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BABES
57
BABES. When making known the wonders of Dispensational Truth, the reader must remember the stultifying nature
of prejudice and tradition, and act accordingly. It is manifestly unreasonable to attempt to erect `The Ephesian
Temple' without first being assured that the foundation stones of the great doctrinal epistle `To the Romans' are well
and truly laid. One element that has barred the way to fuller teaching, even from the days of the apostles
themselves, has been that of spiritual immaturity. This immaturity is likened to infancy, and can be (1) the
legitimate condition which attaches to the state of infancy and so must be allowed for both regarding method and
subject matter; but the term is also applied to (2) that state of infancy which is by no means synonymous with
innocency, and is indeed the result of carnal-mindedness (1 Cor. 2,3), `dullness of hearing' (Heb. 5) and spiritual
obstinacy (Heb. 6).
Two words are used in the Greek New Testament for `babe', brephos and nepios. Brephos occurs eight times,
but one occurrence only has any bearing upon the subject before us, namely 1 Peter 2:2, where the apostle exhorts
believers `as newborn babes' to desire the sincere milk of the Word, that they may grow thereby. Here is infancy in
its innocence and its charm, milk as its natural food, and growth the consequence. Nepios is composed of the
negative ne and epo `to speak' just as the Latin infans is from in `not' and fans `speaking'. This word occurs
fourteen times in the Greek New Testament and always in a figurative setting or sense.
Nepios
(all references)
Matt. 11:25.
`Thou ... hast revealed them unto babes'
(cf. Luke 10:21).
Matt. 21:16.
`Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings'.
Rom. 2:20.
`A teacher of babes'.
1 Cor. 3:1.
`As unto babes in Christ'.
1 Cor. 13:11.
`When I was a child ... child ... child ... child
I put away childish things'.
Gal. 4:1.
`As long as he is a child'.
Gal. 4:3.
`When we were children'.
Eph 4:14.
`No more children, tossed to and fro'.
Heb. 5:13.
`He is a babe'.
This figure of the babe is placed over against `the spiritual' (1 Cor. 3:1), `the perfect' or adult (1 Cor. 2:6; Eph.
4:13; Heb. 5:14 margin). There is a marked parallel between the usage of the babe and the perfect in 1 Corinthians
2,3 and Hebrews 5,6 as the following will show:
1 Corinthians 2,3
Hebrews 5,6
Babes
3:1.
Babes
5:13.
Milk
3:2.
Milk
5:13.
Meat
3:2.
Meat
5:14.
Perfect
2:6.
Perfect
5:14,
margin.
Fire
3:13.
Fire
6:8.
Foundation
3:11.
Foundation
6:1,2.
Some things cannot be taught because the hour for their revelation may not have come. In this sense we
understand the Lord's words when He said:
`I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now' (John 16:12),
but this reservation was not because of any dullness or obduracy on the part of the apostles. The Lord Himself here
recognized the legitimacy of `Dispensational Truth'. So, in measure, must the language of Paul be understood when
he spoke of the period when miraculous gifts were enjoyed as compared with the day of perfect knowledge, saying: