PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 298: Is There a Better Word Than “Kids,” Part 2
LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell
EPISODE 298
: Is There a Better Word Than “Kids,” Part 2
We begin the descriptions God gives of our children in the Bible—Arrows, Blessings, Crowns, Enemy Silencers, Flourishing Sons, Fruit of the Womb, Beloved Fruit of the Womb—and 13 more to come!
Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.
Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! We’re continuing today to talk about the words that we call our children. I was challenging you last week about calling your children “kids” which belongs to goat mothering. Well, we’ve had a week since the last session. I wonder if any of you have kicked the habit? I wonder. I wish I could see you all and see your hands being raised! Well, if you didn’t manage to do it, just keep trying.
But now in this session, I want to get onto the positive. What should we call our children? If you can’t call them “kids,” what on earth do you call them? Of course, we can call them “children” which is what God calls them. The word “children” is actually a wonderful name, especially in the Bible. It comes from the word banah which means “to build.”
Actually, I should say that in the Hebrew God has given so many different words for “children.” I have listed here 48 different Hebrew words for the word “children.” God so loves children that He doesn’t just have one word. The most common word is ben. You become familiar with that when you hear Jewish names like Ben Gurion, who was the first prime minister of Israel.
Ben Yehuda was the man whom God put His hand upon to restore the Hebrew language so that when the Israelites, the Jews, began to come back from the four corners of the world speaking all their different languages, there would be a language for them all to speak. Because for 2,000 years, the Hebrew language had been forgotten, except biblically.
But there was not a spoken language. They could not speak everyday language, so this man actually gave his life to put this together. You can look up the internet and look for books about Ben Yehuda. They are worth reading. I’ve read a couple of them. I think the one I loved the best was called The Tongue of the Prophets. It’s the story of how Ben Yehuda restored and created this Hebrew language that is spoken today in Israel. Wow! It’s such an amazing story.
The word ben means “son of so-and-so,” but in the Hebrew it means “the builder of the family name.” When you call your children, not just kids, which is not a good thing to speak into your children because goats and kids have a very different nature from sheep. They’re not submissive. They’re not meek. They are proud. They are dominant. They’ve always got to be the top dog.
We had a pet goat as we were growing up. It was my brother’s little goat. He had this goat for years. He called her Jilly. She was his very special friend. But oh goodness me! We were always in trouble with the neighbors because she would go and eat their flowers, and eat their trees, and eat the clothes off their clothesline. We did have a back paddock at our home. She was supposed to stay in that, but she’d always be getting out. She would always find the highest thing to stand on because goats have to be dominant. They have to be in the highest place. Sheep are the opposite to that.
So we don’t want to be calling our children “kids.” And we don’t want to belong to the goat mothering company. So why not call them “children”? You can tell your children what that word means. “Children, do you know that you are helping to build this family? That’s what the word “children” means! The builder of the family name! You’re helping to build this family name. We want to have a name that’s true and righteous.” As they know that, they’re not going to grow up wanting to do anything to destroy or bring dishonor to the family name! It’s important for them to know what the word “children” means.
Of course, you’ll call them what you chose to call them. You’ll most probably have nicknames for your children. And you have all your most endearing names. Everybody has their different names. They call them their darlings, precious, my treasure, and sweetie-pie, and honey-pops. Wow! I love to hear all the different names that you love to call your lovely special children. They’re all wonderful names.
But I did find 20 names that God calls our children and how He describes our children. So I’m going to give you these words because I think it’s great to know them. You’re not going to call your children these words all the time, but you can from time to time, so they know who God sees them to be.
I’ve got them, I think, mostly in alphabetical order. Forgive me. I have 20 points. I am always finding so many points. I’m sorry. I’m never, “OK, we’re having our session today, and there will be points one, two, and three.” I can never keep to one, two, three because the Word of God is so full! There is always so much!
IT’S A MORE AND MORE LIFE
As I begin to look up and to study, I find more and more and more! It’s the more and more! The Bible is more and more. That’s why I love that Scripture in Proverbs 4:18 where it says: “The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” The Word of God is more and more. You can read it on the surface, yes, and you will be blessed. But if you take time to meditate, if you take time to study and search, you will find more and more!
Our Christian life is more and more. If you are not gaining more and more every day, if you’re not walking more and more in God’s ways, something is wrong. Because the Christian life is not a stagnant life. It does not stay the same. We’re never meant to stay the same! We are meant to be growing in the Lord. Of course, I shared with you 40 different positive words for us to be speaking in our homes. Now I’m going to share with you 20 different descriptions God gives of our children.
No. 1 ARROWS
All right! Number one: He calls them “arrows.”
