Mystery of the Spirits of the Unborn Revealed

"One and the same soul governs these two bodies." Leonardo Da Vinci c.1511

As the abortion issue rages in America, it is relevant to research and discover what Scripture has to say on this topic. As with most subjects, Scripture can give a definitive answer, or we can derive an answer based on an example(s). Obviously, every person can develop their own conclusion. However, research shows that Scripture appears to resolve this controversial issue to the satisfaction of both sides of this topic.

There are numerous sites online which heralded headlines boasting as many as 86 Bible passages concerning abortion. Sadly, upon close review, these lists were simply compilations made by well-meaning people that actually consisted of Bible verses where the authors had apparently Googled words such as infant, womb, unborn, etc. Then, and apparently without reading these verses, erroneously stated that they were related in some way to the issue of abortion. So, a person trying to get a Biblical answer on the topic could, after looking at web sites titles that all proclaim large numbers of anti abortion verses, assume that the Bible was obviously anti-abortion and stop their research. However, upon a closer inspection of these verses, eighty one out of eighty six simply referenced infants, children, mothers and parents. There were only 5 verses that could possibly be referring to the unborn. But not a single verse appeared to be directly focused on the issue of the willful abortion of an unborn fetus. This biblical lack of attention concerning this issue may be rooted in the idea at one time that no person would ever deliberately terminate a pregnancy. Thus, there was no need to have a direct prohibition against this act. But it could also signify that the Bible's understanding of what it means for a person to be alive occurs at birth and not before. So the following is a study on those verses that might give some insight as to how the Bible views the idea of the unborn versus those that have been born.

The first and foremost of the 5 verses commonly listed against the act of abortion is the commandment that states that a person Shall Not Kill another person. This would at first blush seem to include the unborn. However, this command was given by God for living adults to follow as were all the other commands. Such as, a person shall not steal, nor lie nor covet, etc. So it is clear that the truest intent of the verse concerns people who have been born, to not become involved in these various sinful activities. An unborn person obviously cannot commit any of these sins therefore, none of these commandments apply to them (Exodus 20:13). Jesus taught His followers that they were to follow the Commandments. Yet, while Jesus was known for clarifying the Law, He never spoke on the issue of the commandment not to kill as it relates to the unborn. We also read in Scripture that after the flood, God gave Noah permission to establish capital punishment. But this penalty was predicated on one living person intentionally killing another living person. And even then, the law of execution did not apply to those who were killed accidently. While one could stretch the phrase to include not killing the unborn by putting them in the same class as those already born, this creates two further issues to consider.

First, the phrase "Thou Shall Not Kill" could have easily been written in Hebrew to include a prohibition against killing both the born and unborn and that would have completely resolved this issue. But it is not written that way. Second, how were the unborn by way of the Mosaic Law considered during the time of Moses?

In the centuries leading up to the time of Jesus, seven out of ten children did not survive to adulthood. This meant that all children were extremely important. This also meant that women were expected to constantly produce children. So wouldn't Moses have considered an unborn child to be just as important as a born child?

Interestingly, the Law of Moses states that if a pregnant woman is hurt during a fight between two men and has a miscarriage, the offending man must stand trial, and if found guilty, a fine would be levied against him. However, if the woman is personally injured and dies, the man might receive a fine and/or the death penalty. So, it is clear that while an unborn child is important, its death was only considered a fineable offence and not a murder according to Mosaic Law (Exodus 21:22-25). Lets now consider the other four verses of Scripture that could possibly pertain to the unborn.

In the Book of Jerimiah God says, "Before I formed you in the belly I knew you; and before you came out of the womb I sanctified {set apart} you, and I ordained you as a prophet unto the nations (Jeremiah 1:5). God is saying that before a person is physically born, their spirit exist and He personally knows it. But, because God exist outside of time, He can see the entire timeline of mankind all at once. So, He is also saying that He literally saw and knew Jeremiah before he was conceived because He saw him in the future as a man of character. And therefore, He determined or "ordained" that Jeremiah would serve as a prophet "before he came out of the womb" or was born. Therefore, Sculpture is saying that God knew Jeremiah in a spirit form before he was conceived, and made the decision at that time that his life mission would be that of a prophet. But this verse also does not specify when a person's spirit leaves Heaven to indwell a newborn. A person's spirit does leave Heaven and it does indwell a child, but when? Some might assume at conception, but this Scripture verse does not support that assumption.

