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| God teaches us about His love for unborn children. |
"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."
In this verse of scripture, we find a reference to an unborn baby being known to God. It should be quite clear that God loved and respected children from the very beginning of their lives, which seems to direct us to the time of conception.
Our true feelings and beliefs about the entire issue of abortion will determine just how we view and interpret the teachings of the Bible. Even many Christians believe that the Bible is silent on the issue of life before birth. Although the Bible does not specifically define the beginning of life, it does give us enough information in order to understand God's position.
God's view of life before birth and the penalties for taking the life of a fetus is found in the book of Exodus:
"And 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. But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life." (Exodus 21:22-23)This law of the Old Testament teaches us that anyone who intentionally induces an abortion or miscarriage is to be punished, which clearly demonstrates that God values life before birth.
We find a very interesting statement in the book of Genesis, Chapter 3, and verse 16:
"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children . . . “.It is very important to note here that the word “conception" is used immediately before the term “bring forth children". This is not the Supreme Court, but this verse could be interpreted as God recognizing the fact that a child was a child at conception and that giving birth to a child would be a difficult process. A good question might be - How could a child be "brought forth" if it wasn't a child from the beginning?
Further in the book of Genesis we find an account of the birth of Esau and Jacob, twins born to Isaac and his wife Rebekah. Here is a description of these twins before birth as found in Genesis, Chapter 25, and verse 22:
"And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD".Once again, we find the use of the word "children" describing babies still inside the woman's womb.
The Supreme Court decided that a fetus was not a human being and therefore did not deserve any protection of the law, but what would Jesus have said?
Jesus was very specific in how he felt about those who would harm a child in the book of Matthew, Chapter 18, verse 6:
"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."This same feeling expressed by Jesus is found again in Mark 9:42 and again in Luke 17:2. Jesus makes another statement in the book of Matthew, Chapter 18, and verse 10:
"Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."Those who seem to think the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion may need to go back and read and study the scriptures once again.
There are very few, if any, issues facing us in our lives today that are not addressed somewhere in the Bible. God's Word teaches us about His love and consideration for the unborn child and even though these innocent children may not have the protection of our human laws, they most definitely have the protection of His righteous law.
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