Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Woe to the pregnant and nursing.

Jesus.

The name of my Lord is becoming more and more dear to me as I continually learn to know Him more.

I’ve been reading through the book of Luke, and I stand amazed at the glory, the beauty and the love of this Man who is also my God.

Isn’t it amazing how we can read the scriptures over and over again and yet each time be struck with some new aspect that we never saw before? Or pierced to the heart by a new revelation that He’s giving to us at that time. There is no other book like HIS WORD, because it is HIS Word! It’s like fire, like a hammer. (Jer. 23:29) It’s like a sword. It’s alive! (Hebrews 4:12)

I was meditating on some portions of scripture in Luke which target pregnant and nursing women specifically;

Take a look:

“Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people;” Luke 21:23

then again:

“For behold the days are coming when they will say ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Luke 23:29

At first glance we might be a little confused, what is Jesus saying, why is he singling out pregnant and nursing women specifically? We could almost be offended, but I think we have to understand the context of these scriptures.

Jesus is talking about the last days when Israel will be in the great tribulation… for he says there will be great distress upon the land. This is when Jerusalem will be seized by the armies of the antichrist. In verse 24 of Luke 21 it says that “they will fall by the edge of the sword and will be led captive…”

But why does Jesus mention the pregnant and nursing women? He could have said woe to the elderly, or the sick or the infirm. He could have highlighted a number of groups of different people, but he speaks of the women, pregnant or nursing.

And he says woe to them. He even prophesied that in those days people will say blessed are the barren and the breasts that never nursed.

I wonder if while Jesus was saying these things He saw in His mind a vision of a woman clutching her newborn babe tight to her chest, a look of horror and desperation in her eyes and she sees the armies descending upon Jerusalem. Perhaps He feels her dread, perhaps he can hear her heart beating heavily with fear of what will happen to her and her child. I believe he specifically targets this group of women because he knows the heart of a mother and that it is this group that will possibly have the greatest woe during this time.

Could you imagine the feeling that would come over you in that time of great suffering? Even if you could escape, your flight would be extremely difficult if pregnant or carrying a nursing child. Would you be able to sustain a child in your womb during that time if you had no food or if you were taken captive? What if you were sentenced to death and your child taken from you? What if you witnessed other pregnant women being killed by the sword?

I once heard an account of a Jewish man who lived through the holocaust. He was given the gruesome task of collecting the dead bodies from the gas chamber. He spoke of once seeing a mother and her baby in the gas chamber, the mother had perished with the baby still nursing at her breast, yet the baby was still alive. Although he begged the German guards to spare the child’s life they were unwilling.

When I heard this account… it cut to my heart deeply. I’ve heard many stories of the holocaust- but this! This seemed grip me in such a way that not many other horrific stories had, because I am a nursing mother.

I know what it is like to carry a child for 9 months and give birth, and to bear that wonderful responsibility of sustaining that little life. There seems to be no greater security for a baby than to be at his mother’s breast. And too, for the mother it’s a most precious time of nurturing the baby.

So when I read of Jesus’ words speaking of the pregnant and nursing women, I think I can feel His heart for them. He is bringing attention to women whose suffering will be great because the depth of a mother's love for her child whether in or out of the womb is so great. Jesus is saying woe to them, there will be sorrow, there will be suffering, there will be a rending of their hearts during those days.

It also could possibly show the depth of evil that will be in that day, when man will neither regard the pregnant woman or the nursing babe.

A pregnant woman nowadays, though not always, is most often shown a certain level of consideration by most in society.

But during those times of tribulation, there will be no mercy, no concern for the pregnant or nursing. The Enemy hates life. He hates the one bearing and sustaining life. We see evidence of this through abortion.

Those days will be so dark, so difficult.

Will a mother be able to bear it?

I recently read the account of Perpetua a first century Martyr, who was thrown to the wild beasts for her faith in Christ. She was a nursing mother at the time of her martyrdom. She records in her diary just before her death the agony of feeling her breasts engorged from not being able to nurse her child while in prison. At some point her baby is allowed to be with her in prison until he is taken away just before her death.

Can you imagine? Can you imagine being in prison separated from your baby knowing you will soon die and he will be left on this earth.

A million thoughts would flood my mind. How will he survive? Who will take care of my child? How will he be raised?

I believe it was the precious gift of the Lord to allow her to nurse her child in prison before her death. She even gives account of being at peace in her heart when he was taken away and told that he was accepting goat’s milk in place of hers.

She was ready and willing to die for Christ’s sake, even though she was given ample opportunity to deny Him. How tempting that would be for a woman with a newborn to deny her faith in order to be with her child, to be able to care for him and hold him and love him.

But she loved her Lord more, more than her life and her child.

Would I be this strong in my faith? Would I be willing to give up my child and surrender my life for His sake? I pray that I would.

