Bo​az Baptist Chronicles

They were born within six months of each other. When they first met, one leaped for joy and the other had God’s blood (Acts 20:28) flowing through its veins. But, before they were born, were they living souls?

There is no question that there is a flesh and blood baby in the womb that has done all it could to grow to maturity where it takes a breath—its first breath of air—breathing deep from within its diaphragm to tell the world by a bloodcurdling cry, “I don’t want to be here.”

We call that birth.

“For months now, just for practice, I breathed amniotic fluid. But, today, for my birthday, I can do something that I've never done before. I can breathe air.”

“Sure air was in my blood. Everyone knows that the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11), and from the moment I was conceived, until today, I had a good rich supply of air in my body, thanks to my mom. She even gave up smoking, just for me. I love her so. Where would I be without my mom? I would ‘…have been as though I had not been….’” (Job 3:16; 10:19)

“Other than me breathing on my own outside my momma’s womb, something today very special happened to me when I was born. I became a living soul. According to my dad, I now have a chance to hear the Gospel.  When I’m old enough, I sure want to get saved, like the rest of my family.”

Not everyone who is born is happy about it. Job said, "Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me." (Job 10:18) This verse, used by some to say that a baby has a “ghost” or “a spirit” in the womb, can also be used by others like this: "Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I [as an adult, who currently, while saying these words, possess God’s ghost] had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me." Sadly, because of all his life’s tribulations, Job (now an adult) had hoped that he would've never been born.  By the way, that did not happen; he wished it, but he was born, anyway.  {See more on Job 10:18-19 at the end of this article}

Or, when God said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5) Is that supposed to prove somehow that Jeremiah was a living soul in the womb? Doesn’t Jeremiah answer God, in the very next verse, by saying “Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child…”? If Jeremiah answered God as a child, wasn’t he already OUTSIDE the womb? And, what’s so strange about God knowing someone inside the womb before He calls them? Don’t we call that “foreknowledge?” Doesn’t God know everything, since He is in Eternity and we only in time? He also knew who would be in Rebekah’s womb, BEFORE they were born. (Genesis 25:23; Romans 9:10-13) What of it?

And, what about John the Baptist? So, he jumped for “joy” (a human emotion), right before Elizabeth said, “And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43) There was no other reason why John jumped. So, it’s proper to say he jumped for joy, because joy was present. Elizabeth and her unborn baby stood in the very presence of Mary who had just conceived the Messiah (Luke 1:31-33) by the Holy Ghost. How would you have described it? Sorrow? Sadness? Startled? Elizabeth’s baby leaped because that’s all he, by the Holy Ghost, could do; Leap, leap for joy!!

I also want you to notice Luke 1:15…

“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.”

This verse says that John the Baptist was going to be an exception to the rule. Even Jesus said so. (Luke 7:28) Here is the exception: He would be filled with the Holy Ghost. But, that’s not all. He would be filled with the Holy Ghost FROM (not in, from!) his mother’s womb. Also, I’d like you to notice that it wasn’t John the Baptist that was filled with the Holy Ghost, when he leaped in his mother’s womb, Elizabeth was. (Luke 1:41)

Read it again...

41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. 43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.

When an egg is fertilized, a flesh and blood child grows in the womb until it reaches birth. Jesus brought it down to a birth, and so will I. (John 3:1-8) We don’t get “conceived-again,” we get BORN-again.

“All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils….” Job 27:3

“The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” Job 33:4

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Genesis 2:7

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh….” John 3:6

“And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” Ezekiel 37:8-10

“And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.” I Kings 17:17-23

When does life begin?

Pastor Bob

Further comment on Job 10:18-19 ... It might seem like I am correcting or adding to the scripture by my words below.  I am not.  I am just presenting to you another way these verses can be read that will help you see what I am saying Job was expressing…

Job 10:18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost [I have the “ghost” today and have had it since the day of my birth and am, today, a full grown man commenting on what my existence would have been if…] …no eye had seen me! 19 I [that came to birth many years ago] should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave. [From the womb to the grave: I would have had no life between those two points, had I not been born >unto all this trouble<. I wish that that had happened ...I wish that I hadn't been born and received the Ghost from God at birth, but sadly it didn’t happen that way and there is nothing I can do about it today. ]