Job 3:16-19 “Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. [17] There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. [18] There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. [19] The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master.”
In the midst of Job’s severe trial, he bemoans ever being born, and he considered the state of a hidden untimely birth as being infinitely better than his current state of suffering. It is estimated that one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. With the loss of babies in the womb being such a prevalent struggle for many of God’s children, the Lord provides comfort all throughout scripture to his children who struggle with the loss of an untimely birth. This passage in Job is one of the most enlightening and comforting verses in all of God’s word to provide hope and comfort to grieving parents of the heavenly home of their miscarried child.
This description of the state of hidden untimely births that never saw light is one of the most joyful descriptions of heaven in all of God’s word. For those of us tarrying in this low ground of sin and sorrow, and dealing with the wicked, weariness, oppressors, and bondage on a daily basis, there is no prospect more joyful than the trouble of the wicked against us ceasing; of eternal rest from our weariness; of rest together from our prison of sin of our body; to never again hear the voice of our oppressor; and final freedom from the bondage of sin. These are descriptions of a heavenly state that I – along with Job – desire to be in. While it is tragic for parents to lose a child in the womb, it’s so comforting to know they are currently in the state that I long to be in, and removed from the wickedness, weariness, oppression, and bondage of this world.
Furthermore, what a blessing to never experience these struggles in this sinful world that we long to be delivered from and never even know what they are! Oh what a blessing to never even know what or who the wicked are; to never acutely feel the trouble that the wicked heap on God’s people; to never even know what weariness feels like and never feel the longing for rest from our weariness. To know nothing of prison, or the sin that makes prisons necessary in this world. To not even know what an oppressor is or feel the need to be delivered from his voice. To know nothing of the injustice of cruel masters hurting their servants, but to only know heaven where there is only freedom in service to our Great Master. To never feel the bondage or oppression of sin and never feel the Rom. 7 struggle between the flesh and the Spirit inside the heart of God’s child.
To never know all the evil of this world, but to only ever see and to only ever know the glory of God and face of Jesus Christ! Oh we weep on earth for children who die in the womb, but what a joyful existence to never know anything of wickedness, evil, trouble, oppression, pain, sorrow, or sin, but to only know Jesus Christ! To never see all the horrible images and sights in this world, but to only ever see Jesus face to face! To have no knowledge of all the bad things that we know about, but the only thing to ever know is to know Jesus fully and perfectly as we are known!
Heaven is a place where the small and great are there. These small babies that were not even fully formed in the womb do not have a name in this world, but Jesus has a new name for all of them. These small babies will be right there on equal footing as joint heirs with Christ along with the greats of Abraham, David, and Paul.
For those of us who acutely feel the trouble of this sinful world, we begin to understand what the Holy Spirit explains to us that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come. Isaiah 57:1-2 “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. [2] He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” God affirms that it’s only a few days after we are born of a woman and then man’s life is “full of trouble” (Job 14:1). From our earthly perspective, it is tragic when a good person dies at an age younger than we would expect. We feel those who die young, especially those in the womb, are missing out on so many opportunities in their life they didn’t get to experience. It is true, there are great blessings to be had in this life that they might miss out on, but no man layeth it to heart that they also are being spared to be blessed to miss out on all the inevitable “evil to come” in their life as well. Jesus affirmed in this world, you shall have tribulation (John 16:33). Sometimes its according to God’s will to take the righteous home to heaven a little earlier than makes sense to us to be taken away from the evil, trouble, and tribulation that will inevitably come in their life just by living in this sinful world that is inhabited by sinful people.
Notice the description of the state of the righteous taken away from the evil to come. “He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.” For those in trouble and weary and oppressed, oh how we long for peace and rest! Yes, the righteous might be taken away from a few temporal blessings in their life, but they also are taken away from the trouble, evil, tribulation, weariness, and oppression that we have to bear every day. In that way, we are envious of the peaceful state of the righteous taken away earlier than we might prefer. They are in the eternal peace that we desire and long for.
A few other passages of note in regard to comforting grieving mothers and parents dealing with an untimely birth. Eccl. 6:3 “If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.” It is a tremendous blessing to have a large family and live to a ripe old age. Children are a heritage and reward of the Lord, and it is a great blessing to have a full quiver of children (Ps. 127:3-5). One hundred children is not just a full quiver; that’s a whole arrow factory and warehouse. But even the man who lives to a ripe old age, and has a massive quiver of children, the Lord affirms for us that “an untimely birth is better than he.” When Jacob was 130 years old, with many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, the summary of the years of his pilgrimage was “few and evil have the days of the years of my life been.” (Gen. 47:9) The untimely birth is delivered from the inevitable evil of the years of a longer pilgrimage. In many ways, being delivered from all the suffering in this world is a much better state than even old age and an extremely large family.
The Lord goes out of his way to describe the regeneration of John the Baptist in his mother’s womb to give us a precedent to rely upon for how God immediately regenerates his children in the womb. It was prophesied to his father that John the Baptist would be filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. 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.” Then, when Elizabeth sees Mary, John leaps in the womb for joy, a fruit of the Spirit, showing he was already born again at six months in the womb. Luke 1:44 ”For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.”
The Lord also affirms that Jeremiah was sanctified and ordained a prophet before he was formed and came of the womb. Jeremiah 1:5 “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.”
The Lord gives us a description of the intimacy of his forming of babies in the womb in Psalm 139:13-16 “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. [14] I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. [15] My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. [16] Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” Babies are “covered” (to protect, to hedge or fence about, to shut in) in the womb by the Lord (v.13). God sees and knows the substance of babies, yet being unperfect, and writes these babies in his book (v.16).
Another point in the eternal security of infants who die in the womb, is that while they are sinners by nature, they are not yet sinners by practice and have committed no works of sin. The non-elect who God hates are considered workers of iniquity (Ps. 5:5), and the goats on the left hand are judged according to their works and rightfully condemned into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15). The deceased infants in the womb have no works to be condemned by, and we have every reason to trust they are covered by the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ.
It is a tremendously heartrending experience to lose a young child, especially for the mother. While this applied to children murdered by Herod two years of age and under, the description of mothers having the loss of those children is that the mothers were in lamentation, bitter weeping, and refused to be comforted (Jer. 31:15, Matt. 2:17-18). However, the comfort for those grieving mothers of murdered infants was that,
“16) Thus saith the Lord; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 17) And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border.” (Jer. 31:16-17) The hope of their children coming again from the land of the enemy and coming again to their own border is the only salve from lament and weeping for these grieving mothers that refused to be comforted. The hope of heaven of their deceased babies in the womb was the only comfort these mothers could find. If that is true of children two years of age and younger outside the womb, it is certainly true of babies who die in the womb that they as well have hope to come again from the land of the enemy and come again to their own border. While you might not be blessed to hold your child in your arms, God gives us ample hope in his word that your child is currently being held in the arms of Jesus. Just as David who had his child die at seven days old (2 Sam. 12:23), the grieving parents, and especially the mothers, of an untimely birth can confidently say in hope in Jesus Christ, “They shall not return to me, but I shall go to them.”