Psalm 127:4: “As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of your youth.” You’re not going to be calling your six-foot teenager “sweetie-pie or honey-pops.” They’re not going to like that very much. But you can call them your “arrow.” Yes, that’s a good name.
Just remind them that they are arrows in God’s army and God has given them to you to polish and sharpen and prepare so that they will be ready to hit the mark as you send them forth as they get older. We are arrow-polishers. Our children are arrows being sharpened and made ready for that time. We don’t send them forth immediately. No, we’ve got to get them sharpened and honed and ready to go forth, to hit the mark, and to do damage to the enemy. Amen?
In fact, the Bible has quite a lot of descriptions about arrows.
He calls them READY ARROWS - Psalm 21:12
We’ve got to make them ready. I’ll give you the Scriptures for each one in my transcript. I know you won’t have time to write them down. You’re most probably on a walk, doing dishes, doing something.
He calls them POLISHED ARROWS - Isaiah 49:2
That’s what we’ve got to do, isn’t it? Polish them up.
He calls them PIERCING ARROWS - Numbers 24:8
He wants us to get them ready so they can pierce right through the enemy lines!
He calls them SCATTERING ARROWS – 2 Samuel 22:15
So that they will grow up and know how to scatter the enemy. He calls them “sticking-fast arrows.”
He calls them SHARP ARROWS – Psalm 45:5
Are we sharpening ours? We don’t want to send forth our children into this world blunt. No, we’ve got to have them ready and sharpened.
He calls them BRIGHT ARROWS – Jeremiah 51:11
He calls them LIGHT GIVING ARROWS - Habakkuk 3:11
He calls them GOING ABROAD ARROWS – Psalm 77:17
He calls them DESTROYING ARROWS – Psalm 144:6
He calls them HITTING THE MARK ARROWS – Jeremiah 50:9
Yes. Jeremiah 50:9: “Their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man. None shall return in vain.”
He calls them SHOOTING ARROWS – Psalm 64:7 and 144:6
He calls them ON FIRE ARROWS – Psalm 120:4
And the last one is DELIVERING ARROWS – 2 Kings 13:14-19
That’s an interesting passage, 2 Kings 13:14. This was at the end of Elisha’s life. He was getting ready to go into the eternal realm. He was sick but he called for Joash, the king of Israel.
“And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands. And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of the LORD'S deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou hath consumed them. And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote the arrows three times, and stopped.”
And then it goes on to say: “And the man of God was angry with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. And Elisha died, and they buried him.”
Wow! That’s a rather sad story. The great prophet died an angry, sad man because the king did not have the vision for smiting the enemy. He only smote the arrows three times. God said they would have deliverance from Syria three times. But he could have smote more. He didn’t have the vision.
We’ve got to give a vision to our children. They are arrows. When we’re getting them ready so that they will be ready to smite the enemy and smite the enemy until they win the victory. Not just stopping halfway through. Amen? You can call your children arrows, your little ones, and your older ones. They won’t mind that word.
- 2. BLESSINGS
In Deuteronomy 33:24, it says: “Let Asher be blessed with children.” We know that children are the blessing of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 28:4: “Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb.” Then, it goes on to say: “And the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle,” and it goes on.
That’s a wonderful Scripture because it gives us such an amazing principle here. God says, “Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb. I’m putting my blessing upon the children who come forth from your womb. I will bless them, and I will bless you.” But then, it goes on to say, “But I’m also going to bless your cattle, and bless your ground, and bless your store,” and it goes on and on—all the blessings which you can read in Deuteronomy 28, the blessing chapter, but the very first blessing is the fruit of the womb.
Now sadly, some mothers will stop receiving and embracing the fruit of the womb because they think, “Oh, how will I provide for them if we keep having more children?” But what they don’t understand is the principle of this Scripture, that when God blesses you with children, then He blesses everything else in you home. The provision, the provision of your food, and the provision of your store, and everything you need.
Go back and read these Scriptures in Deuteronomy 28 again. You will see that’s where the provision comes. If you don’t have the fruit of the womb, why is God going to bless you with cattle, and increase of sheep, and this and that? No, you don’t need it, because His blessing, His provision is for the fruit of the womb, which is the first blessing.
So every time He blesses you again with the fruit of the womb, you don’t know how it’s going to happen. You can’t see it, but God will do it. Oh yes, He always does it. He will provide for this baby. He will provide for this child in a miraculous way. All you have to do is trust Him. He will do it. You obey and trust. Yes, “Trust and obey for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” That’s all you have to do, and God will show forth His mighty right hand.
You can call them your blessings. As I was raising our children back in the early years of our children, back in New Zealand, I had a dear friend. I had a Bible study of ladies who would come every week. It was a wonderful time of encouraging one another. Usually there were more babies and children than mothers.