I know that I must Love Jesus more than my children. But can I???? Ohhhhhh, this is a hard thing for us mothers. For He has said “ He who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

This is a hard saying, but of course we must love our Savior, more than anyone in this world. We must love our gift giver more than the gifts he gives.

Perhaps this is why Paul talks about remaining single considered the present age in which he was living. So many were losing their lives and their loved ones for the sake of Christ. Maybe Paul is saying that the sorrow and suffering would be much greater for a young married couple especially if they had children.

When I think about the coming troubling times, my greatest fear is my shrinking back in unbelief because of my children. What if I see them suffer? Will I be able to remain strong in my faith in the midst of their tribulation as well as mine?

This is stuff we as moms don’t want or like to think about… but we must! We must be prepared both spiritually, and mentally for the time to come and it is drawing near. Even if our children are grown by that time we must prepare them too.

18 comments:

  1. Awesome post Hannah! Really makes me think...

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  2. This had also been the greatest fear of mine for years. My kids are everything to me. I have a child that is severely handicapped and on life support and I wonder what I will do when things go bad...how will I care for her. She is an angel on earth I swear she is. My 3 boys are my heart but so I Jesus. I don't think I could watch them suffer, as a matter of fact I know I couldn't watch them suffer. I would do anything for them. God gave me this love for them, will he give me the strength to let them suffer?

    I had a dream/vision of Jesus about 21 years ago and in it I was talking on the phone when all of a sudden I knew Jesus was coming. I kept saying "Jesus is coming...Jesus is coming" over and over. then I started lifting into the air and every cell in my body was filled with rapturous ecstasy and I was in absolute awe, jaw dropping eyes bulging AWE...then I was before Jesus who was giant. His presence was absolutely terrifying but his love calmed my fear. He could see through me, every part of me, nothing was hidden from him. Then he turned into a swrod and I knew he was the sword of truth and he could cut through anything. Then I came back down to earth and it was cold and gray. It felt like the holy spirit had been removed from the earth. I woke up still buzzing from the experience and went into a depression because I just wanted to back with him...My fear is that I'll be sent away from him and that is the worst possible thing that could ever happen to me. I think this was a rapture dream but I don't even know if I believe in the rapture. I am afraid of what's coming. I feel it coming...and it's really really bad.

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    1. I understand!!!! I have a daughter with a syndrome and a feeding tube. So I have wondered how I will feed her or who will feed her if something happens to me? So scary )= but I happened upon this verse tonight Luke 21:36 "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy[a] to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” So...will be praying we are counted worthy to escape all the things that will come to pass!!!!!! Much love to you mama!

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  3. Do you think maybe the babies will be raptured and they would be longing for their babies? The suddenly empty womb, engorged breasts....their babies just gone. And to those who were barren and childless they never knew the love of their children and the bond and aren't suffering the seperation of having their children gone. This verse has disturbed me too and was chatting with a friend tonight and this idea came to mind.

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    1. The Rapture is false doctrine created by Europeans in the 19th century. John Darby came up with that lie. The "Rapture" is nowhere in the scriptures.

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  4. Just thinking of this phrase from the bible and found this post. First, I want to state that while I was raised Catholic and believe in the story of Christ, I am not actively 'Christian' to my mind. Just thought I would add my interpretive sense in the context of the state of the world today. I think the sentiment expressed was one of judgment against those who choose to have offspring and in favor of those who do not because of the condition of the world, i.e. those who thought to not reproduce will be blessed and those who reproduced despite the times suggesting it would not be an optimal time for their offspring will experience woe. Essentially, in my view, there is nothing cryptic to be deciphered in the statement.

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  5. Thank you so much for this! Couldn't agree with all the sentiments more. God is so kind to provide the warning. Praying we will all be strong to the end. <3

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  6. I was raised by a pentalcostal mother and baptist father, and I truly feel comfortable at either church. During my teenage years I somewhat strayed tho my heart has always longed for Jesus. When my first child was born, my love for her brought such gratitude and joy, and unworthiness, which caused a deep fear which could only be calmed by bible study and worship! I nursed her (and my 2nd born, which caused the same emotion and thirst for knowledge and need to praise) and read the bible. My mother recommended the 4 gospels and I quickly followed her advise. When I read the verse about pregnant and nursing mothers, I was terrified! I prayed and prayed on it and asked those that I trust what they interpreted and to this day, I carry that fear. My children are 8 & 10 now, but I worry for the other mothers. I have much to learn but I believe it is truly a sad fact and there is no hope of all escaping it! Otherwise this would be heaven...but I trust him. I trust his plan. I trust his judgement!

