How to stop Feticide before Next January
This writing was inspired by a presentation by the CEO of Portland-area Crisis Pregnancy Centers. Rev. Larry Gadbaugh calls the Church to address the abortion issues in a Jan 11, 2012 interview posted here:
By talking about abortion now in our churches—with grace and truth—aren’t we helping to prevent abortion and offering forgiveness and healing to women and men who are suffering in silence? We must model how to address the painful issue of abortion with grace and truth. We also must stop thinking of abortion as a side-issue. Addressing life issues has always been central to the Christian’s calling.
If God is good, we should expect His revelation of truth to be more gracious than all alternatives. Our concern should be faithfulness to His truth since we cannot see all consequences. If we try to be gracious in our own way, without taking all His truth into account, we may well end up with unexpected consequences far less gracious than God intends. If God is strong we should expect consequences if we throw darts at His picture, which Genesis tells us Man is.
Look with me at the Bible’s answers to our “abortion” problem. The positive prevention may be more wonderful than we dare hope. The consequences, if our culture rejects the Bible’s after-the-fact solution, may be more horrible than we dare imagine.
Just like using imaginary money, the idea of parents, in normal times, purposely murdering their own children in the womb is never addressed in the Bible, although there are principles that apply. Not that God didn’t foreknow all things, but it says something about God’s character that He never mentioned His expectation that a mother or father would ever be so foolish, wicked, and masochistic as to purposely endanger the mother’s body in their insane desperation to invade the safest, most protected sanctuary of their own totally innocent and helpless offspring and murder him in cold blood. Only during times of national judgment, by enemies does God’s Word reference “ripping up pregnant women”, or parents eating their children out of extreme hunger. But there is nothing like this on-demand, for-any-reason, through-the-9th-month version we have been practicing for over 40 years.
Perverse worship rituals where fathers would sacrifice a baby into the fire of a Moloch statue (presumably to persuade the gods to ward off some community-threatening military or economic threat)
Invading armies (carrying out God’s national judgment) dashing infant’s heads against hard-surfaces or ripping up pregnant women
“Feticide” is a word that more accurately expresses what America is doing, because it more accurately conveys purposeful killing. Biblical reference to abortion law (Ex 21:22-24) shows the Hebrew phrase has more the sense of premature birth. This can span the range from minimal harm to the mother and/or full-term baby – to the death of the baby and/or the mother. Certainly, if there is harm or deaths -- the accident-causer is executed for murder:
“But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, & etc”
But what we are really talking about in our national/global “abortion” controversy is purposely killing the fetus. Why not use the correct term that admits to the murderous character of it? Some object to the use of the term: “murder”, as if the fetus was a person. Whether a fetus is a person or not - the criminal issue is “..shed man’s blood..”. The question is, “Is the fetus Man something else?”
The other problem term, is “Pro-Life”. We might find ourselves closer to our goal to fight under the banner of “Pro-Innocent”, since part of protecting innocents is being “Pro-Death” to the guilty who murder them. How about “Pro-Helpless”, or “Anti-Guilty”? In a way, it was the Pro-Life-ness of the religious change back in the 1800’s, which began to remove capital punishment from the American scene – and was indicative of the worship-of-man-as-God apostasy in general. If Man is the highest form of life, it is the worst blasphemy to murder your ‘god’.
The Biblical principles about capital crime and punishment can be applied to the feticides the PRC ministry is trying to reduce. We find there some really effective tools which remove most of our excuses for not making better progress through the last generation. You apply your Biblical knowledge, logic, experience, and knowledge of history to these points and run with what seems evident and consistent to you. I would appreciate it if you would let me know how to correct and improve this appeal, that the Church and the World might turn away from destruction before it is too late.
Prevention & Deterrence: What should the Church do and say to humans before feticide?
What should the Church do and say to humans after a fetus has been murdered?
This is a timely topic for us here in Oregon. We have our physician-assisted suicide law. Three times we have watched a majority insist on continuing to use tax money to pay for feticide. A fourth petition-drive is underway (2012). Both of these proceed as normal in spite of a governor who has issued a moratorium on capital punishment for any reason -- even a two-time murderer [Gary Haugen] who killed his girlfriend's mother (supposedly for trying to persuade the girl to abort his baby daughter).
This is another demonstration that the human race cannot avoid capital punishment in some form. It can only err off of the true north of God's perfect law, by either failing to kill those who deserve execution, or by killing the innocent who in no wise deserve execution. It will either function righteously by executing those guilty of capital crimes – or it will actually kill or passively allow the executions of those innocent of any capital crime.
On the Preventative Side, I believe that one of the strongest things that can be done in the training of young people is to sell them on the justice, beauty, and advantages of God's design in the dowry laws. The prospective groom entrusts substantial wealth to the parents of the bride, somewhere around betrothal, to be held in trust and ploughed back into the family as the marriage proves its stability.
