Children Who Die Go to Heaven
- Michael E.B. Maher
- Jul 17
- 5 min read
Revelation 20:13 “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.”
We have seen thus far that because everyone dies spiritually at the age of thirteen, they therefore need to be born-again in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. So what about children who die physically before they reach the age of thirteen? As we will see in this section, because they are already in the kingdom of God, any child that dies, from conception until the age of thirteen, goes straight to heaven to be with the Lord. This truth obviously includes all miscarriages and abortions. Firstly we will look at biblical accounts of those whom God has allowed to be raised from the dead. Altogether, there are eleven accounts in scripture of people who have been raised from the dead. Of those accounts, the main one is the account of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord’s account is different from the other ten accounts however, because unlike the others, when Jesus died He went to hell. And so Jesus is the only one who has ever descended into hell, and returned from there (Ephesians 4:9-10). No one else who has gone into hell has ever, or can ever, come out of there until the final judgement day, when hell will deliver up the dead who are in it. That truth is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, which in context is an account of the final day of judgement. And so consequently the remaining accounts of people being raised from the dead fall into one of two categories, i.e. they were either believers or they were children. The reason that God allows believers and children to be brought back to the earth after death, is because they do not go into hell when they die. There are four accounts of saints under the old covenant who were raised from the dead. The first account is the man who was raised from the dead because his body came into contact with Elisha’s bones as he was being buried (2 Kings 13:20-21). The second account was when our Lord Jesus raised the young man in the city of Nain from the dead (Luke 7:11-15). The third account that we see, is when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43-44). The final account of old testament saints raised from the dead, is in the gospel of Matthew. On this occasion, the scripture tells us that many saints were raised from the dead at the same time that our Lord Jesus was raised. There is one difference on this occasion though, which is that these saints each received their resurrected bodies when they were raised from the dead (Matthew 27:52-53). The next three accounts of saints raised from the dead are under the new covenant. The first of these accounts that we see in scripture, is when Peter raised the disciple Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-41). The second account we are given, is when Paul the apostle was raised from the dead. It seems as if on this occasion that our Lord Jesus Himself had sent Paul back to earth, for although we see the disciples gathering around Paul’s body at the time, there is no mention in scripture that anyone prayed for him to be raised from the dead (Acts 14:19-20). And the final account that we are given in scripture, is when Paul raised the young man Eutychus from the dead (Acts 20:9-12).
1 Kings 17:17-23 “Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him. … (19) And he said to her, "Give me your son." So, he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. (20) Then he cried out to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?" (21) And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, "O Lord my God, I pray, let this child's soul come back to him." (22) Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived. (23) And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, "See, your son lives!”
This brings us to the accounts in scripture of children being raised from the dead. There are three accounts recorded in scripture of children being raised from the dead. The first account as quoted in the above passage of scripture is the account of Elijah raising a young boy from the dead. In this passage we see that the child’s soul returned to his body in response to Elijah’s prayer.
2 Kings 4:18-37 “And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers. (19) And he said to his father, "My head, my head!" So, he said to a servant, "Carry him to his mother." (20) When he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. … (32) When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. (33) He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. (34) And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm. (35) He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. (36) And he called Gehazi and said, "Call this Shunammite woman." So, he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, "Pick up your son." (37) So, she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.”
The second account as quoted in the above passage of scripture is the account of Elisha raising a young boy from the dead. In this passage we see that the child came back to life in response to Elisha’s intersession.
Mark 5:39-42 “When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping." (40) And they ridiculed Him. But when He had put them all outside, He took the father and the mother of the child, and those who were with Him, and entered where the child was lying. (41) Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise." (42) Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they were overcome with great amazement.”
And then we have the account as quoted above, of our Lord Jesus raising the little girl from the dead. It is important to note that the Lord refers to her in this passage as not being dead, but sleeping. The bible only refers to those who die in the Lord as having fallen asleep, whereas it never refers to unbelievers who die as having fallen asleep. And so we can clearly see from these accounts in scripture that children are counted among the saints, because they also fall into the category of those whom God the Father has allowed to be raised from the dead.
Michael E.B. Maher
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