Today I am 38 weeks pregnant with my sixth child. And, as is usual for me at this point in my pregnancy, I am currently in the throes of intense impatience and longing for my new little one. In my current state, I found it particularly powerful to be reminded at a recent doctrinal class that this coming child is a gift from the Lord which my husband and I are receiving so that may nurture and guide him and then turn around and give him back to the Lord.

“And she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, with three bullocks, and one ephah of meal, and a jug of wine; an she brought him to the house of Jehovah, to Shiloh; and the lad was but a lad. And they slaughtered a bullock, and brought the lad to Eli. And she said, O my lord, by the life of they soul, my lord, I am the woman who stood up with thee in this place to pray to Jehovah. For this lad I prayed, and Jehovah has granted to me my petition which I petitioned of Him. And also I have given back what I asked of Jehovah.” I Samuel 1:24-28

“Spiritual parents love their children for their spiritual intelligence and moral life, loving them thus for their fear of God and for their piety of conduct or life, and at the same time for their affection for and application to useful endeavors of service to society, thus for the virtues and good habits in them. Out of a love for these traits principally do they provide for and supply their needs. Consequently, if they do not see such traits in them, they estrange their heart from them and only out of duty do anything for them. ” Conjugial Love 405

“The nature of the love of little children and love of older children found in spiritual people, and the nature of it in natural ones, is clearly apparent from such people after death. For on arriving in the other world, most fathers remember their children who have passed on before them; and these are also presented to them, and they recognize each other. Spiritual fathers simply look them over and ask them in what state they are, rejoicing if all is well with them, and grieving if it is not. Then, following some conversation, instruction and counsel regarding a heavenly moral life, they part from them, telling them before parting that they are no longer to be remembered as their fathers, because the Lord is the only Father of all who are in heaven (according to His words in Matthew 23:9), and that they will never remember them as being their children. ” Conjugial Love 406

“The earth is Jehovah’s, and the fullness of it; The world, and they who dwell in it.” Psalm 24:1

My husband drew my attention to this gem of a number a few months ago and I was delighted to find such a thorough and orderly layout of the steps on the path to regeneration. From Apocalypse Explained 803:

1. Let him read the Word every day, one or two chapters, and learn from a master and from sermons the dogmas of his religion; and especially let him learn that God is one, and that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, that the Word is holy, that there is a heaven and a hell, and that there is a life after death.

2. Let him learn from the Word, from a master, and from sermons, what works are sins, and that they are especially adulteries, thefts, murders, false witness, and the others mentioned in the Decalogue; likewise that lascivious and obscene thoughts are also adulteries, that frauds and illicit gains are also thefts, that hatred and revenge are also murders, and that lies and blasphemies are also false witness; and so on. Let him learn all these things from childhood to youth.

3. When man begins to think for himself, which is the case after he has grown up, it must be to him the first and chief thing to refrain from doing evils for the reason that they are sins against the Word, thus against God, and for the reason that if he does them he will gain, not life eternal, but hell; and afterwards as he grows up and becomes old he must shun them as damned, and must turn away from them in thought and intention. But in order to so refrain from them and shun and turn away from them, he must pray to the Lord for help. The sins he must refrain from and must shun and turn away from are chiefly adulteries, frauds, illicit gains, hatreds, revenges, lies, blasphemies, and elation of mind.

Hello Readers. We are gathering passages that reference children in the womb and/or their development. This collection (and subsequent ones on other topics) will then be made available in a new page of our blog: ‘What does He say about…’ If you would like to contribute to this list, please post a passage in the comment section below.

A few points to remember: (1)We know there are so many beautiful interconnecting Truths in the Word and Heavenly Doctrines, but for the purpose of this project, we are trying to gather passages that clearly and directly refer to this subject. (2)We are looking for passages–not analysis or application. (3)Please remember to reference!

Arcana Coelestia 5052: “The angels who are in the inmost heaven are the wisest of all, and from their innocence they appear to others as infants, for they love infants much more than do their fathers and mothers. They are present with infants in the womb, and through them the Lord cares for the feeding and full development of the infants therein; thus they have charge over those who are with child.”

Exodus 21: 22-25: “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,  being ^[btempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.

³ And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, ^[cbut by every word of God.’ ”

⁵ Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! ^[fFor it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”

⁹ Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written:

‘He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you,’

¹¹ and,

‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

¹² And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

¹³ Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

~ Luke 4: 1-13