, unfortunately.

I know of no scripture verse that definitively answers the question, with good reason, possibly. If every child goes to heaven, as Mormons believe, that all children before the age of 8 go to heaven, then how would you have an argument against abortion for all those children would go to heaven?

In fact, there was a Mormon woman who, believing that her children were sinners and wanted to see them in heaven, actually killed all of her children before the oldest got to the age of 8 to make sure they go to heaven.

Okay, that's not right.

Murder is wrong.

But the fact is that she believed that her children would go to heaven and she would see them again. That's something we have to deal with. As we addressed yesterday that there is no definitive verse that talks about whether babies go to heaven, we want to address the question of 2 Samuel chapter 12, because this is the verse that most people turn to to justify babies going to heaven.

This is the event where David was prophesied from Nathan that he would lose his son because of his sin with Bathsheba and that that child would die. That child got sick and David prayed for that child for a week, fasting and praying.

When the child did in fact die, David came and cleansed himself and prepared for worship. Then he went and ate and the servants were confused. David responded to his servants who were confused because they were wondering why he would do.

This.

And he said in chapter 12 verse 22, he said while the child was still alive, I fasted and wept for I said, who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me that the child may live. But he is dead. Why should I fast?

Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me. Many people see this as a prophecy or promise that David would see his child in heaven and that all children by virtue of this verse go to heaven.

Now I understand this is emotional and many who've lost a child wish this to mean what they think this says. But on tomorrow's podcast, we're going to dissect this and see what it actually teaches. As we looked at yesterday, 2 Samuel chapter 12 and verses 22, we see that David claimed quite clearly that when his child died, he said, I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.

And many people take this as a prophecy or a promise that children go to heaven and David would go to heaven to be with his child with Bathsheba that passed away. However, the Bible is 100 accurate in what it records.

This is a historical narrative. And what we see in this verse is that what the Bible teaches is what David actually said. We know that God recorded that David actually said this. There's nowhere in here where we see any promise that his child would go to heaven.

We do not see any promise that he knew that he would see his child in heaven. Now, looking at this passage, could David have been promised uniquely to him that the child that suffered by his sin would go to heaven?

We don't know.

Could that be something that happened? It could be. And this is the thing we have to take into account. We don't have all of the record recorded. And so we have to look at this passage and realize that this does not prove that all children go to heaven, for David could have gotten information uniquely, just like he knew uniquely that this child was going to die from Nathan as a prophecy.

He could have known that this was special. As we're continuing to ask the question, it was emailed into us at info at strivingforeternity .org. Do children go to heaven? We've been looking at the key passage that many turn to, which is 2 Samuel 12, and verse 22.

And we see here in verse 22 and 23 that David promises that he will go to his child, but his child will not go to him. This is one that many people say that David will see his child in heaven. However, this is also a Jewish idiom, and we must understand the meaning of the idiom in the context.

This is an idiom to say that the child has died and that the child will not come back to life. So, as we saw yesterday that it is possible that David had special revelation, just as he did with the death of this child, that he would see the child again.

However, we can't exclude the fact that this is an idiom used to refer to the death of a person. That the person is dead, and we cannot bring the person back to us, we would go to them. So when he says, I shall go to him, but he will not return to me, it could mean, as the idiom is, that he will turn to death, but death will not come back to life.

This is a comment of saying a finality of the death of his child, when his servants are asking him why he would worship God at the time that he finds out the child is dead. He's saying that the child's death is final, and that the child will not return to life.

That's all he is saying. As we've been dealing with the question that was emailed in to us, do children go to heaven? We have to address this pastorally as well. The passage in 2 Samuel chapter 12 and verse 23 that many hold to as a promise, that David is prophesying or claiming clearly, that all children go to heaven, we've seen this week is not valid.

However, this is an issue that is very, very difficult for many parents. I, myself, has lost a child while still in the womb, and did not get an opportunity to share in a relationship with that child.

Does that hurt?

Yes.

Do I wish to see that child someday in heaven?

Yes.

But should I trust in a false promise?

No.

The worst thing I could do as a counselor is give a false hope and say that the Bible says something it does not say. Do I believe that all children go to heaven? I cannot say, because the scripture does not say clearly.

There are passages that might imply that, and there are passages that would not. We are born with a sin nature, and therefore we would be found guilty before God, even as infants, when we act in selfish ways the first thing out of the womb.

And yet the fact is that we desire to see our children in heaven who have passed away. Can we answer this definitively? No, we cannot, because scripture is not clear. But we still would have hope that we would see our children in heaven one day.

That's our hope.

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