God Will NOT Punish Little Children for Sins

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When the children of Israel were denied entrance into the Promised Land because of the unbelief of the people, do you remember that? When they wouldn't believe that God could help them go into the land and the spies came back and said, "We can't do this"? Interestingly enough, when the people of that generation were not allowed to go into the land because of their unbelief, the children were exempted from that penalty. Deuteronomy 1:39 says it this way: "Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it".

In other words, the whole generation was going to be penalized for their unbelief, but here is an illustration where God did not hold the children responsible for the unbelief of the adults. In fact, there's a bit of irony in this passage, if you will. The spies came back and said that the giants in the land would destroy their little children and God came back and said, "No, no, your little children are the only ones who are gonna go into the Promised Land".

Do you remember the story of Jonah? When Jonah was asked by Almighty God to go and preach in Nineveh and Jonah did not want to go because he hated the Ninevites, they were a cruel and abusive people. And one of the reasons God gave to Jonah for having pity on Nineveh was the huge number of children that lived in the city. Jonah 4:11 says it this way: "Should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than 120,000 persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand, and much livestock"?

In other words, God was saving the city of Nineveh primarily because there were so many children there and he would not punish the city, as wicked as it was, because the children there kept him from doing it. The careful study of God's Word by anyone who has an open mind reveals a heavenly Father who deals justly with us all. In his justice, he provides for children who are not old enough to comprehend the gospel.

In fact, in the book of Ezekiel, we are told that Almighty God considers all children as his: "Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me". God says, "You bore those children to me. These are my children". God is not going to do unrighteously with his own children. The character of God provides a special grace for those who cannot believe. On a number of occasions, God refers to these little ones as innocents. Jeremiah 2:34: "Also on your skirts is found the blood of the lives of the poor innocents". Jeremiah 19:4: "And have filled this place with the blood of the innocents".

Source: https://sermons.love/david-jer....emiah/4446-david-jer