SEEK 16 – Child Death
Question: Does an aborted child, or stillbirth or one who dies young go to heaven?
Bible Reading: 2 Samuel 12:1-25
Text: “But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me”. (2 Samuel 12:23)
I can only imagine the pain of someone who has carried a child for nine months – only for that child to be born dead. In my work as a pastor, it was a situation I came across several times. And is there anything more heartrending than the little white coffin bearing the body of an 18-month girl who died in her cot? What about those who, having had an abortion, later realise that it was their child who was killed, and wonder what happened to her? Many parents have experienced the sorrow of miscarriage – where all the joy of expectant motherhood and fatherhood, turns to sorrow and loss?
I know of one man who talks about his six children. He only has three living, but his wife had three miscarriages. ‘I will meet them in heaven’. Is he right?
What about those who die in infancy? Are they saved? There were (are) those who believed that if a child died without being baptised it would go to Hell. Some Catholics believed that an unbaptised child would go to a place called Limbo. But there is no scriptural warrant for such a place – nor indeed for purgatory. As to children going to Hell – I don’t believe that that is what the Bible teaches.
The bible says that the dead are judged according to what they have done (Revelation 20:12). Obviously, babies in the womb, or in early infancy have done nothing. But what about original sin? By that we mean the sinful nature which all human beings have inherited from Adam. Could we not be judged for that? Christ tells us that we are to let the little children come to him, and not to hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 19:13-15). I believe that when Christ died on the cross, he also covered the sin of these little ones who die in infancy.
That is why in our reading King David weeps, fasts and prays as he longs for his new-born child to be restored to health. But when the child dies, instead of continuing like this – as his servants feared – he got up and stated that now he knew he would go to him, not the other way round. This is a clear indication of a belief that he would meet his child in the afterlife.
None of this is to say that we should not mourn the death of a child. It is a deep loss – one that cuts into the deepest recesses of our hearts. But there is healing. I would also argue that without God none of this sorrow and pain can make any sense. I think of the young atheist couple whose child died. The local minister was astonished to see the mother in church the following Sunday. ‘Lovely to see you but why are you here?” “IF there is no God, then none of this makes sense”. Sometimes pain drives us to God, rather than away from him.
Or I think of the farmer’s wife whose two children were killed in a barn fire. A cruel ‘friend’ mocked ‘where is your God now?’. “He is on the throne, as he always is”.
The Christian writer and bible teacher, Nancy Guthrie, whose book I highly recommend, went through her own experience of such a deep loss – with the death of two of her children. She talks about how her belief in the goodness and sovereignty of God are a great source of comfort and strength.
“But because I believe God’s plans for me are better than what I could plan for myself, rather than run away from the path he has set before me, I want to run toward it. I don’t want to try to change God’s mind—his thoughts are perfect. I want to think his thoughts. I don’t want to change God’s timing—his timing is perfect. I want the grace to accept his timing. I don’t want to change God’s plan—his plan is perfect. I want to embrace his plan and see how he is glorified through it. I want to submit.” Nancy Guthrie
The book of Job is a great insight into the depths of suffering that human beings can go through. But at the end all our hope is in the knowledge that ‘I know my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.” (Job 19:25-27). The resurrection is our hope.
Consider: How would you comfort and help someone who has experienced the loss of a child?
Further Reading: Holding On to Hope: A Pathway through Suffering to the Heart of God – Nancy Guthrie
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you wept at the grave of Lazarus, because you were furious at the pain of death. We praise your name that you came to defeat death. O Lord, grant your comfort to those who have experienced the loss of their precious little ones. We pray that you would save and keep all those who die so young. You are our merciful Saviour. Amen.