ABORTION
Among the biggest questions concerning abortion from a Christian point of view are, "What does
the Bible say about abortion?" "Is abortion truly a woman's right?" "Is abortion murder?" "Does
life actually begin at conception?"
Thousands of unborn babies are destroyed each day through abortions in this country, and people justify it by saying it's a woman's right to choose to have an abortion, that she has control of her own body and is empowered in making such a decision.
People also try to justify abortion by saying that the developing fetus is not yet alive until the fertilized egg attaches itself to the uterine wall, or in some cases, until the first trimester (three months) has elapsed, although we're also hearing about "late term" abortions, where the baby is aborted while in the last three months of pregnancy. Some are even aborted after successful birth.
Still others say "it's only tissue" and dismiss the aborted fetus as if it were merely a tumor to be destroyed.
Let's take a closer look from a Biblical standpoint.
When does really life begin?
Some say that the fetus is not alive until at least the first trimester (three months) of the pregnancy. Apparently God needs to be informed of this for He told the prophet Jeremiah;
JEREMIAH 1:5
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
If God knows each person before He forms them, who are we to say that a fetus is not alive at conception? It is an undisputed fact that the sperm cells and egg cells are living organisms by the fact that when they are joined, they grow and reproduce. Nor does "tissue" form a human being.
And when the sperm and egg cells join together, they become one, thus bearing witness of the union between man and woman and fulfilling Adam's prophecy of;
GENESIS 2:24
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
As science has also proven beyond a doubt, when the egg is fertilized the cells immediately begin to multiply and start the birth process, thereby signifying that life begins at conception. And if life begins at conception, then each person who willfully has an abortion, or is party to an abortion is guilty of willful and premeditated murder of a child in the eyes of God.
Furthermore, no pregnancy can occur without God's permission and intent. This being the case, by what authority or justification do we terminate a life that God has determined should be created? And by destroying a life that God has determined should be created, we have deemed ourselves greater than God, for we have despised His wisdom and purpose, and have set ourselves to be a judge of His works, determining that what He created was worthless! Every time we abort our children, we become our own god!
The battle cry for many women is that they have the right to choose whether to have an abortion,
that it is their body, and they have the right to choose what happens to it as far as pregnancy goes.
Let's take a look at some of the questions and issues, and see how Scripture treats them.
It's my choice!!!!
Is it? Who gave you the right to determine whether a child should live or die, just because you happen to be carrying it? Are you God? Are you the Author of life and death, that you can determine whether an infant should live or not? Can you say, as God;
DEUTERONOMY 32:39
39 ‘Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.
And if you really had the power of choice in the matter, you wouldn't have become pregnant in
the first place, would you?
What about cases of rape, or incest?
Some say it's ok to abort a pregnancy if it results from rape, or incest. Sadly enough, terrible crimes of rape and incest do indeed happen and the trauma to the victim is devastating. But why take vengeance on an innocent baby who had no choice in the matter? Why murder an innocent child for the crime of the father?
And by aborting the unborn child, you have again set yourself up as God, for you have taken your own revenge. God states clearly through the apostle Paul;
ROMANS 12:19-21
19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.
20 Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Doing good after being raped would be one of the hardest things to do, but remember this. God can punish the rapist far worse than you can. And murdering the child brought about by the act will not leave you guiltless before the eyes of the Lord. But if you show kindness to the child, you will be greatly rewarded by God and He will deal with the rapist, personally.
Aborting the fetus doesn't hurt the rapist. It takes the life of an innocent child who had no part in the matter. If you cannot bear living with the child, carry it to term, and then give it up for adoption.
God also states that no child is to pay for the sins of the fathers, when He told both Jeremiah in Jerusalem, and Ezekiel in Babylon;
EZEKIEL 18:1-4
1 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying,
2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine;
the soul who sins shall die.
JEREMIAH 31:29-30
29 In those days they shall say no more:‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
It's my body!!!!
