I guess I am writing this article for my own sake as I am about to turn 75 on 12/10/2024. I told my Bible students at MA that I was about to enter the 4th quarter of life (75-100 age). (AI) “The average life expectancy for men in the United States in 2024 is 76.1 years. This is five years less than the average life expectancy for women, which is 81.1 years.” One of my students reminded me that my life expectancy is only 76.1 years. In other words, if this were a football game, I would be in the 2 minute period of the 4th quarter (not just starting the 4th quarter as I had told them. If I make it another year past 2025, I will be in “overtime” and that doesn’t last long (a few plays and your done one way or the other). So in my “morning musings” I decided to do an article, maybe to cheer me up.

Isaiah 46: 3“Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the house of Israel,

who have been borne by me from before your birth,
    carried from the womb;
⁴ even to your old age I am he,
    and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
    I will carry and will save.”

“Before your birth”? I.e., in the womb. God guided the entire gestation process for 9 months. He put the DNA that is unique to each person in that fetus and it began to program out the development of every part of the baby till birth.

Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^[a]
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
    the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.

Abortion. I read this on AI:

“Some people argue that abortion is the killing of a life because they believe a fetus is a person with a right to life. This line of reasoning is based on the following ideas:

• A fetus is a person
• People have a right to life
• Therefore, a fetus has a right to life
• It is wrong to kill a being with a right to life
• Therefore, it is wrong to kill a fetus 

Some people believe that a fetus is a person from the moment of conception. They argue that a fetus is an innocent human being with its own DNA, and that abortion is the murder of an innocent life.” So then I asked AI (my new Siri), “is there life in the womb?” I was surprised to get this answer. “Yes, according to the scientific consensus, life in the womb exists from the moment of conception when a sperm fertilizes an egg, forming a single cell called a zygote, which marks the beginning of a new human life; this developing organism is considered a fetus throughout pregnancy and is considered to be “alive” within the womb.” “Scientific evidence that indicates life within the womb includes: the presence of a unique DNA distinct from the mother’s at conception, continuous cell division and development into a complex organism with organs like a beating heart, brain activity, movement, response to stimuli like sound and light, and the ability to learn and recognize sounds and patterns while still in the womb, all starting from the moment of fertilization when a sperm meets an egg to form a zygote; essentially, a fetus exhibits all the biological criteria considered indicative of life.”

“The most definitive sign of a living fetus, usually detectable via ultrasound around 6-7 weeks of pregnancy.” Surely the pro-abortion advocates would agree that if there is a heartbeat, then there is life (or would they?). So, for the same of argument, we can at least say life begins at 6-7 weeks (about 1 1/2 months). The fetus has a heart by that time for sure. So that heart has been devloping from conception, programmed by the baby’s DNA. At what point during that first 6-7 weeks are you going to say that you do not think there was life in the fetus? At 5 weeks? At 4 weeks? At 3, or 2 weeks? In which week before 6-7 weeks would you say, “there is no life in this fetus so we can abort the feetus without killing a living fetus baby?” I can’t iimagine being the abortion doctor and having to decide in an abortion I am doing in week 4 of a pregnant woman, “am I just removing some non-living tissues or am I killing a living fetus baby?” How can a pregnant woman make that decision to allow the doctor to do the abortion without being sure if the fetus if living or not?”

As I said, I was surprised at the AI answer (which I think was taken verbatim from some pro-life articles), but how would God answer that question, “is there life in the womb”, and if so, “when does that life begin”. Back to Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed substance” When did God begin “knitting together the inward parts of the yet unformed (not fully formed baby yet) substance”? As science has shown, and no rational pro-abortionists could refute this, all the DNA is present when the sperm and egg. unite to form a zygote at conception. So I think Psalm 139 is God saying that life begins at conception. God even says that he knew certain individuals while they were in the womb. Jeremiah 1:4-5: “Then the word of the Lord came to me saying ‘Before you were born I knew you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations'” Paul said, Galatians 1:¹⁵ But when he who had set me apart before I was born.”