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  7. I was raised by a pentalcostal mother and baptist father, and I truly feel comfortable at either church. During my teenage years I somewhat strayed tho my heart has always longed for Jesus. When my first child was born, my love for her brought such gratitude and joy, and unworthiness, which caused a deep fear which could only be calmed by bible study and worship! I nursed her (and my 2nd born, which caused the same emotion and thirst for knowledge and need to praise) and read the bible. My mother recommended the 4 gospels and I quickly followed her advise. When I read the verse about pregnant and nursing mothers, I was terrified! I prayed and prayed on it and asked those that I trust what they interpreted and to this day, I carry that fear. My children are 8 & 10 now, but I worry for the other mothers. I have much to learn but I believe it is truly a sad fact and there is no hope of all escaping it! Otherwise this would be heaven...but I trust him. I trust his plan. I trust his judgement!

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  8. Sometimes I feel alone in the exact feelings that you have described in your comment. What have you done to cope with these feelings of fear. I am constantly asking God for answers, in disbelief of humanity and our constant evil actions. I pray for our youth the most, the innocent. I wish there was more that I could do to help this world. I trust in the Lord but I am overwhelmed with worry and sorrow and I think it is because I may not trust in him enough. I want to but I read scripture about the end days and I look at my 2 year old and 6 month old and sometimes I just cry over them because of my fear for them.

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    1. If you are fighting with fear does not mean that you possess fear.

      You can not make a bird not to fly over your head, but you can make the it not to land on your head.

      STILL stay in the Lord.

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  9. This was incredibly insightful and helpful to me.

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  10. I have so much to learn about the scriptures. My greatest fear is to where I will spend eternity. I constantly feel and know I am not living right. I feel unworthy of being saved when I compare my life to others serving God. I have a beautiful 4 month old daughter and just the other day I realized how full of love my heart is for her. I love her so much that it hurts and scares me. I tried transferring that same thought of how much God loves me and us. And then I realized, could I give my daughter to die in place of another? I couldn't. But that is exactly what he did for us. I know I went way of topic here... I was searching for information on the subject above and after reading the comments, those thoughts sparkled. By the way, this post is very helpful to me!

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  11. Hello, my name is Kristen. Reading this really gripped me, as I am a mother-to-be myself. But I want to assure you that there is safety and rest from the tribulation period for those that truly love the Father and His Set-apart torah. What we call the “gospel” and who our “Messiah” is today has been morphed over many centuries, into a cluster of false doctrines. All of the True Names have been covered up by added Aramaic vowel pointings and the Catholic Church.
    The first half of the Scriptures were written in Paleo Hebrew/ Ancient Hebrew, before the vowel pointings we have today in Modern Hebrew were ever added on, which changes how we pronounce certain words and their meanings. The actual names of the Father and His Son, that were kept through every translation of the Scriptures until the Roman Catholic Church, are Yahuah (the Father) and Yahusha (our Messiah). Scripture tells us time and time again to call upon the one and only name of Yahuah, and to not mistake him for Ba’al (the Lord). No matter what the titles God and Lord mean to us, they are incorrect and actually offensive to Yahuah. Please contact me via email : kaltsadaq@gmail.com if you have any questions or would like to know more about this hidden truth. It’s time to repent from Christianity and her lawlessness before it’s too late! Because indeed, the end times are nearer than we realize! Much love to everyone.

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  12. No one knows the end of time(except for God). All christians as long as we all believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and Rose again so we would have eternal salvation, we must live the Commandents and have true love for everbody. Mother Theresa once said that the one sin she did not have to confess is talking or judging somebody. She always took the good out of somebody no matter if the person was an athiest or murderer and even terriorist.Everything is a challange but our Lord tells us "Bring all your Burdens to the Lord and He will give you Peace". Have faith and Trust in our Savior for he has the final decision which should comfort all of us. God Bless!

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  13. This post truly stirred in me so many emotions that when I read it I cried. I cried because I can feel every word so deeply in my soul it scares me. I googled that specific verse in Mathew that talked about nursing and pregnant mothers and I stumbled on to this post. I too believe God did us a kindness by warning us of the wickedness of men that is to come in those days. While at the same time almost feeling the pain right along with us in a way. For no matter how much I love my children it cannot compare to the love he has for all of us. I pray that the lord gives us strength to endure the pain that is too come because no matter how old or babies get they will always be just that our babies. I will be praying for all of you tonight sisters that when that day comes we will have the strength to choose GOD above all. And that our children know with out a doubt that we love them no matter what happens. And that they too choose God so that we may reunite with them in the presence of our savior. Amen!

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  14. www.thegreateststorynevertold.tv
    We are a Jewish family and my husband's family died in Auschwitz. Please see this film. Changed our lives and we met Yaweh through Yeshua. Seen it three times. We have small children and I'm not sure if it is right to have another in these times. This verse I just found and I feel like all of you.

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  15. Maam your explanation is very helpful.thanks

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