Angels guard all children?
Many people today believe
that all innocent little children have guardian
angels. This belief is primarily
based on one particular
verse in the Bible. "Take heed
that ye despise not one of these
little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the
face of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt 18:10). Indeed, that is what
the verse seems to say. Let us look for pertinent
passages in the Scriptures
In 2 Samuel 12:22-23a , we read about David 's newborn son out of adultery with Bathsheba. 'While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell
whether GOD will be gracious to me, that the child
may live? But now he is dead." The infant was gravely ill, so David fasted and prayed -- to no avail; the child died just the same. It looks quite clear that, although David was beloved of God, his innocent little child had no guardian
angel.
So, who were
the children Christ was referring to? We find a lead to the answer in 1 Corinthians 7:14 - "For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wile, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your
children unclean; but now are they holy.
"
Let us allow
The Wycliffe Bible
Commentary to explain: "This does not mean that a child born into a home where only one of the parents is a Christian is born into the
family of Christ. Paul simply means that the OT principle of the communication of uncleanness
does not hold (cf. Hag 2:11-13).
The union (marriage) is lawful and confers privilege on the members (cf. ICC, p. 142), privileges such as the protection of God...”
In other words, children are made "holy," because of one faithful
parent, though not "unclean" owing to a faithless parent. The "holy" children are not yet spiritually saved, but they nonetheless deserve the protection of God in preparation for future
salvation. Hence , they have guardian
angels.
It
now becomes clear that the children Christ was referring to were only the children of the disciples
around Him, not all children
in general. In the case of David, when his son was born, he was sinful
and unclean in the sight of God.
What about grownups
Let us consider the grownup children of Job, the most pious man in
his time. He prayed and made
burnt offerings to God for his seven
sons and three daughters, who were fond
of merrymaking. “And
it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified
them, and rose up early in the
morning, and offered burnt
offerings according to the number of
them all- for Job said, It may be
that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually" ( Job 1:5). Today this is called "intercessory pray.”
Yet, just like in David's case, Job's efforts came to naught. "While he was yet speaking, there came also
another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking
wine in their eldest brother's house: And,
behold there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four comers
of the house, and it fell
upon the young men, and they are dead,· and I only am escaped
alone to tell thee " (Job 1:18-19).
Job's
piety and intercession bore no fruit for his children. After all, they had all likely reached the
age of accountability and were all answerable to God for their individual
behavior.
Heirs of salvation.
So, aside from disciples' children, who are the grownups
angels guard? Paul reveals the answer in Hebrews 1:13-14:
"But to which of the angels said
he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?"
Apparently, all of God's angels in heaven
are guardians who watch over those who will inherit eternal
life in the kingdom of God! Thus, if you are a future heir,
you have a guardian angel and so do your innocent little
children, if any. If not,
you and your children
have no guardian angels whatsoever and are exposed
without any protection to all sorts of danger on earth.
Do
you think you qualify to be a future heir of salvation, and so deserve to have a guardian angel? Let
us examine the necessary qualifications.
Co-heirs with Christ.
Faithful believers who choose to follow in the
footsteps of Christ can become
children and heirs of God. "The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs,; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,· if so be
that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified toge ther" (Rom 8:16-17).
From being mere servants, we can look forward to inheriting all the riches of the kingdom of heaven. "Wherefore thou art no more a sewant, but a
son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ ' (Gal 4:7).
This has been
made possible by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you" (l Peter 1:3-4).
Heirs are called "saints"
All the heirs
of God are called "saints." ''But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever,
even for ever and ever... Until the Ancient
of days came , and judgment
was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the
kingdom" (Dan 7:18, 22). Translated from Hebrew qadosh ("holy or morally clean") and Greek hagios ("pure and morally blameless"), "saint" means a faithful believer who consecrates or sets himself or herself
apart from the world to the worship and service of God.
Easy to become a saint?
In
Paul's epistles , it sounds quite easy to become
a "saint." All we have to do is believe and have faith in Christ.
"Unto the church of
God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be
saints with all that in every place
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours" {1 Cor 1:2). People anywhere
who call on the true name of Christ can become saints.
Is it really as simple as that?
Luke, the Bible historian, recorded:
"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" {Acts 16 :31). Faith in Christ saves spiritually.
Incomplete knowledge.
Yet, Paul, in about 55 AD, wrote in his first
letter to the converts
in Corinth that: "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is
come, then that which is in part shall be done away' (1 Cor 13:9-10).
Did
that make you sit up? Paul said that,
at that time, the knowledge
of the apostles was still incomplete!
Two requisites.
Some forty years later, around 95 AD, John (the only apostle to
die of old age) wrote the
book of Revelation, whose contents had been shown to him by an angel sent by Christ from heaven {Rev 1:1). He penned in Revelation
14:12: "Here is the
patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. "
That
may come as a surprise to many. John
wrote that the saints do two
things, not just one:
1) Keep the commandments of God; and
2) Keep faith or
believe in Christ.
Additional
commandments
After giving
Moses the Ten Commandments, God told him to have a wooden chest made (the “Ark
of the Covenant” or “Ark of Testimony”).
