The Three-In-One God is real. Father, Son and Spirit are Persons. God is not amoral or immoral, but God is morally good. And, the Creator has designed the universe and its human creatures so that we must operate according to the moral principles He has built into us.
For four thousand years, in both Jewish and Christian society, having an abortion has been considered a violation of one of the most important of those moral commandments – you shall not murder. Yet, in spite of this, “on January 22, 1973, seven of the nine justices of the United States Supreme Court, disregarding prior legal traditions, overwhelming biological evidence and the ethical traditions of a majority of the American people, struck down the abortion laws of all fifty states. Their action made abortion on demand, at virtually every stage of pregnancy, legal throughout our country”. (From One Share In Life Campaign, Right to Life of Michigan).
About 52 million children have been murdered by abortion since 1973. Over a million babies will be killed this year – about 4,000 each day. That means that the same number of Americans are killed each day as were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor or on 9-11! If we are horrified by the deaths of so many on those days, why aren’t we equally disturbed by these many deaths each and every day?
How do we know the baby in the womb is a human life? We have three witnesses. First, we have the witness of nature. Second, we have the witness of Messiah’s Holy Community Of Jews And Gentiles – the Church. Third, we have the witness of the Word of God.
We Have The Witness Of Nature
If you ask someone who raises cows: “When does the life of one of your cows begin? At what stage of its development does it become alive? When the fetus is at one month, two months, or six months? At birth”? The person who raises cows would reply: “That’s simple – the life of all of my cows begins at conception. That’s when that cow becomes alive”. And you know what? It’s no more complicated for humans!
A human life begins at conception. If processes that God has put in place are not interfered with, a human being will be born nine months after conception, a human being made in the image of God, with unique DNA, so that no other being in the universe is like it, a being that is capable of knowing God and living with Him forever. Therefore we have no right to interfere in this life process.
There is no question that it is a human life that is growing in the mother’s womb. From a very early stage, if you look at pictures of a child that is developing in his mother’s womb, you will know that it is a human being. That’s why the pro-abortion crowd doesn’t like to show pictures of children in various stages of development, or what happens to a baby that is aborted. That would deter too many people who are pro-abortion, since the developing baby is so obviously human.
At 30 days the unborn child’s heart pumps blood through the circulatory system. At 40 days brain waves are detected.
At 2 months, all organs and systems are present, with several organs already functioning. The baby is sensitive to and responds to touch. He is sucking, kicking, swallowing and moving.
At 3 months the baby sleeps, turns, opens and closes his mouth. His palm, when stroked, will make a tight fist.
At 4 months the baby is 8 to 10 inches long and weighs a half-pound. His ears function. The mother begins “to show” the baby externally.
At 5 months the baby will display a startle reaction to loud, sudden noises. He can suck a thumb or finger and stroke parts of his own body. At this point, with modern medicine, many babies can live outside the womb.
At 7 months, the senses of vision, hearing, taste and touch are functioning. He can recognize his mother’s voice.
At 8 months the baby can flex his limbs and has a firm grasp. Weight increases to over 2 pounds.
At 9 months, the baby is ready for birth, weighing 6 to 9 pounds.
Currently in the United States, at any point in this process, the baby can be killed in the most horrific ways. (The above information comes from Life Cycle, September 1999, from Wisconsin Right To Life).
We Have The Witness Of Messiah’s Holy Community
Of Jews And Gentiles
The Didache (probably written by Messianic Jews toward the end of the First Century to teach new Jewish Believers): “You shall not kill a child by abortion.”
Clement of Alexandria (150-220 AD), maintains that: “If we should but control our lusts at the start and if we would not kill off the human race born and developing according to the divine plan, then our whole lives would be lived according to nature”. (Abortion – The Early Church Fathers And Abortion, by Larry Crutchfield, Ph.D, www.all.org/issues/ab99x.htm).
Tertullian (150-225 AD) said: “It does not matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to the birth. In both instances, destruction is murder”. (Apology, 9.4, quoted by Casey Carmical, Is Abortion Biblical?, www.carmical.net/articles/biblical.html).
We have the witness of nature; and from the earliest times we have the witness of the Church that it is a human being that is growing in its mother’s womb.
Most Authoritatively Of All, We Have The Witness Of
The Inspired And Authoritative Word Of God
Whenever we consider any subject, our thoughts must turn to God and His inspired Word, to see if He has revealed His mind on that subject. When the Word of God speaks clearly on any subject, that is the final authority and must be obeyed. The Word of the Living God does speak clearly and authoritatively on this great moral issue.
