During our studies of Luke and Acts we overcame one powerful factoid that has been mentioned in pulpits across the country, namely that women in Jesus’ day were uneducated and treated as property. Any close reading of the New Testament denies such an understanding, as we see women owning businesses and supporting both Jesus and Paul’s ministries. There is a second factoid Think-Biblically.com would like to correct, that children were treated unfairly and largely ignored. While this may have been true outside Israel, it was certainly not the case inside its borders. We’ll consider the evidence, starting with the nation’s earliest days.

As we learned yesterday, the apostle Paul was homeschooled in the basics and educated at the temple for religious instruction. This is a tradition that extends far back into Israel’s history. As far back as Genesis we can see that the extended family played a vital role in the raising of children. They were highly valued and considered the fulfillment of God’s first command to humanity, to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1.28). Large families were considered a blessing from God (see Psalm 127.3) and some of the most heartfelt stories are those where God intervenes and allows barren or older woman to have children. We also know that on the eighth day after birth boys were circumcised as a sign of belonging to holy community, not something one would do if the child were under appreciated.

AS a child grew, Israelites celebrated the toddler reaching the age of four or so, when they were able to show some independence about their life (Genesis 21.8). Young children were expected to accompany their parents in temple and at festivals. Later, the Bar- and Bat Mitzvah celebrates a juvenile entering near adulthood at the age of 13. In between 4 and 13 the children were schooled and worked for the family farm or business and learning a trade.

Teenage boys practiced the art of self-defense and the use of weapons so that they might serve the nation in the military later in life. Girls were instructed by their mother and grandmothers and learned valuable skills such as managing servants and the details of the household. Some worked on the farm and became shepherds. Again, if children were treated as property and largely ignored, why all the focus on their education and upbringing?

So where did the misunderstanding about the value of children in Hebrew culture come from? Possibly from the way children were treated outside the nation of Israel, and then this assumption being read into the Bible where it was never intended. A case in point is Mark 10.13 where the disciples are sending away the children and Jesus chastises them for doing so. In truth, this has nothing to do with how the community valued children and everything to do with the disciples trying to protect Jesus’ time and energy. We know this from the way Mark phrases the story. First the children were not coming to Jesus of their own accord, they were being brought to him. Why? So that he could “touch” them. These were sick children, needing healing. Jesus had already healed many, and spent much of the day teaching. Now the town wanted more from Jesus, and the disciples thought Jesus was being taken advantage of.

A friend of mine and I were driving around town one sunny summer afternoon and we passed a church advertising their Vacation Bible School for kids K-6. My friend, a bachelor, commented, “If I could build a church I would ban children from attending.” He was only half joking, not being fond of kids. I replied, “So Jesus should suffer the little children someplace else, then?” Perhaps our willingness to accept this incorrect assumption about biblical history is because our own society shows children such little respect. The extreme example being our alarming abortion rates. We must be careful what we accept, even from the pulpit, when someone makes a statement about the Bible.