But perhaps the strongest case from the Bible that God says that life is in the womb is from Exodus 21:²² “When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. ²³ But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” In. other words, if striking the pregnant woman causes her child to to born dead (stillborn or miscarriage), then the one who struck the woman (even if unintentional) will die, life for life (stoned to death?). The pro-abortionists might say, “well that might be a pregnancy in the third trimester (6th – 9th week of pregnancy”. But does God say, “if the fetus is 6 weeks or more, then life for life” in these verses? The verses just specify, “a pregnant woman”. So if the woman is pregant at all, then the punishment applied. So, in my opinion, the verses teach that God considers all of the 9 months of pregnancy to be life in the womb. I found this in article, saying that pro-abortionists see these verses as proving just the opposite. “Exodus 21, for example, suggests that a pregnant woman’s life is more valuable than the fetus’s. This text describes a scenario in which men who are fighting strike a pregnant woman and cause her to miscarry. A monetary fine is imposed if the woman suffers no other harm beyond the miscarriage. However, if the woman suffers additional harm, the perpetrator’s punishment is to suffer reciprocal harm, up to life for life.” (From theconversation.com). They try to say that these verses show that life in the womb is considered by God to be of less importance that the mother’s life. I don’t see that at all!!!!!!!

Bottom line, since even most pro-abortionists believe that life begins at some point in the womb (maybe in the third trimester since often that was when even they believed that abortions should be banned), then how can someone say when in the gestation that life actually began (what month). If that be the case, how could someone abort a fetus or perform an abortion knowing that uncertainty exists?

Isaiah 46 jumps from “before your birth, carried from your womb (birth), to “old ages and gray hairs”. BTW Proverbs 16:31“Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness”. This verse suggests that gray hair is a sign of a life well lived and a commitment to righteousness. Proverbs 20:29“The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old”. This verse suggests that gray hair is a sign of wisdom and honor.” Do you remember that 1980 Clairol commercial with the song “I’m gonna wash that gray right outa my hair”? Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc6f0M7h9b4I understand, but why be ashamed of the gray hair of old age? Why try to make yourself look young when you aren’t? Aren’t you satisfied with that last old age stage of life that God gives you without trying to hold on to younger stages? I must admit, I did use some of that but only once!!!!!!!!! I tell my wife all that and she still spend $75 once a month to color her hair from gray to brown. No one listens to me!

So what about that stage between birth and old age, Isaiah? Start with childhood. The pain and yet the joy of childbirth: “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world” (John 16:21).”Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”(Psalm 127:3-5). Apparently children under the “age of accountability” are pure and free of sin: But Jesus called them to him, saying, “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Luke 18:16). Of course that refutes the idea that babies are born inheriting Adam’s sin, called “original sin”, from the fall. Catholicism has always taught that babies need to be born quickly to get rid of that inherited sin or else they will go to Catholic purgatory for babies which is called limbo. I found this to be very interesting from AI: In Catholic theology, limbo is the place where souls who die in original sin but are not condemned to hell reside. It is a border area between heaven and hell where souls are not punished but are also not able to experience eternal happiness with God in heaven.  The concept of limbo developed in Europe during the Middle Ages. Medieval theologians believed that limbo was divided into two parts:

• Limbo of the Fathers: The place where Old Testament saints were thought to reside until Christ’s “descent into hell”
• Limbo of the Infants: The place where unbaptized children and the mentally impaired reside 

The Catholic Church’s official catechism, published in 1992, did not mention limbo. The International Theological Commission (ITC) issued a document in 2007 that reduced the teaching of limbo from “common doctrine” to “a possible theological hypothesis”. The ITC concluded that there is less certainty about the salvation of infants who die without baptism than for those who are baptized.” In other words, Catholicism may be backing off the idea that unbaptized babies who die go to limbo. It’s funny how Catholics can something is the word of God through the pope and then later say it isn’t exactly so! Romans 5: ¹² Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned”. A person only dies spiritually when he chooses to sin, not when he is born with original sin. BTW Jesus said “he that believes and is baptized shall be saved ” (Mark 16:16). Christian baptism is only for those who can believe. What good does it do to baptize a child who can’t believe? The book of Acts gives several cases of baptized believers, but not infant baptism. It might be countered that the jailor and “all his household” were baptized (Acts 16:³³ And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. ³⁴ Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.”). But that would have to assume that he had underage children, and it still wouldn’t change the fact that only believers could be baptized.