“And they
shall make an ark of shittim wood… And thou shalt make a mercy seat… And thou
shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the
testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will
commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims
which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee
in commandment unto the children of Israel” (Ex 25:10a,17a,21-22).
God would
give Moses additional commandments for Israel from above the ark. The lid or
cover of the chest was called the “Mercy Seat” – it served as the throne of God
on earth.
613
commandments in all.
In time, the
additional commandments God gave to Moses, including the first ten on the two
stone tablets, made a total of 613 in all. These were made up of 248
instructions (do’s) and 365 prohibitions (don’ts).
An outline
of God’s law, the so-called Mosaic law, is in Exodus chapters 20-23. Some
scholars like to refer to Leviticus chapters 17-26 as the "holiness
code." Most of the 613 commandments are in these places.
Do we have
to keep all 613 commandments? No, not all. Only Israel must observe all of
them. The 12th century Jewish philosopher Maimonides codified the
613 instructions under various headings in the Misnah Torah.
Commandments
classified
Christ made
an extraordinary and supremely important, but little-noticed, comment about the
law of God – “Whosoever therefore shall
break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be
called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach
them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:19).
That
statement of His is quite loaded, containing multiple implications. Let us
examine the passage more closely to fathom its several meanings.
Two classes
of saints. Contrary to what most people take for
granted, the saints will not all be equal in the kingdom of heaven. Some will
be called “least,” while others will be called “great.”
Two kinds of
commandments. It appears that if there are “least” commandments, then it follows
that there are “great” commandments. What, you will probably want to know, are
the “great” and “least” commandments?
“Great” commandments.
A Pharisee asked Christ what the great commandment is: “Master,
which is the great commandment in
the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and
great commandment.
“And the
second is like unto it, Thou shalt love
thy neighbour as thyself” (Matt 22:36-39).
In short,
the first two groups – (1) love of God, and (2) love of fellowmen – are the
great commandments.
The Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments, which God wrote with his finger on two tablets
of stone and gave to Moses, are great commandments:
Commandments 1-4 (Love of God):
1. One God (YHWH), no other gods
2. Do not make graven images to
worship
3. Do not profane YHWH’s name
4. Do not work on the 7th-day
Sabbath
Commandments 5-10 (Love of fellowmen);
5. Honor your parents
6. Do not kill
7. Do not commit adultery
8. Do not steal
9. Do not bear false witness
10. Do not covet what belongs to
others
All in all, through Moses, God gave a total of:
248 instructions (do’s)
365 prohibitions (don’ts)
613 commandments
Five divisions.
The 613 may be divided into five groups, so we can see who should
do which.
Great commandments:
1.
Worship law (love of God – for all)
2.
Moral law (love of fellowmen – for all)
Least commandments:
3.
National law (for Israel only, to set them apart from other nations)
4.
Civil law (guidelines for theocratic governance ot Israel)
5.
Ceremonial law (for Temple priests, sacrifices and offerings only)
Some least commandments:
National law for Israel only includes:
Circumcision: “If a woman have
conceived seed, and born a man child… in the eighth day the flesh of his
foreskin shall be circumcised” (Leviticus 12:2b,3).
Clean and unclean food: “Whatsoever
parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts,
that shall ye eat… the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the
hoof; he is unclean unto you… And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be
clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you” (Leviticus
11:3,4b,7).
“Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the
waters, that shall be an abomination unto you” (Leviticus
11:12).
Men’s hair: “Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip
off the edges of your beard” (Leviticus 19:27, NIV).
Civil law is
suspended, because Israel’s government today is secular, not theocratic.
Ceremonial
law is likewise
in abeyance since there are presently no Temple and priesthood.
Optional commandments.
The "least" commandments appear
to be optional , because those who violate them will find
themselves in the kingdom of heaven just the same!
Nonetheless, it goes without saying that those who will
be called "least" in the kingdom obey the great commandments; else, they will not be admitted into the kingdom
at all.
The "least. " The Bible provides textual proof that a number of saints will indeed be called
"least" in the kingdom of God. "For I say unto you, Among those
that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist· but
he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he" (Luke 7:28).
“Circumcision
is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments
of God” (1 Cor 7:19). “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor
uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love” (Gal 5:6).
On another occasion he said; “Eat anything sold in the meat market
without raising questions of conscience, for, ‘The earth is the Lord's, and
everything in it.’" (1 Cor 10:25-26, NIV). Also, “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be
received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer”
(1 Tim 4:4-5).
Summing up, Paul said: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or
in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath
days” (Col 2:16).
Paul taught that a number of commandments - such as circumcision and the dietary laws -- were not compulsory and necessary for salvation. And so he admits
that he will be called "least" in the kingdom. "Unto me, who am Jess than the least
of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles
the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Eph 3:8).
The "great ." Others will be known as "great," even "greatest" in the kingdom. “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”' (Matt 18:1-4; cf. 20:26; Mark 10:43; Luke 9:48 ).
What
makes a little child special? A trusting and submissive spirit, perhaps? Or, in a nutshell, faith and obedience.
That makes them, as well as us, their elders, worthy of the protection by
guardian angels.
