Saturday 22 December 2007
- Bible Book:
- Isaiah
"Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you in the womb and will help you: Do not fear, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen." (v.2)
Background
Isaiah is writing in a way that is both intensely personal andyet relevant to God's people as a whole.
The idea of God being responsible for every miracle of new life,starting deep in the secret place of the womb, is amazing. It meanshe is involved in the lives of all six and a half billion pluspeople in today's world, to say nothing of all those who have gonebefore.
Despite all the recent scientific advances in reproductivetechnology, there is still no suggestion that life itself can beartificially created. Even the most advanced techniques ofproducing embryos are totally dependent on using living eggs andsperm. We can't take God out of the equation.
Isaiah understood this close connection between God and his people,thousands of years ago. He used the personal names, Jacob andJeshurun, to personify the people of God. This extended the conceptof God's personal involvement at the individual level into therecurrent Old Testament theme of God's close relationship with theJewish nation.
To Ponder
Can modern reproductive technology mean thathumankind is trying to "play God"?
What does it mean to you that God "formed you inthe womb"?