Are you a Boy or a Man?

(Jeremiah 1:6) But I said: “Alas, O Sovereign Lord Jehovah! I do not know how to speak, for I am just a boy.”

[w11 3/15 p. 29] Jeremiah may have been close to 25 years old when he received from Jehovah his commission as a watchman. (Jer. 1:1, 2)

There are many scriptures that point to 30 years of age to be when a boy becomes a man.

(Genesis 41:46) Joseph was 30 years old when he stood before Pharʹaoh king of Egypt. Then Joseph went out from before Pharʹaoh and traveled throughout all the land of Egypt.

(Numbers 4:3) all those from 30 to 50 years old who are in the group assigned to work in the tent of meeting.

(1 Chronicles 23:3) The Levites who were 30 years old and up were numbered; their number, their head count man by man, was 38,000.

(2 Samuel 5:4) David was 30 years old when he became king, and he reigned for 40 years.

[it-2 p. 87] John spent the early years of his life in the hill country of Judea, where his parents lived. He “went on growing and getting strong in spirit, and he continued in the deserts until the day of showing himself openly to Israel.” (Lu 1:39, 80) According to Luke, John began his ministry in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar. John would have been then about 30 years old.

(Luke 3:23) When Jesus began his work, he was about 30 years old, being the son, as the opinion was, of Joseph, son of Heʹli,

And here is a scripture showing that younger adults are still held accountable for their actions:

(Numbers 14:29, 30) In this wilderness your corpses will fall, yes, the whole number of you from 20 years old and up who were registered, all of you who have murmured against me. ³⁰ None of you will enter into the land that I swore to have you reside in except Caʹleb the son of Je·phunʹneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

But i don't think that your age defines who is a boy and who is a man. So what does?

Even beyond the physical differences, a woman is generally considered to be different from a man. There's an old saying that goes something like this: "A woman feels and a man thinks."

Of course a woman does think and a man also feels, so what does that saying mean? It's regarding what rules them. A woman tends to let her emotions have final say on matters. The same goes for girls and boys, which brings us to the difference between an adult boy and a man.

A man has feelings, but when making a decision he will consider the facts and not allow his emotions to over-rule his reasoning.

Here's an example:

A friend brings his dog along while visiting a family man. The man's young children fall in love with the dog and play with it for hours. And his wife seems very taken with the dog as well. Then the friend tells them that he is moving overseas and cannot bring the dog with him and is looking for a good home for the dog.

Everyone's eyes light up with joy and the kids yell out: "Can we keep it?" His whole family likes the dog. The man really likes the dog too, and he had already been looking for a dog for the family so this seems ideal.

Then the friend tells them that there is just one thing about the dog: it is completely deaf.

The man's heart screams out that it doesn't matter and to accept the dog anyway, but his mind plays out a very real and plausible scenario for him in his mind: The dog is on the street, a vehicle is coming, his child calls out a warning to the dog but it is deaf and does not hear. The child then runs out into the road to save their beloved dog, and both are killed.

What is the man to do? The safety and wellbeing of his family are his responsibility. (De 22:8; 1Ti 5:8) A man will make the right decision. His own heart will break. His wife will understand but will be deeply saddened. His children will cry and be angry with him for weeks if not months. But that is what it means to be a man. You don't go along with what Hollywood promotes and "go with your gut." You make the tough choices that need to be made and you don't let emotions rule you.

There are many emotions that a real man must overcome: anger, lust, fear, sadness, etc. Letting any of them win-out over reason means you are still a boy, regardless of your age.

(1 Corinthians 13:11) When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, to think as a child, to reason as a child; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the traits of a child.

(Romans 12:1) Therefore, I appeal to you by the compassions of God, brothers, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, a sacred service with your power of reason.

(1 Corinthians 16:13) Stay awake, stand firm in the faith, carry on in a manly way, grow mighty.

What do you think of this hypothesis?

:^)
Dave
da.getmyip@gmail.com

Last edited 05-22-2019