“Out of the Mouths of Babes”

by Daniel R. Vess

Although young children may not have a great deal of experience in life or formal education, they can state obvious truths we adults are prone to over look.

One Wednesday night I have the joy of teaching a class several four, five, and six year olds. The lesson that night was Moses’ miracle of making the bitter waters sweet (Exodus 15:22-27). No sooner did Moses take the people across the Red Sea into the Wilderness of Shur than the people began to complain. After traveling for three days they found not water. When they finally found some water, it was too bitter to drink. So God showed Moses as tree and told him to cast it into the waters to make them sweet. I explained to these children the meaning of the word “bitter” in terms they could readily understand. “Class. What the Bible means by the water being bitter is that it tasted so it tasted to bad for them to drink.” At this point five year old Celeste Gomez could not hold back her enthusiasm. “Brother Dan, brother DAN! I know why the water tasted yucky!” This she volunteered while dutifully raising her hand. “Please tell us, Celeste why the waters tasted so yucky.” With the seriousness of a jury foreman pronouncing a verdict, she explained, “because all the fished pooped in the water.” There you have it folks, out the mouth of babes comes truth and wisdom. I have in my library quite a few commentaries on the book of Exodus plus many other reference books. To be sure not one of these esteemed scholars gave this as an explanation as to why the waters of Marah were bitter.

The phrase “out of the mouths of babes” is found in Psalms 8:2 where the rest of the statement tells us God has “ordained strength.” Over time the idea of “comes wisdom and truth” was added to the saying.
After the He cleansed the Temple, Jesus made reference to this passage in a conflict with the chief priests and scribes in the Temple (Matt. 21:14-17). These children were old enough to praise Jesus for His good works, but the religious leaders were His enemies and vindictive against Him for moving the hearts of the people away from them. God’s glory may not come often from the lips of the wealthy, the statesmen, the philosophers and professors, but they flow freely out of the mouths of the lowly. Jesus told His disciples, “assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3-4). God does not have to depend upon the wise, powerful, and wealthy of this world to declare His excellence.

The Forum – September 11, 2016 – You Have Left Your First Love
The Forum – September 18, 2016 – Phinehas: Zealous for God (Part 1)
Categories: The Forum