A couple of items came to my attention today regarding how Scripture handles children.
In the Ancient Near East (ANE), a child was seldom away from mother during the first five years of life. A mom could get a break only because she belonged to a larger, extended family household with other women. However, they would sternly lecture any woman too lazy to care for her own kids. The men of the household would back that up.
Application: Today parents are quick to dump their kids far too young on a babysitter. If you can’t take the kids, don’t go. There’s something wrong with a culture which does not recognize the maternal duties and the needs of the children. Thus says the Lord.
The issue in modern developmental studies has to do with identity formation and ability to process. We knew, for example, the Prophet Samuel was not permitted to apprentice in the Temple until age five, which was after he was considered “weaned.” He was ready to attach himself to his primary role model. At that point, he would normally have begun hanging out with dad, and adult men seldom spent time with the younger children for very good reasons. But as a Temple servant, Samuel’s “dad” was one of the priests who stayed in the Temple. There were specific points in ancient times when children bore certain rites of passage. Modern behavioral sciences, when honest, bear out these age points. Only God haters will twist the scientific data to come up with a different answer.
And no, men did not change diapers, as it were, because God said mom wasn’t allowed to shirk her duties. It had nothing to do with what feminists today assume is the man’s whiny excuse, though modern men are pretty whiny. Back then, men were not permitted to touch little kids much; it had nothing to do with escaping the chores. For a man to do what God required of Him meant he left the toddlers with mom. This was partly why the Disciples tried to shoo away those little tykes from Jesus. His response did not negate the cultural assumptions, but He used that moment to teach a parabolic lesson.
We know a child begins developing the capacity for formal logic sometime around eight, and can typically use it by age nine. In the ANE, a child was not brought before the court for much of anything before age nine. He could not testify, and his death was not likely investigated by the court until then. At that point, he was protected by the laws, and was permitted to begin whatever education was possible. In some Western countries, children do not attend formal schooling before age nine, and in that first year catch up with children in every country which pushes them into school earlier.
Application: It’s possible some adults aren’t going to do the right thing before a court, but at least they are theoretically capable. Children before age nine were not capable. Having a child testify in court at a younger age is simply an excuse to manipulate them and manipulate a case, a sort of kangaroo court. Since all justice was presumed the justice of God, courts would err on the side of caution in favor of the accused. This was God’s way for His people, and we are in sin for doing it differently.
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