~ Children In Heaven ~ 2 Cor 1:3-4

[RRuth]

This question comes up a lot on RR. No where in Scripture does it imply that ALL children will be taken up in the rapture. But we CAN look at history and how God has dealt with the family of believers/unbelievers.

* Lot's family was spared, but the rest of the city was destroyed (and the children.)
* Israelites in Egypt were spared during the Passover, but the Egyptian children perished
* Noah and his family were spared, but the rest of the entire world and children perished.
* If YOU'RE saved, your children (under the age of accountability) will be spared
* Lot's wife COULD have been spared, but she chose to disobey --- (our unbelieving spouses/grown unsaved children will not be spared from the tribulation.)

There's no scriptural implication/reason to believe that the children of the unbeliever will be raptured.

Ruth

[mfa0830]

This question comes up a lot on RR. No where in Scripture does it imply that ALL children will be taken up in the rapture. But we CAN look at history and how God has dealt with the family of believers/unbelievers.

* Lot's family was spared, but the rest of the city was destroyed (and the children.)
* Israelites in Egypt were spared during the Passover, but the Egyptian children perished
* Noah and his family were spared, but the rest of the entire world and children perished.
* If YOU'RE saved, your children (under the age of accountability) will be spared
* Lot's wife COULD have been spared, but she chose to disobey --- (our unbelieving spouses/grown unsaved children will not be spared from the tribulation.)

There's no scriptural implication/reason to believe that the children of the unbeliever will be raptured.

Ruth

:scratch
Interesting points, Ruth.
:thinking

[Camelknees33]

Jack Kelly answered this question: http://www.gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/rapturing-the-pre-born

Q. How is the Lord going to work out the rapture of all the pregnant women at the moment of the rapture? Will He separate the mother from the fetus and advance the fetus to adult status, or what? What do you think about this? I guess He could let them come to term while we are having 'our time locked away with the bridegroom', but I am not sure; neither am I aware of any Scripture relating to this.

Your site continues to supply me with many blessings and knowledge and wisdom and I thank you for this and pray for Father to bless you and yours greatly in Jesus name, Amen!

A. To me the Bible says three things on this subject:


1. Life begins at conception. (Psalm 139)
2. All children under the age of accountability belong to Him (Romans 7:9)
3. All who are alive and are His go in the rapture to be with Him.(1 Thes.4:17)


I'm content to let Him work out the details.

I agree with Jack's response.


I also think this. When Jesus is dealing with the Abomination that causes desolation, he mentions pregnant women and nursing mothers and how bad it will be for them. He doesn't mention young children--older than nursing age. I always wondered why He didn't mention younger children, and I think it is because all the children will be gone. Just my opinion.

[kgreen20]

Jack Kelley gave a most reasoned response to the question of whether children of unsaved parents will be Raptured.

http://www.gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/who-gets-raptured

[RRuth]

Jack Kelley gave a most reasoned response to the question of whether children of unsaved parents will be Raptured.

http://www.gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/who-gets-raptured

The link you provided implies that ALL children were spared during the FLOOD of Noah. This is not scriptural.

and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. Genesis 7:23

[RRuth]

* If YOU'RE saved, your children (under the age of accountability) will be spared
*(our unbelieving spouses/grown unsaved children will not be spared from the tribulation.)

Ruth

I forgot to mention that the last two points are ASSUMPTIONS based on how children of believers/unbelievers were treated throughout history.

[mfa0830]

Jack Kelley gave a most reasoned response to the question of whether children of unsaved parents will be Raptured.

http://www.gracethrufaith.com/ask-a-bible-teacher/who-gets-raptured

Hmmmm. I'm a little befuddled by this article. :scratch

It's hard to compare the children existing before the Flood and today's children. One has to ask why the Lord commanded all of the children be slaughtered by the Israelites while they conquered the land. If it was because there wasn't anyone to care for them, that's false. The entire nation of Israel could've adopted the children along the way and cared for them. I don't think that killing them was an act of mercy as Jack alludes to in his article about the children killed in the Flood.

If, on the other hand, you believe that the bloodline was corrupted (Nephilim - whoa...can be sticky!), and Noah's purity in his generations was because of his bloodline, then it would make more sense that the children had been commanded to be killed to stop them from multiplying and contaminating the race. That would jive with the need for their deaths in the Flood, as well as during the fighting with the Israelites.

I don't believe that children dying by the sword or drowning is an act of mercy from the Lord. It sounds like judgment to me. Whatever the case, I would never believe that He would condemn a child under the age of reason/accountability to damnation....that is, if a "Nehpilim" child is capable of receiving salvation...which I don't think they are.

[In His Service]

One thing to remember about the Flood was that it was the time in which the Lord was so broken hearted that He chose to destroy the earth forever. But, b/c of Noah's faithfulness, he was spared and his family.

The situation with Lot was pleaded to the Lord as He had already decided to destroy the ENTIRE city, to include... Lot.

[heart_changed99]

I think there is one important factor that we may be forgetting: Jesus died on the cross for all of us, including the children of unbelievers. I do think that even the children under the age of accountability will be spared from the Tribulation.

Here's another thing I would like to point out: The children of the unbelievers in the OT were not spared. But that was BC.

[fracturedInfinity]

I don't see how we can use the children of Sodom and Gomorrah or in the flood as reasoning to prove that God won't rapture out children under the age of accountability. In both the cases, there were children in a time of judgement that were not spared. That would be like comparing to the children that are born after the rapture, they will be alive during the time of the judgement of God.

1 John 2:12

I am writing to you, little children,
because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

What do we know about sin? We know we have to repent and ask forgiveness for it in order to be saved, right? What about those children that are too young to understand? I think that verse I quoted above explains it. God forgives their sins and will save them if they die before they have the ability to be held accountable for their own actions. He does this so that his name isn't slandered.

I'm personally prepared to accept that my God sends babies to hell if that's the case. He is sovreign and whatever he wills is not my place to argue. However, how do you think an unbeliever would think of God if all dead babies went to hell? I know I'd probably see him as a heartless tyrant and not want to have anything to do with it.

But our God is not heartless or a tyrant. He is a just God and so justice must be served, but he is also a merciful God and not willing that anyone should perish (but even so, there are many that will because of their rejection of Jesus). So, I believe that because it says in the Bible that children's sins are forgiven for his name's sake, any child that dies (or is alive at the time of the rapture) before the age of accountability goes to heaven.

If I'm wrong, so be it. Who am I to tell the potter what he can and can't do with the clay. God's word seems to indicate (based on 1 John 2:12 as well as Jesus' reactions toward children during his life) that I've probably come to the right conclusion.