When Does Life Begin?…You May be Surprised
Click to View Video
God Creates Life when He gives His Breath and Spirit
Key Verses that Teach that the Spirit is Given by God
Additional Examples of Children Given by God
Who is the Creator of Life?
God gives us significant information in the Bible that He is in charge of creation and the giving of life. Most people in the world (including Christians) believe that mankind is in charge of creating life. That is, they believe that because a male sperm enters (i.e., fertilizes) the female egg (i.e., ovum) and the cells starts to rapidly divide (becomes a zygote). The vast majority of Christians believe life begins at conception (when the male sperm fertilizes the female ovum). Even though many (up to 50%) of these zygotes never make it to the uterine wall, which occurs about 6 days later, they are assumed to be an actual person at the ‘moment of conception’. Once they attach to the uterine wall, the zygote will become an embryo at about day 14 and develop bodily organs. The heart will begin to beat in the fourth week. At about 8 weeks, the embryo is developing a breathing system and begins to move due to nerve cells that are branching out. But again, most Christians believe that life begins at the moment of conception (day 1 fertilization of the ovum).
Is it true that simply inserting a male sperm into a female ovum creates life? If so, is man now God and the giver of life? Let us examine the Scriptures for answers.
The Creation of Adam
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
(Gen 2:7, see also Gen 7:22, Is 2:22, Job 32:8, 33:3-4)
And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
(1Co 15:45)
Genesis 2:7 teaches us that Adam became a living soul as the result of God forming Adam out of the dust of the ground and breathing into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life. Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 15:45, Adam was made a living soul. It is important to note that when Adam was given life, Adam had already been formed as a fully grown man out of the earth. But, he did not become a living soul until God breathed (or placed a spirit) into man.
In the original Hebrew language, the word for soul is nephesh (Hebrew word H5315) and literally means ‘breathing’. So, we can see that at least in Adam (and Eve’s) case, we find that it was an act of God to create a life. The Hebrew word nephesh (and its cognates) occurs more than 750 times in the Old Testament. It is mostly translated as ‘soul’, but is also translated in the Old Testament as ‘life, ‘person(s)’, ‘heart’, ‘mind’ and other words. We can see that God began Adam’s life when a spirit is placed into his body, resulting in a living soul. The soul is what makes a body have life and personality.
The Hebrew word for breathed is neshamah and occurs more than 20 times in the Old Testament. This term can refer to man’s breath (e.g., Ps 150:6, Is 2:22, Deut 20:16, 1 Ki 15:29, 17:17, Josh 10.40, 11:11, 11:14, Dan 10:17, Josh 11:11-14), but also to God’s breath as is the case in Genesis 2:7 (see also, Job 26:4, Job 37:10, Is 30:33, 2 Sam 22:16, Job 4:9, Ps 18:15, Is 57:16). We also find that in addition to man, the creatures of the land had the breath of life similar to Adam (see Gen 7:22). Two occurrences of God’s breath are important to note separately:
The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
( 2Sa 22:14-16)
Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
(Psa 18:15)
In this verse the word ‘blast’ is neshamah (Hebrew word H5397) and (God’s breath) and the word translated as ‘breath’ is actually the word for ‘spirit’ (Hebrew word ruach, H7307). In other words, the God’s breath is that which delivers the spirit. So, in Gen 2:7, in the creation of Adam, God breathed into Adam and he became a soul. That which God breathes is by definition a spirit placed into a body (2 Sam 22:16 and Ps 18:15).
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
(Isa 42:5)
This verse describes actions that God did at creation (as well as to all people upon the earth). Relating Is 42:5 with Gen 2:7, we see that when God gives breath to people, He gives His people a spirit, as we understand that indeed God is the Father of spirits (Heb 12:9).
If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
(Job 34:14-15)
This is another testimony that the spirit (which, as we have seen in 2 Sam 22:16 and Ps 18:15 is a product of the breath of God). When the spirit is taken away from man, the man dies for the body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26, etc.).
In summary, Gen 2:7 teaches us that Adam became a living soul because God breathed into him the spirit of life. So, God was clearly in charge of starting Adam’s life (i.e., soul). But, does this also apply to all people living beyond Adam and Eve?
