Come out of her

We had expected Elizabeth to arrive earlier than her Expected Delivery Date (EDD) because virtually every baby in Singapore comes earlier due to the better nutrition. In fact, the week before her EDD, Stella’s gynaecologist commented that our daughter was already full term and could come “any day” now.

The week passed uneventfully, and we became anxious. Elizabeth had become past due. The diameter of her head was already more than four inches, and if she tarried any longer, she would have difficulty coming out.

We prayed and trusted. God has given her to us to add to His glory – and so He will deliver.

And sure enough, four hours past the 26th of April (the EDD), the water bag burst. Sleepiness fled, and I immediately drove Stella to the hospital – thankfully, there were only a few cars on the road at 4 a.m.

Stella’s labor progressed rapidly and I was hoping it would be a quick delivery. But, just as the baby’s head showed, she went back into the womb. A tug-of-war soon broke out. The gynecologist was trying to grip the baby’s head. Stella was pushing with all her strength. I was shouting into her ears. The baby came out a little more, and went back again. This went on for almost half an hour, and the gynecologist looked at us solemnly.

It was too late into the labor, and if Elizabeth still does not come out, her life would be at risk. The womb which had nurtured her for forty weeks was no longer a safe haven. If she had continued staying there, she would die.

A decision was made to resort to the forceps – but there was only one chance. Stella had already expended so much energy in the previous attempts, she could only muster enough strength for one last burst. If it failed, it would be an immediate cesarean. Time was running very short.

I prayed like never before – for a life was at stake.

As Stella pushed, the gynecologist gripped Elizabeth’s head with the forceps, and with a slight thug, her head finally came through the strait and narrow way. It was then we realized, she had the umbilical cord around her neck – that pulled her back in every time she came out. It was ironic. That which gave her life, would almost kill her.

And as I ruminated on these things, I reflected on God’s message.

Jesus said, “narrow is the gate, and troublesome is the way that leads to life, and few, are they that find it” (Matt 7:13). The passage into spiritual life is like unto birth. Elizabeth made it through the narrow gate, and the way was truly fraught with peril.

Many people are not so fortunate. The world is like a womb, and they die in it and are never born into the spiritual realm. For some time, the world has nurtured us, but when it comes to the fullness of time, we must come out – if not, we will die in it.

Spiritual birth is often preceded by a period of maturation when our hearts and minds are made ready, a period of (intense) labor when we struggle between the world and the world that lies beyond the strait and narrow way. If we get entangled with the world – the cord around our neck – we will vacillate endlessly between the two worlds – and we will die in the world.

"Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev 18:4)

The Beginning of Sorrows

The end times has often been likened to childbirth, and the world in tribulation is likened to a woman in travail. In Matt 24, Jesus described the things that must happen before the coming of the Son of Man.

False teachers will arise – saying that Jesus is the Christ – yet leading people astray. Nations will rise against nations and peoples against peoples. There will be famines (economic hardship) and earthquakes in “divers places” – which is in Greek, topos , which means occupied places (not wide open uninhabited spaces).

All these are already happening right in our midst.

Yet, Jesus says, when we see these things, the end is not yet and “all these are the beginning of birth pangs” (Matt 24:8).

If the world from its creation until the beginning of birth pangs is the period of pregnancy, and the tribulation is the period of labor, we should ask ourselves – how long would the “beginning of birth pangs” last? For after these "beginnings", the actual labor – the tribulation will begin.

If we know we are already witnessing the “beginning of birth pangs” – how much longer is it? Would it be another generation – for a thousand years is as a day unto the LORD; or would it be 10 – 15 years, or fewer?

God has designed all things to manifest His glory, His sovereignty, His power, His immutability.  From the beginning of the world, He has already seen and known the end – for He is the alpha and the omega. If God has used childbirth to describe the coming of Christ, and it is an experience common to mankind in all parts of the world, in all times, it is because God is fair. Even without the Bible, we should know something is about to come.