The Book of Psalm states, "You are He that took me out of the womb;....I was cast upon you from the womb: You are my God from my mothers belly" (Psalm 22:9-10). This is a straightforward acknowledgement that God is the God of mankind from the time a person is conceived to the time they die. But the verse only speaks to the physicality of a person and not to a person’s spirit. The words you took me out of the womb are past tense as are the words You are my God from my mothers belly". So this is an acknowledgement that God is the God of all people, but only after the person has emerged "from" the mother’s "belly". Their is no mention of when a person is indwelled by their eternal spirit.

There is a third quote that occurs in the Book of Psalms. It states, "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb His reward." (Psalm 127:3) But, once again, this verse is stating that while God loves children, and mankind is encouraged to produce them, the fruit of the womb relates to the child being the fruit born "of" or from the womb. We can understand that a child can not be from the womb if it is not in the womb, but interestingly, Scripture never directly refers to the fetus while in the womb, only the child that emerges from the womb. We can deduce that if the child is precious after birth, it is therefore precious before birth, but the past tense emphases is always on after the birth, so this verse does not help us resolve the issue of when the eternal spirit indwells a child.

A fourth quote comes from the Book of Proverbs and states that, "These six things does the Lord hate … hands that shed innocent blood."(Proverbs 6:16-17). But once again, the term "shed innocent blood" appears among five other evil actions all performed by or against those who have been born. Therefore, this term in this instance is referring to those who have been born, have committed no crime {innocent} yet still have been wounded or killed by another person.

So, there seems to be a Biblical differentiation of importance between the child while in the womb and a child out of the womb. Perhaps it would be better to say that there is a difference between an unborn child that is totally dependent on the mother while in its state of gestation, versus a child who has been born and is functioning on its own. This would explain the Mosaic Law in which the death of an unborn child caused by a direct action on the part of another rates only a fine. While the death of the mother of the unborn child is worthy of capital punishment.

This uneasy distinction reminds one of the Roe v. Wade decision. Many past Supreme Court justices have stated that this issue put them in a precarious position. As Christian men and women, they had a personal belief that abortion was morally wrong. However, they could not find a legal prohibition against abortion in the Constitution. And they all stated that they looked very hard to find one. So, not having found one, they were forced to decide should they ban abortions based on their own morals, or allow it because it is not against the legal constructs of the Constitution. This was the same issue they faced concerning a decision on same sex marriage. These dilemmas exist because of the Constitution’s separation between church (morals) and state (laws). Because the court had a long troubling history of being faulted on the left for being too conservative and on the right as being too liberal, the decision on this recurring issue was always decided based on public opinion. Since January of 1973, public opinion has remained relatively the same with 61% saying it should be legal and 37% saying it should be illegal. Therefore, by declaring abortion as legal, they were pleasing most of the people most of the time.

However, a newest decision in June of 2022 was different. The court could not legally defend a decision to ban abortion as that decision cannot be supported by the Constitution. So instead, it ruled to allow each state to decide the issue for themselves. The law makers who represent the majority of the people in each state can now decide this issue and thus it takes the Supreme Court permanently out of this never ending debate.

This same issue exists with a Biblical interpretation on the issue of abortion. A person may decided to believe that physical and spiritual life begins at conception or in some cases when there is a heartbeat. But, Scripture appears to be focused only on the physical aspect of those born and is silent on the timing of the mysterious spiritual indwelling. So the key question to this conundrum is, while physical life begins at conception, when does spiritual life begin?

