Saturday, August 8, 2009

Some of the Biblical Evidence for Age Integration

Deuteronomy 31:9-13, "Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, 'At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.'"

Psalm 148:12-13, "Young men and maidens together, old men and children! 13 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven."

Acts 2:42-47, "And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Acts 4:32, "Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common."

Acts 21:4-5, "And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed."

Ephesians 6:1-2, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 'Honor your father and mother' (this is the first commandment with a promise)."

Hebrews 10:24-25, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near."

9 comments:

Jeff Nelson said...

Eric,

Good work! Now I hate to be the fly in the ointment, but where do you see age integration in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32? I'm not seeing it.

-jeff

Anonymous said...

Another passage is Nehemiah 8, where men, women, and all those old enough to understand stood for hours listening to Ezra read the Torah, while the Levites translated (Hebrew to Aramaic probably) and explained.

Eric said...

Jeff,

Yours is a legit question.

I admit that the two passages you mentioned are not as explicit as the others. However, the entire feel of 2:42-47 (especially 2:44) and 4:32 is one of complete unity and togetherness. Although children are not stated, the thrust seems to be that everyone in the church was together.

Eric said...

Laura,

I agree! That's a great one, too.

Jeff Nelson said...

Eric,

Agreed! I can't imagine a passage that describes Christian unity with more clarity. This is one of my favorite passages (Acts 2:42-47).

-jeff

Arthur Sido said...

Plus, if they were breaking bread in their homes, they certainly wouldn't have had a nursery or Sunday school, so I imagine the little kids would be running around.

Anonymous said...

Arthur, That's the very picture that popped into my head. It's unlikely they'd ship the kids off to the kiddie table.

Eric said...

Hey - but then there would be noise! What would we ever do if there wasn't absolute silence?

Anonymous said...

Indeed...I've no idea how they ever managed. :-)