At what age is a child considered responsible for choosing sin? That depends on the individual child, of course. Many think the age of 12 or so? This was interesting: “In Judaism, a Bar Mitzvah is typically celebrated at age 13 for boys because it marks the age when they are considered mature enough to fully take on the responsibilities of Jewish adulthood, including observing religious laws and being held accountable for their actions, which is often associated with the onset of puberty; the female equivalent, a Bat Mitzvah, is often celebrated at age 12, also signifying the coming of age based on maturity levels.” I’ve always said that teenage girls mature sooner than boys! I have surely experienced that dealing with immature boys in my Bible classes who sit in desks right next to mature young girls of the same age! Very frustrating! God will bless little children. They have a “guardian angel”. Matthew 18:10 Christ says, “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven”. I assume they still have those! But what about when a young child dies? That doesn’t mean that the child’s angel isn’t looking after the child. It may just be that God is allowing that child to die (regardless of why), but that God will take care of that child for eternity in a much better place in heaven. I always think of “The Shack” movie. That little girl went through a hellish nightmare when she was abducted and killed, but Mac was able to later see her playing in the fields with Jesus. God took care of her. Too many parents have become atheists when a child of theirs dies. I know it takes a lot of faith to see your deceased child in heaven, but be assured that it is so. People have always had a tendency to look down on youth b/c young people do a lot of bad, stupid things. Proverbs 20:11 “Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright.” Christians youth should be different, and an example to others. Ecclesiastes 11:⁹ Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. ¹⁰ Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain^[c] from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.” Those verses imply that young people are going to do bad things that can bring the judgment of God on them. They “sow their wild oats”. “Youth and the dawn of life” are called “vanity” (the Hebrew word for vapor, breath: they appear to mean something but in the long run they are a vapor off a steam kettle that lasts for a short while and then disappear). Then the admonition in Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”

What about the “young man or young woman” stage in between birth and old age? Proverbs 20:29 “The glory of young men is their strength, but the splendor of old men is their gray hair.” The “young men” refer to young people in the prime of their physical strength, essentially signifying the glory of youth as being their physical vitality and energy. I think Timothy was in that “young man” stage when Paul told him in 1 Timothy 4:¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Paul then told Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:22 “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” Passions do run wild in young men when the testosterone is peaking. 1 John 2:14  “I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” It is always good to see young adult Christian men step up to lead, serve, and be mentors to young people. Titus 2:6-8  “Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” So many young adults lack self control. They act “wild”. They seem to think it is cool to act wild. The young adult Christian man’s goal should be to act like Jesus did in his young adult stage: Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Psalm 71:5  For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.”Proverbs 1:8-9  Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” 1 Peter 5:5-7 “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Daniel 1:¹⁷ As for these four youths, God gave them learning and skill in all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.” Those 3 Hebrew “children” were young male adults who defied the king’s command to worship the image even as they were thrown into the fire. They had such faith and courage. Daniel 3:¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” We need Christian young men to step up in this world of sin. A lot of young adults live for drinking, sex, materialism, pleasure, and wild times. Let’s not forget about young adult females. Titus 2:4-8 “And so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.” Too many young adult Christian ladies are influenced by fashion, drinking, bar-hopping, one night stands, materialism, pleasure, vanity of how you look, jewelry, etc. Many are more interested in their careers than they are in being godly wives, mothers, homemakers, and examples to others. Many would rather work in their careers than stay home and raise their children in those early formative years, so they turn their very young children over to the grandparents (who often gladly take care of those children) or some day care services. I know there may be extenuating circumstances that require a young mother to work outside the home, but hopefully she can at least stay home with those very young children for those formative years. (Just my opinion). Remember Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. ³¹ Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.” I laugh when I read proverbs 31 description of the woman who fears the Lord, the ideal godly woman. He describes what that woman should be like, but adds 31:10 An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” It is like, “this is what she would look like but you won’t find one like this!” Solomon could be a little misogynistic. Ecclesiastes 7:28 “One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found.” Maybe his experiences with his thousand wives and concubines leading him to idolatry made him pessimistic about women! I do feel sorry for young Christian adults, men and women, trying to find a godly mate today. The field of prospects seems to be very limited. But God will lead you to that right mate, along with listening to good advice from older Christians.