While the Bible does not appear to give a straight forward answer to this question, perhaps we can extrapolate one from Scripture by way of examples. But when we take this route in order to reach a Biblically supported answer, one must be careful not to allow their own prejudices to get involved thus twisting Scripture to say or suggest something it does not. In other words, we can easily either consciously or subconsciously turn Scripture to support the answer we want to hear. Anti-abortion scholars will automatically conclude that only God can give and take away a life. Pro-abortion scholars will automatically conclude that, if there is no clear definitive Biblical statement preventing the termination of a pregnancy, then it is a decision that solely rests with the woman, her God and her doctor. Research has surprisingly shown that both these viewpoints can be correct at the same time.

This revelation starts with the understanding that God is an eternal spirit currently residing in a spirit filled world He created, referred to as Heaven. At the appointed time in God’s eternal and ever unfolding plan, He created physical matter in order to support a physical world in which mortal man would live. God also decided to create man in His image. This meant that while the plant and animal world was endowed with the spirit of life, only man was given life, an intellect and an eternal spirit. The addition of an intellect was necessary in order for man to be able to intelligently commune with God. The addition of an eternal spirit made man more in the image of God and was necessary so that man could continue to have a relationship with God after death in the spirit world. God wanted to create a physical and spiritual family that He could love and who could love Him in return. So man is a created, physical and mortal being who was given an eternal spirit so that He could commune, worship, and live eternally with a spiritual and eternal God.

God designed man to be able to produce physical offspring. But while man can reproduce a genetic physical copy of himself, he cannot produce a spirit to reside in his offspring. The ability to create an eternal spirit than indwells in a person can only be provided by God.

By example, we know that God created Adam, and breathed both life, intellect and an eternal spirit into him (Genesis 2:7). Adam and Eve were created sin free and so were able to physically, intellectually and spiritually commune with a Holy and Righteous God. God allowed Satan to test Adam and Eve for virtue. They failed the test by eating a forbidden fruit. This act of their free will put in motion a series of physical and spiritual changes imposed by God as their new found sin nature put them in direct rebellion against God. Adam and Eve were supposed to have rejected the offer of Satan and remained sin free. Then, in the course of time, they would have been rewarded with immortality and eternal life. But, because they knowingly and willfully chose to rebel, God replaced their original and eternal Holy Spirit with a base eternal spirit of the flesh. This meant that when a child was born, instead of being sin free and in the image of God, it was now born with a genetically induced predisposition to sin and was thus born in the image of man or Adam (Genesis 5:3). This is what is commonly referred to as mankind being born in Original Sin. Thus, mankind no longer automatically receives the Holy Spirit and the reward of eternal life in the presence of God. Instead, they now automatically receive a spirit of the flesh nature inherited from their biological father and the accompanying curse of eternal life removed from the presence of God.

However, through the grace and mercy of God, mankind has been given the opportunity to repent of their sins and through faith in Christ crucified, be born a second time. They are reborn in the spirit of God and their original eternal carnal spirit is then dominated by an eternal Holy Spirit. All people are still free to reject God’s offer, live out their lives controlled by their spirit of the flesh and the material things of this world. But, upon death, their spirit of the flesh will receive the reward of a life of sin which is eternal life removed from the presence of God. Scripture tells us that a created spirit removed from their Creator is in constant agony, thus they have judged themselves. So, while the mortal body of a mortal child is created by mortal parents, their eternal spirit is initially a condemned spirit of the flesh hopefully to be reborn in the spirit of God. Please note, God does not hold those who die under the age of nineteen accountable for their sins (Numbers 32:11; Deuteronomy 1:39).

This understanding poses an interesting question. If mortal man can create the physical body of an offspring, but cannot create an eternal spirit for their offspring, then when does the eternal flesh spirit arrive from God and indwell the child? There are two major issues regarding this question. One deals with the current corrupted human genome system and the other with mankind’s ability to intentionally terminate pregnancies. It is the resolution of these of issues that reveals how God has perfectly remedied the miscarriage, stillbirth and abortion issues.

First, because of sin, the human genome system is in a constant state of degeneration. Modern science is concerned that the human genetic system is displaying more and more genetic flaws. One of the many outcomes of this degradation is its effect on human procreation. Today in America, one in three confirmed pregnancies ends in a miscarriage. But the rate climbs to 40% when you include miscarriages before a pregnancy is confirmed. Globally there are an estimated twenty three million miscarriages each year. Second, there is the issue concerning the intentional termination of a pregnancy. It is estimated that globally there are approximately seventy three million abortions performed every year. Seventy five percent of abortions are performed in the world’s poorest and overcrowded countries to include north Africa, the Middle East and India.