Really? Who created the body you inhabit? Did you pick it out? Did you figure out what proportions to give it? Hair color? Eye color? Height? Weight? Complexion? Structure? Gender?
King David knew the answer to that when he said;
PSALMS 139:13-16
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were
written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
Remember what God said to the prophet Jeremiah?
JEREMIAH 1:5
5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
The author of Hebrews speaks of this when he quoted concerning Jesus;
HEBREWS 10:5-7
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come— in the volume of the book it is written of Me— to do
Your will, O God.’ ”
Jesus, the Creator of all living things said,
LUKE 12:25-26
25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest?
We are stewards, not masters of the body we inhabit!
Hard facts
We condemn child abusers and child molesters to prison, all the while shaking our heads
and remarking how twisted and evil these people are while at the same time all across the
nation, abortion clinics are performing the systematic destruction of thousands of
unwanted children each day. We allow it to happen claiming that it's "a woman's right to
choose", or "It's just 'tissue'" as if the baby were nothing more than a tumor to be
destroyed.
We condemn people to prison who take another's life without their consent, calling it murder, and by force of law put to death or imprison those who willfully plan such murders (called first degree, or pre-meditated murder). And yet we carelessly commit the same deed every time a fetus is aborted, and think nothing of it.
The Israelites in the Old Testament were told by God in the sixth commandment of the Law;
EXODUS 20:13
13 “You shall not murder.
The Hebrew root word being translated as "murder" is 'ratsach' which literally means "to
dash in pieces, to murder." (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance). This word came from the
practices of invading armies in ancient times, in which soldiers would take babies and
young children by the feet and smash their heads against a tree, or wall, to kill them.
Jesus Himself reiterated this law when he was asked by a rich young ruler,
MATTHEW 19:16-19
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’
19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
Note, murder is the 7th commandment in the old Law, yet Jesus mentioned it first in the list of commandments to follow! (The primary commandments of worshiping God alone, and not creating idols were already deeply ingrained in their minds)
And how can we love our neighbor, when we put our own unborn children to death?
What did God say to Cain after he had murdered his brother?
GENESIS 4:8-11
8 Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11 So now you are cursed from the Earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
If the blood of Abel cried to God from the ground after his murder, how many screams of agony from unborn infants does He hear every day from this country in whose innocent blood has been shed? And yet women self-righteously claim, "It's our choice!" You may claim it's your choice to have an abortion....... but it is not God's will for you to have an abortion!
At the Judgment, every woman who has had an abortion and every man who forced the issue or stood behind the woman's choice will have to face the child or children that they aborted, and will have to answer one question."Why?" What will you say? Do you think that any excuse will be good enough? What will you tell God when He demands of you the reason why you thought something He created wasn't good enough for you?
Children have a special place in the heart of God, and apparently He thought the fact important enough that it is found in three of the four Gospels. The Gospel of Mark describes the incident best, I think.
MARK 10:13-16
13 Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God.
15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”
16 And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
Note that Scripture records that Jesus was "greatly displeased" that the disciples were forbidding
children to come to Him. If He loves children this much, can you imagine the rage He must feel
when we willfully and selfishly murder the only remaining vestige of innocence we have left on
this Earth? Do you think He will not take vengeance on those who have murdered His
children that He has created?
King Solomon knew the value and blessing of children when he said;
PSALMS 127:3-5
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Bottom Line
Let's label the abortion issue for what it really is. We sacrifice children each day on the altars of selfishness and convenience, and justify what we do by saying it is our choice, or "it's just tissue."
We shudder in horror at the ancient Canaanite practice of sacrificing babies to pagan gods by throwing them alive into fiery furnaces, and exclaim that God was just in having the Israelites destroy these unspeakable barbarians.
We call Judean king Herod the Great a monster for ordering the slaughter of infants two years old and under because he wanted to destroy Jesus whom he felt was a threat to his throne.
But is what we are doing any different? Actually, it's worse, because while the Canaanites sacrificed their babies to appease their demon gods, we sacrifice our babies to appease our consciences!!!!
