What the Bible says about Pregnancy as Metaphor
(From Forerunner Commentary)
The apostle speaks of those who are unaware ("they"), who are not paying attention to the signs of the times. A pregnant woman clearly shows that she is ready to give birth to her child. However, though her status is known, no one can pinpoint the exact time that the contractions will begin. A woman's labor pains parallel the signs of the times. No one will be able to pinpoint the exact time of Christ's arrival, but we can know that it is near and be prepared.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The World, the Church, and LaodiceanismRelated Topics: Birth Analogy | Birth Pang Metaphor | Jesus Christ's Return | Labor Pains as Metaphor | Pregnancy as Metaphor | Signs of the Times
Compare this to Acts 1:6-8. They had learned a great deal in the intervening nineteen years.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Don't Be a Prudent Agnostic
In James 1:15, the apostle changes his description from a snare to conception and birth. Notice the reference to the growth of a person from fetus to adult—from complete innocence to corruption by the world.
First, temptation comes when desire, like a mother, conceives and "gives birth to sin." Then sin, the child of desire, develops until it is full-grown. When sin is full-grown, it becomes a way of life that without repentance ends in death. Paul concurs in Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death." God says through the prophet Ezekiel:
The soul who sins shall die. . . . When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. (Ezekiel 18:4, 26)
"Brings forth" in James 1:15 is a phrase Greeks used to refer to an animal giving birth. It means that sin "spawns" death. This suggests that man, once conquered by desire, becomes less than human, sinking to the level of a beast. He has not progressed to be more like God but has regressed to the moral level of animals.
To summarize, temptation begins the process to sin and ends in death. God plays no part in tempting us; to the contrary, we are either drawn away by our own desires or enticed by Satan. Illicit desire begets sin, which in turn spawns tremendous destruction and—eventually—death.
Martin G. Collins
How Does Temptation Relate to Sin?Related Topics: Birth Analogy | Death | Death as Wages of Sin | Pregnancy as Metaphor | Sin | Sin Produces Death | Temptation | Temptation as a Forerunner to Sin | Wages of Sin