At first blush, this idea of the loss of almost one hundred million lives a year would seem to be an unsolvable spiritual setback for God. Especially for a loving God who is trying to create as large a family as possible to live with Him in eternity. The issue for an all knowing God is, what would be the purpose of having an eternal spirit indwell the body of a baby that was destined to be miscarried, stillborn or aborted. We may have an interesting look behind the curtain on the way God handles this terrible predicament mankind has put itself into. And the biggest clue occurs with the inception and birth of Jesus.

In the birth narrative of Jesus, the angel Gabriel visited Mary in September of 3 BC during the three feasts of Rosh Hashanah known as Trumpets, Yom Kippur & Booths or Tabernacles. He explained to Mary how she could become pregnant without the assistance of her fiancé Joseph. He tells her that instead, the Holy Spirit of God would overshadow her and she would conceive (Luke 1:35). Scripture does not state that the Spirit of Jesus would, at that same time, indwell His developing body, but only that this is how she will physically conceive and the child born to her would be considered Holy in the eyes of God.

We then fast forward nine months to the night of June 17th 2 BC when the Star {conjunction of Venus & Jupiter} was at its brightest and Jesus was born. Scripture tells us that a heavenly host of angels suddenly appears to a group of shepherds. They were camped in the grazing fields adjacent to the village of Bethlehem where Jesus was born. The angel announces to the shepherds that a Savior has just been born, what city He is in, what His title was, what He was wearing, and where He could be found. This strongly suggest that at least one or more of these angels served as witnesses to the birth of Jesus. It would be six months later, on December 25th 2 BC, that the Magi would arrive at the house of Joseph bearing gifts. It was then that we have the first celebration of the birth of Jesus (Matthew 2:11). And we continue this tradition to this very day.

But the question is, did the angels appear only to announce the birth of Jesus, or was there a dual purpose for them being in the area. To answer this question, we need to look at this particular Spirit that was directed by God the Father to indwell the body of Jesus. Scripture makes it absolutely clear that the Spirit of Jesus was eternally with God and was God (John 1:1-3). At this time, before the creation of the heavens and the Earth, Jesus’ spirit was known not by a name but by the title or role He played as part of the Triune Godhead. Thus, He was simply known as the Word of God. This is because He concurred with all decisions made by God the Farther, spoke on behalf of Him and announced or articulated His thoughts and commands. The Word of God did not need a name at this time as He existed before anything else existed. Therefore, there was no other entity to recognize Him, so no need for a name. This understanding is in line with the answer God gave to Moses when he asked Him what His name was. The Word of God, on behalf of God the Father told Him that His name was, "I Am" (Exodus 3:14). Again, God does not need a proper name because He existed in an eternal state before there was any other existence both physical and spiritual.

So, now we understand that it was the eternal Spirit of the Word of God who indwelled the physical body of Jesus that was created by Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. This would also explain why Jesus intimated to the religious leaders that He had a personal relationship with the patriarchs (John 8:58). It was the Word of God who gave the commands to create and bring the Earth, which was without form, void and in darkness, back to a state of order and light. It was the Word of God who formed Adam and Eve and gave them life. It was the Word of God who walked and talked to them in the Garden. It was the Word of God that talked with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was the Word of God that spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Thus it was Jesus, in a pre-incarnate form or Christophany, who spoke creation into existence, created mankind and gave the patriarchs their missions in life and the prophets their revelations or previews of things to come.

This means that in the due course of time, this same Word of God who sat to the right of God the Father, apparently stood up from His throne, and for the first and only time in all eternity, descended to the Earth accompanied by a royal entourage of angels. He did this to keep the promise He made to His race of followers through His prophets that their Messiah would bring salvation to mankind. To accomplish this mission, He then allowed Himself to indwell the sin free body of a new born that Mary, with the power of the Holy Spirit, had specifically created for this purpose. He would use this sin free human yet Divine body or temple to conduct a forty month ministry on behalf of the Godhead. This visitation by God incarnate, would terminate with Him self sacrificing Himself as the Lamb of God in order to redeem mankind eternally from death, the grave and Hell.

