I’ve never had children. From those who have, I’m told that the most awful thing for a parent to suffer is the death of a child. The parent would rather be the first to die. This is so; no matter the age of the child.
And coupled with the devastating loss, there is almost always the accompanying question of the child’s eternal destiny, especially if the child were an infant. Sometimes, though, it isn’t a question. The assertion is made that the child should go to heaven, simply because of the child’s innocence.
The following prophetic scripture has light to shed on the subject. It’s from Jeremiah 31: 15-17.
Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; She refuses to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”
Thus says the Lord,
“Restrain your voice from weeping And your eyes from tears; For your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord, “And they will return from the land of the enemy. “There is hope for your future,” declares the Lord, “And your children will return to their own territory.”
In Matthew 2: 17 and 18, the above prophecy is applied to Herod’s slaying of the children in an attempt to destroy the baby Jesus. Those children were under two years of age. The phrase “they shall come again from the land of the enemy” seems to indicate a return from the dead.
Then there’s Deuteronomy 1: 39…
“Your little ones…and your sons, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall possess it.”
This passage shows that the children were allowed to enter the promised land; an earthly, symbolic type of the heavenly Canaan land. It seems to indicate that God accepts children (including the living ones at Jesus’ return) who aren’t accountable, who don’t have an understanding about sin.
The above two scriptural passages should, and hopefully will, provide some comfort for the grieving Christian parent. They seem to point to a heavenly reunion.