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B. L. HOWE

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 23, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 47.

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B. L. HOWE

By B. L. HOWE

Saving Our Children — No. 2

B. L. HOWE

IN David’s varied experience he came to realize that the stability of the kingdom rested in the home, and that the Lord must be the master builder. He says, “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it,” or, as the margin says, “that are builders of it in it.” Ps. 127: 1. This shows that the psalmist is speaking of those who occupy the house rather than of the building. This is still further shown in verse 2, where he speaks of the eating and the sleeping of those who dwell in the house. In verse 3 it is made plain just what part of the family he has in mind: “Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Children are the heritage of the Lord in the sense that every child belongs to him. They are also a treasure committed to parents.
When a child comes into a family, “God says to the parents, ‘Take this child and bring it up for me.’” Except the Lord build in all the training of the child, the labor is in vain. Your child may reach the highest education the world can give. You may rise up early and sit up late, yet your labor be in vain. How can the world’s education build a child for the kingdom of God? Children are compared to arrows in the hand of a mighty man. It requires both hands of the archer to direct the arrow. If the arrow hits the mark, it must be under the control of the one who handles the bow. God would have our children, as they go out from our homes and schools, so directed that they will not miss the kingdom. It is beyond us to understand how those who know nothing of the message for this time can so train our children that they will hit the mark.
If we would have the children go right, the training must begin at least as soon as the child begins to live. In the REVIEW of Sept. 19, 1854, is an article from the pen of Sister White, entitled “Duty of Parents to Their Children.” This was reprinted by request in 1893. From this we quote: “Parents stand in the place of God to their children, and they will have to render an account whether they have been faithful to the little few committed to their trust. Parents, some of you are rearing children to be cut down by the destroying angel, unless you speedily change your course, and be faithful to them. . . . Is not your salvation doubtful with the blood of your children upon your children that might have been saved had you filled your place and done your duty as faithful parents? . . . Children are the lawful prey of the enemy, because they are not subjects of grace, have not experienced the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus, and the evil angels have access to these children; and some parents are careless and suffer them to work with little restraint.”
If the children are the “lawful prey of the enemy,” they are his captives by law. This law we find recorded in Gen. 1: 11, 12, 21, 24, 25. The law that everything shall bring forth after its kind, is found in all plant and animal life, and is as eternal as the Creator who put it there. Its unchanging nature is recognized by those who engage in the development of plant and animal life. This law can be made plain to children while yet young. When the child thoroughly understands it, he has at least one strong point in his fortification against the teachings of evolution.
Man was made in the image and likeness of God. Had he remained true, his children would have been in the same image and likeness. He became a sinner. The law of reproduction remained the same, but man had changed. So we read (Gen. 5:3), “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.” This was after the death of Abel, after Adam had become a sinner. The psalmist, under the deep humiliation of his great sin, realized the strength of the law that makes the child a captive. He said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Ps. 51: 5. This is why we need a Saviour, “made of a woman, made under the law.” Gal. 4: 4.
In the record of the prophecy in Psalm 22, Christ says of himself, “But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.” Verses 9:10. We need a salvation that we can apply from the inception of life to the end of life. This we have in Jesus, who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, who did no sin, and who bore our sins in his own body on the tree. The child is a portion of the parent life. The servant of the Lord says, “Parents stand in the place of God to their children.” He holds the parent responsible for the development of the child life the same as if it were the parent’s own life. It is the privilege of parents to surround their children with holy angels.
As Satan stood by the grave of Moses and contended with Christ about the body of Moses, so he stands by every cradle and contends for the babe as his lawful captive; but it is the privilege of every father and mother to claim the victory that Christ has won for the children. Isa. 49: 24, 25, asks and answers the final question on this subject: “Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mightyshall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.”
In the quotation given, God says, ‘Children are the lawful prey of the enemy.’ Here the question is asked, ‘Shall the prey [the children] be taken from the mighty [Satan], or the lawful captive [children captives by law] delivered?’ The answer is from the Lord: ‘Even the captives [the children, captives by law] of the mighty [Satan] shall be taken away, and the prey [the children, “the lawful prey of the enemy”] of the terrible [Satan] shall be delivered.’ And then comes the promise whose price is above rubies to every struggling mother, ‘For I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children.’