Ok, we finally get to the last stage of Isaiah 46: “old age and gray hairs”. Job 12:12: “So with old age is wisdom, and with length of days understanding”. Older people are not always wiser but often Job is right. In the church, elders were to be older men, proven Christian men (1 Timothy 3) who had “managed their own households”. Yet Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:¹⁹ Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰ As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.” Some of the elders in the church that I have known in my 50 years of ministry were not wise, and really needed to be rebuked. Psalm 71:9: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent”. I know what that means. I used to be able to work 12-14 hours a day painting. I would be sore, but recover quickly in the morning. Not so now at 75. I can still work hard and long but not nearly as hard and long as earlier in life. 2 Corinthians 4: ¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ¹⁸ as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Old age and getting “older” should be time that, even as you watch your outer self wasting away, you begin to look forward to your new eternal body in heaven. So we groan with our aches and pains, but look forward. 2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling”. Psalm 90:10 “The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” That sounds like I’ve got 5 years left at the most! Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” Passages like this one bother me a little. Surely David had seen a righteous man and his children being poor and begging.for bread, maybe during one of the famiines God sent on Israel b/c of their sins. I think this is just a general rule but there might be exceptions. Titus 2:2,3 “Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good.” Titus has such good practical advice for young men and women and older men and women. Old age doesn’t mean that we can’g still bear fruit. Psalm 92:14 They will still yield fruit in advanced age; They will be full of sap and very green”

Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— “. Is that accurate or what? Eyesight dims, hearing gets bad, bent over walking, teeth decay, legs get weak, hands tremble, you lose the desire to even go out of the house, depression clouds set in, can’t sleep. I have all the symptoms! He says all this is “b/c man is going to his eternal home”. In other words, he is dying. Death is right around the corner. They will be having you funeral in a short while. Psalm 71:17-18 “O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.” As we get older we feel the need to ground our grandchildren in the faith, maybe even our children although hopefully we did that when they were little. Timothy’s mother and grandmother passed down their faith to Timothy. 2 Timothy 1:⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” Old age may be a time when you reminise about the “good old days”, but Ecclesiastes 7:10  Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” Anna was 84 and in the temple: Luke 2:36-38 ” And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Old age might be a time of prayer and thanks, like Anna did.

Old age is a time of looking back at our life, our accomplishments and our failures. Jacob struggled spiritually all his years: he wrestled with God (thus his name change to Israel) at Penuel and during his whole life. He was about 110 when he moved his family to Egypt to be with Joseph. He was 130 when he told Pharoah: Genesus 47:⁹ So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my living abroad are 130; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their living abroad.” How sad that Jacob looked back at this life and summed up his 130 years as “unpleasant”. They were unpleasant b/c for most of his years he lied to his father, cheated his brother, trusted in his own cunning instead of God, was fearful and cowardly. I hope I don’t end up like that. At least he told Joseph as he was blessing Joseph’s 2 sons: Genesis 48:15 ““The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, ¹⁶ The angel who has redeemed me from all evil. That indicates that he finally realized that it was God’s wisdom and power, not his own cunning and strength, that had given him many blessings in life. Some find that awareness of God’s working in their lives as they are on their deathbed.

Psalm 39:5 “Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath! Selah” A handbreath is the width of a hand, maybe 6 inches. I look back and it just seems like yesterday that I was young. It seems like a few handbreaths, not 75 years.

Ecclesiastes 6:3 ” If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with life’s good things, and he also has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.” Solomon’s phlosophy of life in Ecclesiastes is “eat, drink, and be merry”, enjoy the life God has given you. Put your trust in God and live every day for Him. In that way you will be satisfied with this life when you died, like Abraham. Genesis 25:⁸ Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people. I hope I can one day when I die look back and be satisfied with the life God has given me and ready for the next life in eternity.

This has been long, but 75 years of relection takes a lot of writing.