THE ORDINATION OF MOTHERHOOD
Part 5 * Continuing the THIRD WATCH

“The glory of young men is their strength”
(Proverbs 20:29).

I would like to share a few more thoughts about adolescence age from 12 – 18 years. Eighteen years is recognized as the “coming of age” in our nation today. It used to be 21 years when I was growing up in New Zealand. When we turned 21 years each person enjoyed a big celebration party and received “the key of the door.” The parents presented the new adult with a big decorated key made from cardboard or more durable material. Everyone at the party signed the key and it was often displayed on the recipient’s wall.

The age was also 21 years in USA until 1971. At that time the 26th Amendment was passed to change it to 18 years. One of the reasons was because of the debate about the Vietnam War. Many felt that if young men were old enough to be drafted into the armed forces, they should be old enough to vote. The slogan used to overwhelmingly pass The Amendment was: “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote.” And this was also the age when most of the youth finished high school.

But that meant the drinking age was also lowered, with very negative results. Obviously, our young people weren’t as mature as they thought. Thirteen years later in 1984, Congress passed the act to raise the drinking age back to 21 years.

However, although the ages below 18 are looked upon as a time of adolescence, we must remember that these should be years of training and inspiring our children to maturity and adulthood. We don’t want our young people to “hang out” and live like so many teenagers today with no vision and no goal expect to please themselves and live for entertainment.

At the age of 13 years for sons and 12 years for daughters Jewish parents organize a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah for their children, encouraging them from childhood into adulthood. The word “teenager” is not in the Bible. We should never settle for the “teenage mode,” but train and motivate them toward maturity and adulthood.

As we read the Bible we see many examples of young people who lived disciplined and courageous lives. They were not bound by their youth, but faced their responsibilities and performed great exploits. The following are a few examples:

JOSEPH would have only been about 17 years of age when he was torn away from his family and sold as a slave to Potiphar in Egypt. He did not fade away in self-pity because of what happened to him but worked hard and was soon made overseer over all of Potiphar’s house. Potiphar so trusted this young man that he left everything in Joseph’s care. Read Genesis 1:1-6.

THE TWO SPIES who went to spy out Jericho were only young men. The Bible describes them as na’ar, the same word used for all our examples (Joshua 6:22, 23). The word na’ar describes a young person “from the age of infancy to adolescence.”

SAMUEL would have only been about 12 or 13 years when God called him to the ministry (1 Samuel 3).

DAVID would have only been about 17 years of age when he killed Goliath. Many commentators say that realistically he may have been between the ages 12 – 15! Check below for further evidence. At this young age he had already killed a bear and a lion when protecting his father’s sheep! Listen to David’s confession as he faces Goliath. This is a young man who knows His God!

“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee . . . that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel” (1 Samuel 17:45, 46).

SOLOMON, who “EXCEEDED all the kings of the earth for riches and wisdom” (1 Kings 10:23) would have been no more than 20 years when he began his reign. Josephus, the Jewish historian puts his age at only 14 years. At the very beginning of his reign, as a young man, he executed justice and judgement.

ZADOK was a “young man (na’ar) mighty of valor” (1 Chronicles 12:28).

JEROBOAM was also a young man who showed imitative and hard work which caused King Solomon to promote him: “And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor: and Solomon seeing the young man (na’ar) that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph” (1 Kings 11:28).

JOSIAH became king at eight years of age. But at only 16 years, he began to seek God with all his heart. 2 Chronicles 34:3 says: “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young (16 years), he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year (20 years) he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the cared images, and the molten images.” He became a great reformer at a young age and brought about the greatest revival in the history of Israel and Judah. Read the whole chapter 34.

DANIEL and his three fellow Hebrews, HANANIAH, MISHAAL, and AZARIAH were very young men when they were taken as captives to Babylon. Most Bible commentators say they would have been no more than 15 years. Some speculate they could have been between 11 – 13 years. The Hebrew word used here is yeled and means “child, youth, young man.”

These young men were chosen to be taught for three years in the ways of Babylon. They were given Babylonian names (the names of their gods) and their plan was to divorce them from the ways of Israel and all their previous convictions. But at this young age, Daniel stands strong for God. He also stands strong in his convictions to not partake of the Babylonian food which included meat from forbidden animals and food and wine dedicated to idols before given to them (Daniel 1).

We read many more courageous stories of these four young men in the book of Daniel, whereas nothing more is heard of all the other young people who would have also been chosen by the king. Obviously, they gradually slid into the ways of Babylon and therefore had no influence for God.

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, I ask You for wisdom as I train and inspire my young people. Show me how to give them responsibility and lead them to maturity. I don’t want them to stay in a state of juvenility. Amen.

AFFIRMATION:

I’m training my young people for the purposes God has chosen for them before the foundation of the world!

DAVID’S AGE WHEN HE KILLED GOLIATH.
Jesse had eight sons. David was the youngest. When he went to check out the war between the Israelites and the Philistines, his three oldest brothers were there to fight. Young men had to be 20 years of age before they could go to war (Exodus 38:26; Numbers 1; Numbers 14:31-33; Ezra 3:8; and 2 Chronicles 31:17). That means there were five under 20! Some suggest there may have been twins in the family. I don’t believe that each son would have been born a year apart. Mothers nursed their babies totally in those days and would have at least two to three years between children. It makes David’s age rather young!