The sequence of these events strongly suggest the probability that the army of angels had accompanied the eternal spirit of the Word of God now called Jesus, down from Heaven to accomplish four missions. First, they served as a royal escort befitting the Creator of all things. Second, they provided security as the Word of God had to passed through the atmosphere of the Earth which currently serves as the kingdom of Satan (Ephesians 2:2). Third, they provided safety during the birth of Jesus and served as witnesses to His now physical incarnation. And finally, they served as messengers to a group of poor shepherds to inform them that only moments earlier was born to them in the city of Bethlehem, their savior {His mission} who was Christ {His Title}, and the Lord {God incarnate}.

The timing of this indwelling at the moment of Jesus’ birth would seem reasonable in that there would be no reason for the Word of God to leave the Throne of God only to indwell His physical body for a nine month gestation period during which His body was being developed. This does not mean that His body was not alive, growing and precious. It simply suggests that the Spirit of the Word of God indwelled His physical body after He was born, the umbilical cord was cut and He took His first breath. Once the indwelling took place, it was then that His entourage of angels left the stable and went out to the grazing fields to announce His birth to the shepherds and then return back into Heaven (Luke 2:15).

Understanding the indwelling of Jesus with the Spirit of the Word of God, we can now more fully appreciate the words of Jesus at His death. When the time came for Jesus to die for the sins of mankind, He ordered His spirit to leave His body. It was only by commanding His eternal spirit to leave that He could physically die. He also commended His spirit into the hands of God the Father (Luke 23:46). So now we understand that at His birth, His body was indwelled with His spirit, and at His death His spirit disengaged from His body and descended into Sheol. His spirit remained in Sheol for three days, then it re indwelled His now resurrected and immortal body. After 40 days, His resurrected body and spirit publicly ascended up to God the Father in Heaven. There He resumed His position to the right of God the Father, and there He reigns to this very day. He is patiently waiting for the time when He will once again stand and descend from Heaven into the atmosphere of the Earth. There He will command the Holy Spirit, on behalf of God the Father, that His followers both dead and alive are to arise, be re-indwelled by their intelligent spirits, and be translated into immortality. Then, in an instant, they will mount into the sky and attend the Marriage Ceremony and Supper of the Lamb.

Because what is concealed in the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament, we also need to reviewed the Book of Genesis concerning the creation of Adam. We are looking to see if there were any similarities between the creation of Adam and the creation of Jesus. The Book of Genesis tells us that God formed or molded the body of Adam from the ground. Again, it was a preincarnation of Christ that formed this body. Then, once the body was fully formed, the LORD God {Christ} breathed into Adam’s nostrils his first "breath of life". This phrase has two components. First, the breath of life literally caused Adam’s molded body of clay to instantly develop internal organs, a skeletal frame and skin. Adam was then capable of breathing in his first breath of air and was a living self-contained being just as are all people at birth. Second, this breath of life also put into Adam an eternal spirit. This spirit along with a body and a highly developed intellect, are three special gifts from God. They allow Adam and mankind the unique ability and opportunity to physically commune and spiritually spend eternity with their Creator. Thus, Adam became physically alive in a mortal body, and spiritually alive with the gift of an immortal spirit.

All these examples strongly suggest that a baby’s body develops over the course of nine months and kept alive by its mother. Then, when it is born, it exits the mother's body a fully formed, self contained, separate being. The umbilical cord is cut and now, for the first time, the child must sustain life on its own. To do this it must immediately take into its lungs its first breath of air. To accomplish this, all babies take their first breath of life through their nostrils just as Adam first had life breathed into him through his nostrils (Genesis 2:7). It is then that the body or person is declared legally alive, and then that theoretically this body is now qualified to receive an eternal spirit from God which immediately indwells the newborn.