One of these mothers had three little children who were really quite difficult. I do have to admit, they were not easy. She was sort of always tearing her hair out, really. In the end she was calling them brats. They were brats! I had to secretly agree with her. They were brats! Oh goodness me! But God spoke to her and He said to this mother, “You are calling your children the wrong names. I call them “blessings.” I call them “rewards.” I want you to change your vocab and call them what I call them.”
This precious mother loved the Lord and wanted to walk in obedience to the Lord. She began to call her children “my blessings.” She would come to Bible study, and that’s how she would address her children. It was time to go. “Come on, blessings! We’re going now. Come with Mommy. Come, come, blessings!”
She began to continually call her children “ blessings.” It was amazing. It just shows you the power of words because those little brats actually, little by little, became blessings! They actually changed their behavior. Their behavior changed as she called them “my rewards,” and “my blessings,” and “my treasures.” As she called them the words that God calls our children, her children changed. It was so amazing to see.
No. 3. CROWN OF REJOICING
1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; Paul is writing about the new believers in Thessalonica. He says of them: “For what is our hope? Or joy? Or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”
He was confessing that when he stands before the Lord on that great day, when we will all stand before the Lord, that he will be able to present these new believers, whom he had poured his life into, and they would be his crown of rejoicing before the Lord. That’s who he would present to the Lord.
Dear mothers, how much more our own children that God has given us? He wants us to pour our lives into them, to pour His truth into them, to prepare these children to be ready to meet the Lord one day. To prepare them for the destiny God has for them here. But they will be our crown of rejoicing when we stand before Him on that day. Oh, may that be true of our children.
Now, the word “crown,” that’s a word that can also be used for grandchildren.
Proverbs 17:6: “Children’s children are the crown of old men.” Grandfathers can call their grandsons, “You are my crown!” Grandmothers can do that. If grandmothers are listening today, even any grandfathers, your grandchildren are your crown. Amen?
No. 4. ENEMY SILENCERS
Psalm 8:2 (BSB): “From the mouths of children and infants, You have ordained praise on account of your adversary, to silence the enemy and the avenger.” What a powerful Scripture! God is saying that little babies and children have the power to still the voice of the enemy, and silence his voice.
The Passion Translation says: “You have built a stronghold by the songs of children. Strength rises up with the chorus of infants. This kind of praise has power to shut satan’s mouth.” Every time you bring a new baby into the world, and you begin to nurture this little one, and begin to pour God’s Word into this little child, you are raising another arrow, another weapon against the enemy. Every child that grows in the ways of the Lord, and is being prepared to stand for truth and righteousness, is a weapon against the enemy.
Yes, little babies can silence the enemy, silence the avenger. Babies have power. In fact, there’s a great, famous quote from Frank Boreham. In it he says that “When God wants to do something mighty, what does He do? He brings a baby into the world, and that baby is prepared for God to use that baby to do the things that God wants done in the world.” (my quote from memory). Oh, never underestimate the power of bringing another baby into the world.”
I’m thinking also of a Scripture in Psalm 107:41: “Yet setteth He the poor on high from affliction, and maketh Him families like a flock.” This is what God loves to do. He loves to make families! That’s His heart. That’s His plan from the very beginning. And how does He make His families? He makes His families like a flock. Now, a flock is more than one or two. You can’t really have a flock of sheep . . . just one or two is not a flock. You’ve got to have a few more than that!
When you go over to Israel, you can see the Bedouin shepherds sometimes walking out over the desert places. You see them with their little flocks. They don’t have a huge flock. The shepherds in Israel are far different from our sheep farming in New Zealand where I grew up. The sheep farmers in New Zealand have thousands of sheep. They have to go out on their horses, and with their dogs, to round up the sheep for shearing and dipping and so on. It is so different.
In Israel, and this is where God shows us His heart for shepherds and sheep, they just have a small flock. Maybe ten, twelve, fifteen, twenty or so sheep, Usually they have goats with them. When you’re looking from far away, you can’t tell the difference between the goats and the sheep because their goats look very much like their sheep.
That’s why, when we read that Scripture in Matthew 25, God says, “I’m waiting until the end times to separate the goats from the sheep.” They’re going to be together. We do see in the church they’re growing up together, the goats and the sheep. Even in the church, there are sheep who are the real true, genuine believers and disciples of Jesus.
And then there are those who are, what you would say, Christians in name only! They are the goats. One day, God is going to separate them. The sheep on the right, the goats on the left.
They shepherds do have a little flock, but it’s more than one or two. God wants to make your family a flock. Yes, a flock. Just remember, that’s all right.
