Origin of Life

                                            Lesson 5

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In Its Wonder [139:14] (evokes great praise)

I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  wonderful are Thy works, and my soul knows it very well.”  

 

 

When David says I am fearfully and wonderfully made  he is not in any way patting himself on the back, he is not focused on how great he is at all. His statement is his praise of God for His magnificent creative activity.

 

The unborn may yet be unaware of itself, but God is very much aware of  the unborn child. God's care begins with conception. 

 

 

We as Believers should focus on the direct involvement of God in all areas of life, including prenatal.

 

God's care of the developing unborn also points to man's first encounter with God's common grace.

 

THE UNBORN REVEALS THE AWARENESS OF GOD  (139:15-16a)

My frame was not hidden from Thee, when I was made in secret, and  skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance."

 

God's Awareness Stated Negatively [139:15]

The word translated frame is literally bones, skeleton, or support system of the body. David is pointing specifically to God's awareness of the development of the child's skeletal structure.

 

The verb made, "when I was made in secret"  places emphasis on the orderly fashioning of something.  (hf'[')

 

It is also the word used in the Old Testament showing that God is near, not far removed from His creation but is near in the sense of working and moving about with respect to the one He is near. 

This is seen in the word used to describe the activity of God in the development of the child, that is the verb translated skillfully wrought.  (~q;r'))

 

It points to the various parts of the body being carefully and intricately assembled together by God.

 

The "depths of the earth" is a Hebrew idiom, an expression for the deepest concealment, which refers to the hiddenness of the womb.

 

God's Awareness Stated Positively [139:16a]

 

The expression unformed substance comes from a simple verb meaning to roll up, to fold together. I take it to refer to the rolled up position that we often call the fetal position.

 

The all-seeing eye of God rests on the child before it is ready for the eyes of men. The eyes of God express the idea of His omniscience and omnipresence that is being involved in the development of the unborn.

 

THE UNBORN REVEALS THE PLAN OF GOD  (139:16b)

And in the book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” 

 

The word “all” points forward to the days that were ordained for me. 

 

He knows all of our days before they are lived out. God's plan for us does not start at birth; it starts at conception.

 

Need to know something about the word ordained. It is used of the activity of a potter. [rc;y"] 

It also is used of what God forms and fashions in His mind; that is its use here!

 

THE UNBORN REVEALS THE LOVE OF GOD (139:17-18a)

How precious also are Thy thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, [thoughts and plans] they would  outnumber the sand.”  

 

The Hebrew word used here for thoughts occurs only twice in this precise form in the Old Testament, both of which are found in Psalm 139.  [[;re]

 

This makes God very personal--men have plans and purposes and so does God, and those plans in this context include the unborn child.

 

Four things are said to be precious in the Old Testament.

#1. Proverbs 3:15 calls wisdom precious saying, "She (wisdom) is more precious than jewels; and nothing you desire compares with her."

#2. The loyal love of God toward His own is precious, for David exclaims, "How precious is Thy loving-kindness, 0 God!"  (Psa. 36:7)

#3. Psalm 116:15 speaks of the death of the believer saying, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones."

#4. Finally, here in Psalm 139:17 the plan and provision of God for His own is precious.  It extends to the minutest detail and begins in the womb.

 

With vs:18b we arrive I believe at the moment of birth!  From vs:13-18a David has been emphasizing God's closeness to him during the nine months prior to his birth. But even after his birth, his coming awake, the picture does not change. The Lord is still his Sustainer, and Protector.

 

SOME MEDICAL OBSERVATIONS 

 

  1.  At conception the sperm and egg unite into a zygote. God completes the 23 pairs of chromosomes, and establishes all genes, DNA, RNA, or genetic features at this time. Thus from conception He determines the sex, size, shape, the color of skin, hair, eyes, and intelligence of the child.

  2.  At the end of the 1st week after conception, the zygote implants in the uterus; no more twinning takes place.

  3.  During the 2nd week, the first blood veins develop; the unborn child has his own blood system, not mingled with his mother's.

  4.  By the 3rd week, the unborn's heart is beating.

  5.  In the 4th week, the unborn's heartbeat can be detected on an electrocardiogram.

  6.  By the 8th week, his brain waves can be detected on an electroencephalogram.

  7.  Also in the 8th week, all his organs are present.

  8.  By the end of the 8th week, the unborn's hair and eyebrows are present.

  9.  In the 9th week, his eyes have developed, but remain closed.

10.  From that point on, it is just a matter of growth; at no point does the unborn child change into a person; he experiences uninterrupted growth from the beginning.

11.  The unborn child can react to pain, show personality traits, exhibit individual variations, and try to make sounds as early as the 3rd month.