Birth Pangs

For most women, the physical process of giving birth is quite painful. It is described as an intense pain that can be felt all over the body and increases in intensity as the labor progresses.

The first Biblical account of child birth being painful is depicted in Genesis 3. This verse of scripture details the Lord’s judgement for Adam and Eve’s disobedience. 

Genesis 3:16 Amplified Bible

16 To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply

Your pain in childbirth;

In pain you will give birth to children;

Yet your desire and longing will be for your husband,

And he will rule [with authority] over you and be responsible for you.”

When Adam and Eve disobeyed, sin entered the world, causing a spiritual death. Up until that moment, they had full access to the glory of the Lord. After their fall, they lost access to that glory and became separated from the Father.  

Mankind would follow suit, continuously rebelling against the Lord’s statutes and ordinances. The people of Israel became unfaithful to the Lord by serving false gods. The Book of Jeremiah contains warnings of oncoming destruction if the nation does not repent. As a result of their unrepentant hearts, Jeremiah shares messages of judgment on Judah and surrounding wicked cities.

Jeremiah 6:24-26 Amplified Bible

24 We have heard the report of it;

Our hands become limp and helpless.

Anguish has gripped us,

Pain like that of a woman in childbirth.

Jeremiah 48:41 Amplified Bible

41 “Kerioth [and the cities] has been taken

And the strongholds seized;

And the hearts of the warriors of Moab in that day

Shall be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

Jeremiah 49:22 Amplified Bible

22 Behold, He will mount up and fly swiftly like an eagle and spread His wings against [the city of] Bozrah; and in that day the heart of the mighty warriors of Edom will be like the heart of a woman in childbirth.

Jeremiah 50:43 Amplified Bible

43 “The king of Babylon has heard the report about them,

And his hands fall limp and helpless;

Anguish has seized him,

And agony like that of a woman in childbirth.

Such pain and agony was prophesied in the book of Isaiah. 

Isaiah 21:3 Amplified Bible

3 Therefore [continues Isaiah] my loins are filled with anguish;

Pains have seized me like the pains of a woman in childbirth;

I am so bent and bewildered that I cannot hear, I am so terrified that I cannot see.

The King James Version of these scriptures utilize the term “pangs”. The Hebrew translation for “pangs” is tsarar. The definitions for this term include adversary, be in affliction, besiege, bind up, bring distress (Strong’s 6887). The judgement pronounced on Eve in Genesis 3 is a spiritual representation of how humanity toils in pain as a result of being ruled by sin and being separated from God. We labor in distress and in affliction by partaking in wickedness. 

However, the Lord gave His son on a cross so that we may be reconciled back to Him. 

Romans 8:20-22 Amplified Bible

20 For the creation was subjected to frustration and futility, not willingly [because of some intentional fault on its part], but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be freed from its bondage to decay [and gain entrance] into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now.

Romans 8:20-22 King James Version

20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

In the Hebrew, “travaileth in pain” translates to sunódinó (Strong’s 4944). It means to have (parturition) pangs in company (concert, simultaneously) with. Figuratively, it also means to sympathize (in expectation of relief from suffering). 

We have the opportunity to be delivered from this painful toiling. Elect to be reconciled back to the Father and receive relief from your suffering.