God Creates Life when He gives His Breath and Spirit
In order to answer whether God placed a spirit into Adam and Eve and subsequently allowed mankind to create life, we must turn to the Bible for answers. Even though the vast majority of Christians believe life (i.e., having a soul) begins at the moment of conception, we find that this would make man God. Life begins when and if, God decides to place a spirit within the ‘zygote / embryo’. At that time, a soul is created. But, we cannot know for sure, when this occurs based on the following verse:
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
(Ecc 11:5)
Before a person makes the claim that ‘life begins at conception’, one should study Ecc 11:5 above and observe that we need to humbly acknowledge that we cannot actually know when life begins in the womb. We cannot assert that life begins at the moment of conception since God is in charge of creating life. God teaches us that we actually do not know how life begins in the womb although we definitely know that life begins sometime in the womb since there are many attestations to this fact:
- Paul separated from his mother’s womb – Gal 1:15
- John leaped in his mother’s womb – Lk 1:41
- Jeremiah formed in the womb – Jer 1:4-5
- David was shaped in iniquity in his mother’s womb – Ps 51:5
- Jacob was chosen (elected) by God while still in Rebekkah’s womb – Ro 9:10-11, Gen 25:21-24, Hos 12:3)
- Wicked are estranged from the womb – Ps 58:3
Many women throughout the ages have experienced miscarriages, especially in the first trimester. Could it be that there comes a point in the development of the embryo that it can develop no more since there is no spirit and therefore, no person? We should not be so proud to declare that all miscarriages are a life lost. We should not be so arrogant to declare that the more than ½ million frozen fertilized embryos in the U.S. alone are actually people in frozen animation awaiting a carrier to give them life.
Key Verses that Teach that the Spirit is Given by God
Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.
(Psa 104:29-30)
Psalm 104 is a Psalm that attests to the greatness and active sovereignty of God within the creation. We find in verses 29 and 30, a clear assertion that life and death are in the hands of God. We see that when God takes away the breath (spirit), creatures die. And when he sends forth His spirit, they are created. God alone is in charge of death and life. We find in Ecc 12:7 that the spirit returns at death to God, who gave it:
Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
(Ecc 12:6-7)
Again, we see God is in charge of life and death. It is God who both gives and takes away as Job lamented in Job 1:21.
Similarly, Job 33:4 declares that the breath of the Almighty is the source of life. Once again, this term breath is the word neshamah (H5397) and as saw in Gen 2:7 combined with 2 Sam 22:16 and Ps 18:15, God’s breath is what places the spirit into a body, resulting in a living soul.
The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
(Job 33:4)
Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
(Act 17:25-28)
As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.
(Ecc 11:5)
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
(Heb 12:9)
The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
(Zec 12:1)
For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
(Isa 57:16)
So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
(Jer 38:16)
Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
(Eze 18:4)
In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.
(Job 12:10)
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
(Psa 33:6)
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
(Num 16:22)
Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
(Num 27:16)
Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
(Isa 42:5)
For the work of a man shall he render unto him, and cause every man to find according to his ways. Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. Who hath given him a charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world? If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.
(Job 34:11-15)
But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
(Dan 5:23)
Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment; and the Almighty, who hath vexed my soul; All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils; My lips shall not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.
(Job 27:1-4)
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
(Eze 37:9-10)
Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again? Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.
(Job 10:8-12)
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 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.
(Psa 139:13-16)
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
(Psa 146:3-4)
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
(Psa 127:3)
And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
(Rom 9:10-13)
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
(Gen 16:11)
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
(Gen 1:27-28)
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
(Psa 22:9-10)
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
(Gal 1:15)
Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
(Job 31:15)
Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
(Isa 44:24)
And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
(Isa 49:5)
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.
(Jer 1:5)
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
(Gen 18:9-15)
Again, other very clear verses indicating that God is in charge of giving life.
The Fruit of the Womb
The fruit of the womb (i.e., children) is noted in Ps 127:3 as a reward. We find in Ps 139:13-16 that God is even in charge of the development of the baby in the womb in that Ps 139:13-16 states that God has covered one in his mother’s womb and was knit together.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 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.
(Psa 139:13-16)
We also find that God directed the activity of the womb which includes the following examples:
- Hagar (Gen 16:11)
- Sarah (Gen 17:19)
- Rachel (Gen 30:22)
- Hannah (1 Sam 1:13-20)
- Mary (Mat 1:18-25)
Finally, we find in the Bible that God also withholds the fruit of the womb: Gen 30:2, Deut 7:13-14, Ps 113:9, Gen 25:21.
Additional Examples of Children Given by God
So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife.
(Gen 20:17-18)
And the LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.
(Gen 21:1-3)
And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
(Gen 25:21)
And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon. And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi. And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.
(Gen 29:31-35)
And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
(Gen 30:2)
And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.
(Gen 30:22-24)
And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant.
(Gen 33:5)
For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:
(1Sa 1:27)
And let thy house be like the house of Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the LORD shall give thee of this young woman. So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went in unto her, the LORD gave her conception, and she bare a son.
(Rth 4:12-13)
He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
(Psa 113:9)
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
(Psa 127:3)
Summary:
The purpose of this chapter was to understand that God is in charge of creation. God creates life when he send a spirit into a body resulting in the creation of a living soul. We cannot know exactly how God gives life other than we know that it comes from Him for His sovereign purposes. Because the soul is created, it is closely related to the creation and primarily functions in the physical world. The spirit, because it is given by God, has a spiritual / heavenly origin.