Pictured to the left is a copy of a version of the Holy Bible, known as the New Revised Standard Version ( NRSV ). Genesis 35:16-21 read as follows:
"16 Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. 17 When she was in her hard labor, the midwife said to her, 'Do not be afraid; for now you will have another son.' 18 As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. 19 So Rachel died, and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem), 20 and Jacob set up a pillar at her grave; it is the pillar of Rachel's tomb, which is there to this day. 21 Israel journeyed on, and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder."
The word "womanly" is defined as follows:
". . . adj. Having the qualities natural, suited, or becoming to a woman; feminine. -adv. In a feminine manner; like a woman. . . ." [ See NEW ILLUSTRATED WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY Including THESAURUS of SYNONYMS & ANTONYMS, PMC Publishing Company, Inc., 118 EAST 28th STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10016, dictionary portion: pages 1-1150, Copyright 1992, by J.G. Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, p. 1132. ]
Womanliness is truly demonstrated in the act of childbirth, for no man can literally do this ( see Galatians 4:19, for example ). As a Christian ( see Acts 11:26, for example ), I am not pro-life: I am pro-Holy Bible. Some who claim to be pro-life condemn abortion, except in the cases of rape, incest, or if the mother's life will be at risk at the time of childbirth.
Abortion is always murder ( see Exodus 20:13, and Romans 13:9; 15:1-4 ( especially verse 4, for example ), for example ). Some mothers may choose to abort their unborn baby that they might live. That is not what the Holy Bible teaches: Rachel died that her son Benjamin might live ( as we read in verses sixteen through twenty, above ).
In Rachel we see a courageous woman: she was willing to die while giving birth to her son. Perhaps this act was a feminine foreshadowing of the self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary ( see Matthew 1:16 ( KJV, for example ), Luke 23:26-49 ( especially verse 33 ( KJV, for example ), for example ) and Hebrews 7:20-28 ( especially verse 27, for example ), for example ). Please study the Holy Bible ( which is God's word - see Psalm 119:65-73, 142, and 151, John 17:1, 3, and 17, and 2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16, 17, for example ).
If you have any questions about the Holy Bible, you can contact me by e-mail at:
<rewillis1_1@juno.com>
<Russell E. Willis>.
