Sometimes (maybe that should say oftentimes) the verse from Isaiah 11 is misquoted and misapplied, but usually done so in a playful, innocent way. As Isaiah saw into the future kingdom (i.e., church) of the coming King Jesus, he saw a time of forthcoming unity, which would be characterized by a sweet harmony among its citizens, as if wolves and lambs were united together in peace. The peace would be so loving and prevalent that a “little child” could come among these wild beasts and “lead them” (11:6).
That is the context and meaning of Isaiah’s statement, “A little child shall lead them,” but what we see happening amongst us today with our children is definitely not what Isaiah had in mind. Brethren, I want you to think hard on this. Things are backwards today from what they should be, and unfortunately what we see today is that children are leading their parents. Don’t believe me? Consider some examples.
A child is born and all of a sudden, “Oh, we can’t go to church. We can’t go to that church activity. The baby/toddler/youngling has to eat on schedule or sleep on schedule. We can’t interrupt the schedule.” A child shall lead them.
A child goes to school and all of a sudden, “Oh, we can’t be there for all of the services or church activities. The kid has homework to do or sports or other extracurricular activities.” A child shall lead them.
A child becomes a teenager and starts to push back against going to Bible class, going to worship, participating in church youth group activities, etc. “Oh, we don’t want to force him. If we make him come, he might turn against God altogether.” A child shall lead them.
A child grows up, becomes an adult, maybe even gets married, and comes back to visit mom and dad on the weekend. “Oh, we won’t be at worship tonight or Bible class on Wednesday night. Our kids are home, and we are going to spend time with them.” A child shall lead them.
Do you see the problem? Do you see how we are allowing our kids to lead us, INSTEAD of us leading our children? God tells parents to “teach,” “bring up,” “nurture,” “discipline,” “train” and “instruct” the kids (Deut. 6:7; Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:4), NOT the other way around, with the kids training the parents! Such leads TO disaster and AWAY from the Lord! Guaranteed!
Look back to the chapter that is often misused. Jesus was coming and “His delight is in the fear of the Lord” (11:3). Is ours? “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord” (11:9). If the earth would be, what about our homes? Parents, it’s time for us to lead and to stop being led!