We issue condoms to teens in school, telling them, 'If you want to have sex, use protection'. And if the protection doesn't work, they know there's always the abortion clinic down the street! What ever happened to abstinence?
People today want all of the pleasures of sex without the 'hassles' of pregnancy. Remember the old adage, 'If you dance to the music, you have to pay the piper?' Plainly stated, 'If you engage in sex, you take a chance of getting pregnant with all of the ramifications involved'. And using the excuses of 'It just happened!', 'I didn't think!', or 'I couldn't help myself!' won't hold any water before the Throne of God. You knew exactly what you were doing, and you also understood the consequences.
Thousands of teen girls and women get abortions each year, because they don't want others to know what they have been doing. How many women have been selfishly asked by their boyfriends to have an abortion, so 'nobody will know.'? Or how many women have had an abortion because it was "inconvenient" or would affect their career?
MEN
Remember the above Scripture the next time you feel the urge to "sow your wild oats".
And men, don't think that if a woman gets an abortion without your consent or knowledge that you are free of responsibility! If you have sex with a woman, in the eyes of God you have married her!
As Adam said;
GENESIS 2:23-24
23 And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Also,
EXODUS 22:16
16 “If a man entices a virgin who is not betrothed, and lies with her, he shall surely pay the
bride-price for her to be his wife.
You will tell me, "But I didn't want her to get an abortion! She got it without my permission or consent!" Really? Did you think of that before you had sex with her? If she hadn't become pregnant by you, she wouldn't have wanted to have an abortion, would she?
However, if you are legally married to her, and she has an abortion without your consent, or foreknowledge, then she alone will bear the responsibility before God for what she did. The husband is free in this case.
However, wives who submit to their husband's authority as the head of the house and have
an abortion because he forced the issue will be free of the murder. He alone shall bear the
responsibility before God for his actions but the wife will be free because she obeyed the
authority of her husband.
The apostle Paul says that every fact shall be confirmed by two or three witnesses.
2 CORINTHIANS 13:1
1 This will be the third time I am coming to you. “By the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word shall be established.”
So, if you have consenting sex, then in the eyes of God you are married. The two of you are witnesses to the fact, and God is also witness. And God will hold you each responsible for your actions, just as He did Adam and Eve when they sinned;
GENESIS 3:17-19
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it
you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
So, if a man has sex with a woman, she gets pregnant by him, and she has an abortion with his
prior knowledge of the fact, both shall be guilty of premeditated murder before the Throne of
God. Unless you truly repent and seek His forgiveness.
Think about this
Do we sow seeds in our garden, and think "It 's just vegetable tissue."? We expect them to grow, and believe that these seeds have life in them and believe that they will grow into the type of plant that they came from. And yet we sow "seeds" of our own, then kill the resulting growth and say "It's only tissue."
We shudder in horror at the news articles of babies being thrown into dumpsters to die and curse
the mother as a monster. Is what we do any different when we abort our children before they're
born?
Bombing abortion clinics are not the answer, nor is killing abortion doctors, chaining
ourselves to the doors of the clinics, or screaming threats the women who are coming to the
clinics. All we do is harden public attitudes toward the issue when we do, and women will
merely find another clinic to go to.
Abortions are stopped in the heart.
If we preach against abortions from the pulpits, and speak these things to our neighbors, and diligently teach them to our children, then we will have followed God's heart in the matter. Our children can in turn teach these things to their classmates and friends, thereby ingraining this in their hearts before they reach the age where they can bear children.
But it is up to us to do these things. We cannot merely sit and wait for God to deal with these people. If you know a woman is going to get an abortion, and do or say nothing, you will be guilty before the Lord for your inaction. As the apostle James says;
JAMES 4:17
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
And remember God's words to Ezekiel, and through him, to us;
EZEKIEL 33:8-9
8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his
way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.
May the Lord open our eyes to the truth, and give us the will to act upon it!
Questions? Comments? E-mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com