When Ephraim turned away from the Lord, God pronounced judgment upon them. His judgment was to take away their 'glory'. What was their glory? The conception of the womb. Conception, pregnancy and motherhood are the glory of a nation and it comes through the wombs of women.
Not only is the womb a place where life is conceived and nurtured, but the Bible also speaks of it as the controlling center of our emotions and the source of compassion. There are four different Hebrew words for the word, 'womb'. Each of these words is used to not only describe the womb, but also the emotions.
(a) BETEN – ‘the womb, the inmost part, the bottom of the heart, deepest recesses of an individual.’ e.g. Genesis 25:24; 30:2; Job 1:21; Psalm 22:9.
· Job 20:19,20, “Because he hath oppressed the poor…surely he shall not feel quietness in his belly (beten).” When we feel guilt, we feel disturbed right in the very womb.
· Proverbs 18:8, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, they go down into the innermost parts of the belly (beten).” When gossip or slander wounds us, we feel it in the depths of our womb.
(b) RACHAM - from the root word 'to fondle'. It speaks of 'cherishing the babe in the womb'. It also means 'the bowels, to cherish, to love deeply, to be compassionate, to have compassion as God does towards men, to show great tender mercy and pity.' We understand this in the following scriptures:
· Genesis 43:30, "Joseph...his bowels (racham) did yearn upon his brother.”
· 1 Kings 3:26, “Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels (rachem) yearned upon her son…”
· Isaiah 49:15, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion (racham) on the son of her womb?
This word 'racham' is used interchangeably for a woman's womb and for God's compassion. Here are further scriptures where 'racham' is used in relation to the womb or showing compassion to one another:
Genesis 49.25, 1 Kings 8:50; 2 Chronicles 30:9; Proverbs 30.16; Isaiah 46.3; 49:15; Ezekiel 20.26; Zechariah 7:9.
This word is frequently used to describe God's mercies. Isn't it absolutely amazing to realize that God uses the same word 'racham' to describe His great mercy and tender compassions as He does for the womb?
Psalm 25:6, "Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies (racham) and thy lovingkindnesses."
Isaiah 54:7, "For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies (racham) will I gather thee."
Isaiah 63:7, "I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us...according to his mercies (racham), and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses."
Daniel 9:9, "To the Lord our God belong mercies (racham) and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him."
Here are further scriptures where 'racham' is used:
Genesis 43:14; Deuteronomy 13:17; 30:3; 2 Samuel 24:14; 2 Kings 13:23; 1 Chronicles 21.13; Nehemiah 9:19.27,28,31; Psalm 40.11; 51.1; 69.16; 77.9; 79.8; 103.4; 106:46; 119.77; 119.156; 145.9; Isaiah 47.6; 63.15; Jeremiah 12:15; 16.5; 42.12; Lamentations 3:22; Daniel 9:18; Hosea 2.19; Zechariah 1.16.
We see from this how the womb is more than something physical. It is the control center of our emotions. It is from our womb that compassion and pity emanates. This is why it is important to protect our womb. It is not just an organ, but also the seat of compassion.
(c) RECHEM. It means 'matrix.' This is the masculine equivalent of 'racham' and includes the same attributes of tender compassion and pity. Look up these scriptures:
Genesis 29.31; 30.22; 43.30; Exodus 13.2; Numbers 8.16; 12.12; 1 Samuel 1:5,6; 1 Kings 3.26; Job 3.11; 10.18; 24.20; 31.15; 38.8; Psalm 22.10; 58.3; 110.3; Jeremiah 1.5; 20:17,18; Hosea 9.14
(d) MEAH. 'The womb, heart, uterus - also to be soft and have sympathy."
Song of Solomon 5.4 "My beloved put his hand in the hole of the door and my bowels (meah) were moved for him."
Jeremiah 4.19; 31.20 "Ephraim...my bowels (meah) are troubled for him. I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord."
Lamentations 1.20, 2.11 "My bowels (meah) are troubled."
It is also used in Genesis 15.4; 25.23; Numbers 5.22; Ruth 1.11; 2 Samuel 7.12; 16.11; Psalm 71.6; Isaiah 16.11; 48:18,19; 49.1; 63.15; Ezekiel 3.3; 7.19.
Notice the portrayal of deep emotions in the following scriptures where the word ‘meah - womb’ is used:
· Job 30:27, ”My bowels boiled, and rested not.” Here it describes anger.
· Psalm 22:14, “My heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.” This scripture is a picture of discouragement.
Here's how some women felt after their womb was removed...
"It was like a curtain going down over my feelings. The highs and lows of my emotions simply flattened out." Another says, "The most I felt was a certain emptiness in the abdominal area, not like a great empty space, but a space empty of feeling."
It is especially important to protect your ovaries. Not only do they release the egg each month, but also they release estrogen, which has a big bearing on your emotions. Don't allow a doctor to take out your ovaries just because they 'might' become cancerous. Protect them at all costs.
It is interesting to note that depression is two to three times more prevalent after a hysterectomy operation than any other surgery. I know a mother of a large family who was a wonderful mother. Later in life she had a hysterectomy and an oophorectomy. It was astounding to notice that after this operation she no longer had the warmth and feeling that she once showed to children.
