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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.
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