Adstar said:
Hello southstar been a while since we have exchanged thoughts
You know me southstar i always have a verse or two up my sleeve ready for when people put me on the spot.
All praise The Ancient of Days
It's been a long time Adstar. Haven't seen you in a while around here.
I am aware of that story but there are a few things that don't seem to add up. First of all, if we take your passage from Deuteronomy in context, it is stated quite clearly before hand in 35: "Not a man of this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your forefathers". Now we can only infer from this context (if you have read the story) that when God speaks of the children who "have no knowledge of good and evil", he speaks of those
under the age of 20(a) who did not partake of the people's unfaithfulness - not those who had never commited any transgression.
Read in its original form, we find immediately that the sense is conveyed through
merism - a figure of speech by which a single thing is referred to by a conventional phrase that enumerates several of its parts, or which lists several synonyms for the same thing. Interestingly, you will note that your own example of the tree of "the knowledge of good and evil" is also a merism! I am sure you can see that our merism here characterizes the "lack of knowledge" of the younger ones, their ignorance of the deed for which Jehovah would now punish His people. On the other hand, if we are to ignore these contexts and insist on an interpretation of the phrase, ignoring its metaphorization in consequence, then we are alas left with no choice but to conclude that God punished the children who were taught the difference good and evil by their parents! Such a position is untenable from a Christian point and is also undesirable for you (I hope).
Lastly, but not of least importance, we must return to a more holistic view of the problem. God promises these innocents passage
into Canaan,
not heaven. As the doctrine of age of innocence again deals with the fate of the young who have left us, your passage regarding the promise of Caanan to the children is thus entirely irrelevant. I am sure you will find the distinction between being promised safe passage to the Promised Land and being granted entrance into Heaven rather glaring (the latter is our concern).
Given the omission of context from your explanation and the very fact that the passage provided has no bearing on whether or not the children actually entered heaven, I'm going to have to say I indeed have put you on the spot.
(a) - From the Geneva Study Bible commentary. Also to be found in others.
