Caller: Why did Herod issue the decree to kill all the baby boys and will they be saved will they go to heaven?
Pastor Doug: You’re talking about there in Matthew where King Herod killed all the baby boys in Bethlehem? Well, you’re asking two questions: Why did God allow it, and then you’re wondering Will all those babies be saved? Let me start by dealing a little bit with the second question.
Will there be babies that died before they reached the age of accountability that will be saved, that will be in the kingdom? The answer to that is Yes, because Isaiah tells us, speaking of the New Earth, that there are children there who lead the wild animals and children who play on the hole of a venomous serpent. So there are children in the resurrection who obviously must have died while they were children. God does not make us regress back to babies when we’re resurrected.
So, yes, there will be resurrections whether all those babies are resurrected or not—that I can’t answer, because the Bible does seem to teach that children, before the age of accountability, Paul says, are sanctified by the believing parents, and that would depend, something maybe, on the parents. So I don’t know that God has a fiat law that that all babies before the age of accountability will be resurrected. There could be a lot more babies than adults in the kingdom when you begin to analyze that.
Your second question is why did God allow Herod to do that dastardly deed to the babies? You could also just expand that question to why does God allow innocents to suffer? Not just Herod, but what about some of the despots and dictators who have slain millions through time, and lots of innocent people have died—even in our generation in many parts of the world. This world is under the influence—it’s been kidnapped by a tyrant called the Devil.
And that, of course, is our subject for tonight, if you’d like the free study guide. The Devil does not play by the rules. The world rejected the leadership of God when Adam and Eve sinned. God intervenes now when we pray and ask Him to. But even Jesus said, The Prince of this world comes—speaking of the devil. He called the devil the prince of this world. The devil said to Christ, If you bow down and worship me I’ll give you all the kingdoms of this world. He claims this world is his own. And so it should not surprise us when we see innocents suffering at the hands of the wicked here in this world that’s been kidnapped by the devil.
God,-you know, the penalty for sin is death. God, in His mercy, has not executed the planet because He’s seeking to save as many as He can. So instead of asking the question, Why do innocent people, like these babies in Bethlehem, and others, suffer, we ought to be asking the question, Why is God so merciful that He sought to preserve and save so many, even though we deserve death. Okay?
Caller: Alright. Thanks a lot.
Pastor Doug: I hope you’ll send for that lesson that Pastor Dick offered tonight because it does address that subject in the study guide. Thank you very much.