Let’s continue reading on here. Psalm 107:42-43: “The righteous shall see it and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.” Get that! “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.” What is it saying here? God wants to make families like a flock. The righteous will see that and they will rejoice. When the righteous see God giving another baby to a family, they rejoice!
Isn’t it amazing, that that doesn’t always happen in real life, even in the church of God today. I receive calls and messages from many women who, when they’re having another baby, they’re quite distraught. “What am I going to do? How am I going to tell my mother? How am I going to tell my mother-in-law? They don’t want us to have any more children!”
And sometimes they won’t even speak to their daughter or daughter-in-law because they’re having another baby! That is unbelievable! They are totally on a wrong track. They do not understand the Bible or the heart of God.
But this word says: “the righteous will see it and rejoice, and all iniquity will stop its mouth.” Because the Word says that babies and children come into the world, that they will still the voice of the enemy and the avenger. “And whoso is wise will observe these things, and they understand that this is the lovingkindness of the Lord.” Amen? Did you get that beautiful message from Psalm 107?
No. 5. FLOURISHING SONS
Yes, you can tell your sons that they are flourishing. “You are my flourishing son!”
Let’s go to Psalm 144. David is praying here, in this psalm. In verse 11, he says: “Rid me and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is the right hand of falsehood.”
David is praying, “We’ve got to get rid of all this evil and falsehood and lies and deception in our land.” Why did he want to do that? For one reason: “that our sons may be as plants, grown up their youth.” Yes, he didn’t want them to be contaminated and pulled away by the deceptions around.
Even in this day in which we are raising children, it is a challenge, because we are living in a deceived world, and we are seeking to raise children who will be young men and women of truth and righteousness and integrity, and who will not be lured in by the deceptions of this world. David was praying his prayer. This is what he longed for: “that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth.”
Let’s look at some other translations.
The New Living Translation: “May our sons flourish in their youth like well-nurtured plants.”
The Amplified says: “That our sons will be grown large in their youth,”
I like the Youngs Translation. Many of you will be familiar with the Strong’s Concordance. There is also a Youngs Concordance. This is the Youngs that gives this translation of the Bible, which is very accurate to the Hebrew: “That our sons are as plants, becoming great in their youth.” Don’t you love that? We’re not raising sons to hope that one day they’ll be great, mature adults when they are older. No! We are raising sons who will be becoming great even in their youth!
A few weeks back, I did two podcasts with Allison Hartman about raising children to be adults. If you didn’t get those, go back and listen to them. They are great, because that is our whole purpose as parents. We’re not raising children to keep them as children, and growing up into silly little giggling teenagers. No, we are growing children to be mature.
And our sons, this is the picture God gives of our sons; becoming great in their youth! Yes, the word there is gadal, and it means, “to make large.” That’s what the Amplified brings out. “Growing large in their youth, growing large in body, mind, and honor. To exceed, to be excellent, to be magnificent.” That is the picture there of our sons. So, dear ladies, this is how God describes them. Flourishing sons becoming great in their youth.
No. 6. FRUIT OF THE WOMB
Psalm 127:3: “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.” Yes, our children are the fruit of our wombs. Beautiful.
No. 7. BELOVED FRUIT OF THE WOMB
The Bible doesn’t only say that our children are the fruit of the womb, but beloved fruit of the womb! How do you like that? Hosea 9:16 calls them “the beloved fruit of the womb.” The context of this passage is that God was going to destroy their beloved fruit of the womb because of their continual disobedience.
But we see, as God says these words, how He sees their children, and how the Israelites themselves
“Their cherished offspring.”
“Their precious ones of their wombs.”
“Their dearest offspring.”
“Their darlings.”
“Their much-loved little ones.”
You can call your children that. “You are the beloved fruit of my womb.” “Yes, you’re my precious offspring.” “You’re my darling.” “You’re the precious one of my womb.” These are biblical phrases you can call your children, rather that the word “kids.”
All right! Well, I’m ready for the next one, but I think this one will take me too long. I think we’re coming to the end, so we’re going to have to have another session because we’re only up now to number eight. Wow! There’s so much more in the Word of how God describes our children.
I trust, dear mothers, that you are working on kicking the habit of calling your children “kids.” You don’t want to belong to this goat-mothering company! You’re beginning to think of other wonderful words to call your children.
“Dear Father, I pray that You will pour out Your blessing on every family listening today. Lord God, I pray that You will fill their homes with Your joy, and with laughter, and, Lord God, with Your unity, and with Your beautiful longsuffering and kindness and happiness. Lord, make their homes places where You dwell. I ask this in the precious Name of Jesus. Amen.”
Blessings from Nancy Campbell
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