Children and the Religious Meals of the Old Creation

Some jottings from James B. Jordan's chapter of the above title in Strawbridge (ed.), The Case for Covenant Communion:

... every single passage in the entire Bible that mentions or discusses children speaks of them as included in whatever religious event is under consideration. Jesus says to let the little children come to Him. Paul addresses children in his letters. Moses tells Pharaoh that the children must accompany Israel to the great feast God is calling them to. Moses, in Deuteronomy, commands that children be allowed at the feasts. Search how you will, you will find no passage anywhere that hints at the exclusion of children from any religious event or meal. (p50)

... there is no passage anywhere in the Bible that commands, hints, or show that children need to be catechized or instructed in order to make them eligible for any religious meal. Instruction took place at the meal, not before it. (p50, emphasis original)

It is sometimes asserted on the basis of 1 Corinthians 11:28 that a child must be old enough to examine himself before being served the Lord's Supper. But it is clearly adult sins that are being discussed, and, if this verse excludes children, then we should be starving our children on the basis of the command "If a man will not work, let him not eat" (2 Thess. 3:10). (footnote 2, p50f)

To summarize: the Bible contains no warnings against children participating at religious meals. It provides no age limit or other qualification of entry that differs from what is required of adults (circumcision for Passover; ritual cleansing for all Tabernacle events). On the contrary, every single passage that discusses children speaks of them as included in religious events. (p51)

As the contest between Moses and Pharaoh intensifies, it is precisely the presence of children at the feast that becomes the issue. During the plague of locusts, the eighth plague, Pharaoh dismisses Moses to go and be a slave to Yahweh. But then he asks who is going, and Moses says that all, including children, must go, and livestock for sacrifice as well. Pharaoh's response is that he must will not let both them and their little ones go. The men may go to the communion meal, but not the children (Ex. 10:8-11). [Footnote 7:] Personally, I'd be nervous about siding with Pharaoh on this. (p54)

Let's be very clear about what is being demanded of Pharaoh. Yahweh intends to have a feast with Israel. Communion-sacrifices as well as Ascensions ("burnt offerings") are required. And Yahweh insists that the children be present for this feast. For the men alone to be present, without wives and children, in unacceptable.

This is the whole purpose of the exodus: to celebrate a feast to the Lord at which children are present along with adults (p54, emphasis original).

... the analogies between the wilderness meals [1 Corinthians] chapter 10 and the Supper of chapter 11 could use more attention. Is not water called "blood" in 2 Samuel 23:17, and does not Jesus convert old "Jewish" water into wine in John 2:6 and 9? It would seem that the old meal of Rock-water and Heaven-manna is found anew in the Lord's Supper of wine and bread. And this being so, the fact that children as well as every other baptized person were included in the old meal has much to say about who is included in the new. (p64)

Against this kind of restrictive view, the Bible presents a God who generously feeds multitudes from His table. He showers down "sacramental" bread from heaven upon Israelite and Gentile alike, upon man and woman alike, upon old and baby alike. Jesus similarly feeds 5000 men and their families on one occasion, and 4000 on another, without seeming to worry about who was "worthy."

In fact, the inspection God is interested in does not take place before the meal, as a way of excluding people from it. Rather, it takes place at the meal. God judged Israel while they ate the heavenly food (Num. 11:33; Ps. 78:29-31). Paul says that the Supper ministers judgment, but he never says that because of this anyone should stay away. (Indeed, those in the wilderness had no choice: they had to eat the heavenly food, or starve.) In Matthew 22:11-12, the king inspected his gustes while they were already at the wedding feast. Belchazzar's Feast is another example. (p66, emphasis original)

Anyone living with this system of law and festival for 1500 years would naturally think that children belong at the Lord's Supper as soon as they are old enough to eat, and that Christian baptism is the ticket to the Lord's Supper. That's how it had always been.

The burden of proof in this matter lies with those who think Jesus or the apostles introduced some striking change. (p68)