“For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse” (Rom 1:20)

The contractions can begin 6 to 12 hours before the actual labor even begins. 40 weeks would be 280 days or 6720 hours. If the 40 weeks correspond to the 6,000 years the earth has been around, then 6 hours would be 5.35 years, and 12 hours would be 10.7 years.

Therefore, from the beginning of sorrows to the onset of labor (tribulation), is not a generation – it is only 5 to 11 years. If this is true, how precariously close we are right now.

Forty

Elizabeth traveled with strange companions.

On her arrival home, she brought along with her, sleeplessness. Much as we disapproved of her strange company, we received it just as we have received her. Sleeplessness is now a shameless squatter in our lives.

Truly, receiving a newborn is a life-changing experience; and perhaps I trivialize its significance by calling it a “life-changing experience”.

Forty has a special significance in the bible, and it is instructive to understand pregnancy and parenthood in its light. “Forty” first appeared in Genesis 7 as God decided to “cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights”.

After the 40 day and 40 night deluge, the rain stopped. Although the waters would remain unabated for some more time, something was already different. The world which Noah knew was utterly gone. It was still the same earth, but a brave new world now confronted him.

When Moses went up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, he stayed up the mount for 40 days and 40 nights. When Moses returned with the two tablets in his hands, it was not simply a change in lifestyle – it was far more than that – the entire order of things is now different. What was previously permissible, is no longer so. Their conduct used to be regulated by their conscience.  But now, every deed was judged against the Law. It did not merely effect a change of lifestyle – it created a new social order, and their old way of life, was completely no more.

Before the children of Israel entered the land of Canaan, they wandered 40 years in the wilderness, being made ready for the task that was too great for them. When they finally stepped foot into the land of Canaan, it was not a change of abode – it was far more than that. It was not simply changing where they live, but how they live. Where they used to wander nomadically in the wilderness, they are now to stay put, to conquer, and to flourish. It is once again, a new social order. They did not need to fight in the 40 years of wandering, but now they must. Warfare was something they had never known, but they are to become warriors and conquerors. The lives they once knew – was no longer.

Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights before he commenced his public ministry. For Jesus, it was not just a change of vocation – it was far more than that. It was not about putting down his tools and changing them for “something new”.  After the 40 day and 40 night fast, Jesus’ life was under public scrutiny. Every word he spoke, every deed he did, would be scrutinized by the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Romans, the Gentiles, and every Jew. The countdown to his destiny on Golgotha began. His life was not just changed – it took on a new character. He could no longer act in His private capacity – He is a public figure, He acted with authority. All eyes are on Him now, and He knows, every word He says, and everything He does, will be recorded in Scripture. The Satan will attack Him like never before – and so he did,immediately after the 40 days and 40 nights. His life was no longer His, but it had to be lived for everyone – the nations and the generations. It was not a change of vocation; it was a change of life – so fundamentally changed, they cannot be compared.

So then, 40 weeks of pregnancy and then parenthood. It is not to be a mere change of lifestyle or vocation (although it encompasses that). Just as it was for the children of Israel, Moses and even Jesus, the close of the 40 days/weeks/years ushers in a fundamentally new order.

My life has not been the same. It was not just a change of lifestyle – bathing in five minutes, dinner in three minutes, leaving the house earlier – it was a change in the order of things. When I was single, my world simply revolved around my needs. When I married, I stopped living for myself alone, but it was still possible to negotiate my world. When Elizabeth came, my world can no longer be negotiated. God is teaching me to surrender my life – not to the strong, but to the weak – that I may learn to be great. Where else can you better learn servant leadership, than to serve one who does not even reckon your authority over her?

It was not just a change of vocation – taking on new responsibilities such as changing diapers or calming the infant to sleep – my life took on a new character. What I say, what I do, would influence Elizabeth more than anything else; I must strive to live wisely and godly, for my life is under scrutiny.

Her arrival was quite simply, like Noah’s encounter. It seems almost as if, the heavens have passed away, and a brave new world is come.