There is no question that it is a human being that is in the mother’s womb: Listen to this ancient Jewish law found in Exodus 21:22: If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she has a miscarriage, yet there is no further injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. This teaches us that a baby is its mother’s womb is a “yeled” – a human child, not a non-human tissue mass. In fact, “yeled” is the very same word used to describe the Son of God when He came into this world (for a child “yeled” will be born to us, a son will be give to us…), and the Son of God was a person throughout that entire time and process.
God is involved in the process of creating life. The Creator enables us to give birth to a new human life. Genesis 30:1-2, 22: Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “Give me children, or else I die.” Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld from you the fruit of the womb?”… Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb.
Again, it’s not just the father or the mother who is involved in the creation of a new human life. God is very much involved in the process, starting with conception. Psalm 139:13: For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Every human being is a unique creation that comes from God. Every child is a special gift from God, made in His image, higher than the angels, and just a little lower than God, therefore inherently valuable and precious. Psalm 127:3: Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. No child is a “mistake”.
The New Testament says the same thing, that human beings are alive in their mothers’ wombs. It was a baby who was in Elizabeth’s womb, and this baby was able to experience knowledge, emotion and God’s presence. About John the Baptist it is written: He will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb. It is also written that Elizabeth conceived a son in her old age; and was in her sixth month… And Mary, who was pregnant with Messiah arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, who was carrying the Son of God, the baby John leaped in his mother’s womb; and Elizabeth told Mary:when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. This baby in the womb experienced knowledge, emotion and God’s presence.
God has plans for human beings that begin long before birth. Ephesians 1: God chose us before the foundation of the world and He predestined us to be His adopted children. Abortion is an attack against these sovereign plans of God.
Listen to what the Lord told Jeremiah: The word of the Lord came to me (Jeremiah) saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations”. To murder a child in the womb is to attack God’s plan for the life of that child.
Great Rabbi Paul, like Jeremiah, was set apart to serve God while he was still in His mother’s womb. Galatians 1:15-16: But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles... Again, to murder a child in the womb is to attack God’s plan for the life of that child.
How many Jeremiahs and Pauls have been snuffed out since abortion was legalized?
What Is Our Responsibility?
Life starts at conception. Human beings in the womb are made
in the image of God and are precious and sacred. We must act to save them from slaughter! Proverbs 24:11-12: Deliver those who are being taken away to death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. If you say, “See, we did not know this,” does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work?
The all-knowing God holds people responsible for rescuing those who are in mortal danger. We must not evade our responsibility by claiming that we did not know. It is our duty to help them, even though it may mean inconveniencing or even endangering ourselves.
On the positive side, to motivate us to act, the Lord promises:
Psalm 41:1: How blessed is he who considers the helpless; the Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. Let’s consider the most helpless among us – the baby in the womb. We in turn will be blessed and delivered by God.
Abortion is the supreme moral issue of our day. We can’t be for abortion. We can’t be neutral. We have a duty to do all that we can to end abortion.
We should pray that these illegal decrees are reversed and this Holocaust comes to a quick end.
We should educate ourselves and others on the abortion issue.
We should vote for pro-life legislation and legislators. The pro-life issue supersedes all other political or economic concerns. What good is someone who can improve the economy if he has no regard for the sanctity of life? People who are not pro-life are not fit for higher office.
We should make our views known to politicians and the media.
We should volunteer our time and money to good pro-life organizations. We should explore alternatives to abortion and support them, like Crisis Pregnancy Centers, and adoption.
We should remember that sexual relations outside of marriage are wrong and a major contributor to abortion.
We should help those who are suffering after having had an abortion. Remind them that no one is beyond the reach of God’s forgiveness.
A Final Prayer
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, righteous and holy Father of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the just and true Judge of all the Earth, we come before You, interceding for the innocent and the defenseless, praying for those who cannot cry out on their own behalf. O Dayan Ha-Emet, the true Judge, we pray that you would judge truly and righteously.
Adon Olam, Master of the Universe, You rule below and above; You cause death and You cause life; You bring down to the grave and You raise up. The life of every being is in Your hand. You are the Father of the fatherless, the Husband of the widow, and the Strength of the oppressed.
We pray O Lord, that You would deliver those who are the weakest among us, and being severely oppressed! O You who are full of mercy, have compassion on the children in the womb. End this Shoah, this Holocaust of the babies in the womb. Reverse these evil decrees and spare the innocent. Let not the wickedness of man prevail!
Finally, O Lord our God, inspire us to continue to fight the good fight. Re-energize us to do what we can to protect the babies growing in their mothers’ wombs. Baruch Ata Adonai, Elohaynu Melech HaOlam, Dayan Ha-Emet. Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the Universe, the true Judge.