Gods Kills Children

Okay, bit of a shock title, but it is true, according to the Bible.


I wrote most of this is a forum post, but thought it was worth preserving for the next time.

Children that God killed by drowning

How about all the children drowned in the Flood? Millions of them, presumably.

Children that God struck dead

We can discuss the killing of the first born in Egypt (Exodus 12:29).

29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.

Children that God burned to death

This is from Genesis 19:24:

24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.

God personally killed all the children in two cities with burning sulphur. Anyone think burning children alive is good when God does it?

Children that God had torn apart by will animals

How do you think burning to death compares to being torn apart by wild animals, as God did to some children in 2 Kings 2:23-24? This one is interesting because God was specifically targeting children. But I suppose it is moral when God does it, right?

23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

Remember that they became adults a lot young back then; they would likely be married and in a career by 15. When it says "boys", it is not talking about older teenagers.

Children that God had swallowed up by the ground

Three men complained that Moses has set himself apart from the community, as though he is more holy than anyone else. Obviously this makes God angry, so God has the ground swallow them up. Oh, and he killed their wives and children too because, well, loving and merciful and all that.

25 Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. 26 He warned the assembly, “Move back from the tents of these wicked men! Do not touch anything belonging to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.” 27 So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram had come out and were standing with their wives, children and little ones at the entrances to their tents.
...
31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households, and all those associated with Korah, together with their possessions. 33 They went down alive into the realm of the dead, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community. 34 At their cries, all the Israelites around them fled, shouting, “The earth is going to swallow us too!”

Children that God inflicted with plague

Not content with killing three entire families in the above, God went on and killed 250 other people (probably adults, I guess). Curiously the rest were unhappy about the killings. So God killed even more. Over fourteen thousand more. This is your loving, merciful God killing his own chosen people.

41 The next day the whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. “You have killed the Lord’s people,” they said.
42 But when the assembly gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron and turned toward the tent of meeting, suddenly the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron went to the front of the tent of meeting, 44 and the Lord said to Moses, 45 “Get away from this assembly so I can put an end to them at once.” And they fell facedown.
46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put incense in it, along with burning coals from the altar, and hurry to the assembly to make atonement for them. Wrath has come out from the Lord; the plague has started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses said, and ran into the midst of the assembly. The plague had already started among the people, but Aaron offered the incense and made atonement for them. 48 He stood between the living and the dead, and the plague stopped. 49 But 14,700 people died from the plague, in addition to those who had died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron returned to Moses at the entrance to the tent of meeting, for the plague had stopped.[c]

Note that this was a plague that God chose to inflict. This is what God does, according to the Bible.

Do some children go to hell?

Given the Bible is so very clear that God kills children, the issue of where they go becomes very important. Do all children automatically go to heaven? Did the firstborn of the Egyptians all go to heaven? Did the children torn apart by bears go to heaven?

Fortunately, the Bible tells us:

John 14:6 Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'

Those children torn apart by bears sent by God, killed by God's plague, drowned in God's flood, did they go to God through Jesus? No. God killed them, and then sent them to suffer in hell for all eternity

Praise be to God!