So, if this was the actual sequence for Adam the first man, Eve the first woman and Jesus the redeemer of mankind, then it is highly probable that it is the same physical-spiritual sequence for all mankind. In other words, it appears by example that the eternal flesh spirit that all people are now born with, does not actually indwell the body until after the body is created, separated from the mother and living on its own. This would also mean that all babies who, for whatever reason, do not survive until full term, received eternal spirits. This does not mean that every baby is not precious to God. Every life is very precious to God! But what it does imply by example is that a spirit is not consigned to a fetus until it is born and can survive outside its mothers body even if for only for a few minutes.

This would also mean that God, in His wisdom, has once again successfully countermanded the degradation of man’s failing genome system concerning miscarriages and stillborn rates. It also resolves the issue of an intentional termination of a pregnancy in that a spirit does not indwell a body that God knows in advance will not reach full term.

For God to allow a spirit to indwell an embryo that He knows in advance is destined not be born would make no sense. What is accomplished by having a spirit indwelling an unconscious body only to have it return back to God? At the same time, although some may attempt to keep these precious spirits from entering into the world by terminating a pregnancy, God has a counter plan in place to insure they will ultimately come in to this world. In other words, mankind will never be able to stop the plans of God. All spirits come from God and will ultimately be placed in the living bodies of His children. God is determined to grow a family that He can love and commune with Him in eternity. Mankind does not have the power to stop the plans of God.

Again, this is not to say that God does not want all pregnancies to reach full term and for a child to be born. It is simply that the sins of mankind have corrupted the ever degrading physical human genome system so as to cause ever increasing numbers of miscarriages, stillborn and physically challenged babies. Also to be considered is a vast array of man-made birth control products including easily accessible abortion clinics. Thus, while the desire of God to grow His family has been made more difficult to bring about, all spirits that God wants born are eventually born.

Polls consistently show that most people do not have a problem with birth control products. However, the Roman Catholic Church considers any method that interferes with conception to be just as sinful as abortion. Any act of any kind that is intentionally initiated to prevent the conception of a child is a sin in the eyes of God. So in reality, the issue of abortion is actually a matter of degrees. It starts with no birth control of any kind then moves to the use of the rhythm method or a condom both condemned by the Catholic Church. From there it goes to the day after pill, then a pill that can be taken up to eleven weeks after conception. Then there is the use of clinics. The majority of US clinics limit a pregnancy termination procedure up to twelve weeks. Most industrialized countries have a cutoff date of fifteen weeks. A few clinics will perform the procedure up to twenty-four weeks although this accounts for only 4% of abortions. Statistically, 92% of abortions are performed within the first thirteen weeks of pregnancy. Unmarried women account for 86% of abortions. Only 4% occur due to concern for the mother’s health and 4% due to severe deformities that preclude the ability of the baby to sustain life after birth (statistics can be found at: Abort73.com).

So the real question is, at what point on the degree scale is a person most comfortable with concerning the termination of a pregnancy? The Catholic Church rejects the entire degree scale. A far right conservative believes that a child is to be protected from inception to birth no matter if the conception involves rape, incest, the health of the mother, or even if the child is medically determined to have no chance of survival outside of the womb. The far left believes that a pregnancy should be legally allowed to be terminated at the mother’s discretion, or if it becomes medically necessary to terminate the pregnancy in order to save the mother’s life.

On a closing note, John the Baptizer was told by God that he would recognize the Messiah because he would see the Holy Spirit descend on Him. John said that immediately after he baptized Jesus, he saw the Holy Spirit descend from Heaven like a dove and settle on Jesus. This is why John then sent two of his disciples to follow and assist Jesus. So, while Jesus was born and indwelled by the Spirit of the Word of God, this apparition that John saw was a personal sign for him that Jesus was in fact the Messiah. It may also have been at Jesus' baptism that He was fully empowered by the Holy Spirit to assist Him throughout His 40 month ministry. He now had the complete power of God at His command. He would spend the next 40 days in prayer, fasting and confronting Satan (Matthew 4:1). Adam, the first man, had failed his testing period. Jesus, the last man, would be victorious (I Corinthians 15:45-48).