Our culture today presses the issue that certain worldviews, methods, and technologies carry more weight than others because they employ genuine science. In fact, some say that it is only by science that we can truly achieve greatness as a species. But then what do we do with the Great Wall of China and the Pyramids? Aren’t those pre-science wonders? How could civilizations in supposedly more savage eras than ours build such amazing structures?

In the United States, we can boast that we have been to the moon and back. To be sure, that remains an amazing achievement, fueled by the best minds in the 20th Century. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The greatness that our secular culture seeks is as futile as grasping for the wind. All of these milestones, such as the Great Wall, the Pyramids, and the Apollo Moon landings, shrink in comparison to the amazing wonders of our Creator and Redeemer.

Here’s what Solomon said about one aspect of our Lord’s amazing work:
“As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything” —Ecclesiastes 11:5

Is there a more mysterious aspect of human existence than how a child develops in the womb? The only other thing I can think of is my conversion. Solomon’s words in our passage are blunt and gracious as they reorient our vision onto the Lord and his work inside the womb.

Notice how Solomon describes the developing child in the womb as the work of God in Ecclesiastes 11:5. His words echo King David, his father, who praised the Lord for knitting him in his mother’s womb in Psalm 139:13-14. Solomon is absolutely right when he says that we have no idea what goes on inside the womb. Our knowledge is incomplete by design. This is true even with the ultrasound technology. What’s even more astounding is that my Savior also chose to enter the womb to redeem me, to redeem us (Matthew 1:18; Luke 1:31-33).

Lastly, I can’t recall the last time I meditated on the sheer wonder of how the spirit and flesh come together in the womb like Solomon has in Ecclesiastes 11:5. Here are a few questions that come to my mind. Why has the Lord allowed weak and sinful people to participate in such a miraculous and awe-inspiring process as childbearing? How does the soul or spirit join to a human life at the microscopic level? If this leaves you as baffled as me, then I say welcome aboard. Let’s see what other wonders our Savior shows us as he leads us safely home.