This would harness the normal romantic and sexual excitement of the young man to motivate his haste to be productive in learning and serving others profitably to be able to prepare himself thus for marriage. If the family and society around him were encouraging and expecting him to have substantial income stored up to be placed under the trust of a girl's father during engagement and early marriage -- what a difference that would make in how a boy looked at girls during his teenage years. I think it would naturally increase focus on godly- and service-oriented character by the boy and his parents, not to mention the girl and her parents. This could be a good antidote for the natural overemphasis on mere popularity, physical beauty, or immodesty.
Gen 29:18 Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, “I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” 19 Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.” 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days because of his love for her.
This is not to say that the dowry entrusted to parents should be spent by the parents on the parents (like Laban did). Instead it is to be life (death) insurance, divorce insurance, savings, and capital to be released back to the new couple according to the wisdom and freedom of all involved.
Gen 31:14 Rachel and Leah said to him, “Do we still have any portion or inheritance in our father’s house? 15 Are we not reckoned by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and has also entirely consumed our purchase price.
This is part of Family Stewardship in fulfilling the Creation Mandate, as well as the Great Commission. It simply takes wealth to beautify a home, extend hospitality, prepare for and provide for a family, educate and invest in tools to increase productivity. Dowry customs, besides the rich imagery of God's relationship to Man, are designed to harness the power of the normal desires for relationship-intimacy, social pleasure, and sexual delights within marriage -- to strengthen new families in relationships and in economic capital. I believe there has been some revival of this old Biblical idea among some Home Schoolers. If taught and practiced, this would shift focus to the enduring character-excellence and economic, practical components of marriage and family – cutting way down on fornication and unwanted pregnacies.
Even the negative, punitive side of the fornication/dowry laws have great, positive effects.
Ex 22:16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins.
Dt. 22:28 “If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days.
Based on a double-restitution principle we might guess that a standard dowry might have been about 25 shekels of silver. This compares to a fornication rape of the un-betrothed girl which carried a penalty of 50 shekels.
Besides visualizing how this would supercharge trust and good relationship between the groom and future in-laws, think how this would do much to repair our fornication, STD, and feticide problems. Of course, it would also mean we may have to bring back indentured servitude (but that also solves a multitude of social ills). When there is sexual activity before marriage / betrothal, the civil magistrate stands behind the girl's entitlement of dowry with a sword. This can be grace for the irresponsible boy, to knuckle under and invest his wealth not in vain, but by seeking to improve a shameful situation. Even if this threat of loss fails to serve as prevention, realizing he is now going to have to part with the money, it would be powerful motivation to put his energy towards transforming a bad situation and putting energy toward developing the relationship with father and daughter to persuade and pursue commitment of marriage. Even if the offender is not acceptable to father and daughter, it does increase the girl's options for future plans.
Ex 22:2 “If the thief is caught ... He shall surely make restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
In the event (extremely likely these days) the boy has insufficient capital, there is the opportunity to get to know the family closer by working for them in an indentured-servant relationship. There would still be freedom for both parties if other arrangements were more desirable or practical. Perhaps the boy's skills would be mis-matched to the kind of work the Dad has any involvement with, or maybe they do not have interest or willingness to be in a productive master/servant relationship. In that case, he could work for someone else, but he has to persuade of his worth and convince someone else to pay his debt to the girl's dad. Notice how God’s rules for indentured servitude protect the property, labor, and freedom of each participant in contracts:
Dt. 15:12 “If your kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him free. 13 When you set him free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. 14 You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the LORD your God has blessed you. 15 You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. 16 It shall come about if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; 17 then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.
If this is Biblical truth, we should try practicing it. It is hard not to see the tremendous grace it would be to all families involved, the economy, and the culture.
The bridge from the positive, preventative side of the fight to promote proper heterosexual, complementarian love and practical economics adds capital punishment for Biblical adultery to the above encouragement for dowry, and fornication-crime requirements. These would go a long ways to strengthen the family unit, increase the birth rate, and economically enrich the home to be an enduring launching-pad for mature adults enabled, in their turn, to love and provide for their own.
My impression, from a study of US history, is that we increasingly abandoned (starting in the Northern Unitarian apostasy) capital punishment around 1830. This corresponded to the societal shift way from believing Jesus was God-the-Son, and ethical authority for civil and moral law as seated Emperor of earth. If God is the giver of life, He certainly retains the right to direct when that physical life should be terminated. As I will try to prove, He also retains the right to discipline those who refuse to carry out His wishes in this regard.
Gen 9:5 Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed,
For in the image of God
He made man.
The image-of-God connection, I believe, is the connecting-link with the other, non-murder-type capital crimes God describes in the Mosaic legislation. The public sacrifices of idolatry, blaspheming God's name, contumacy against the magistrate, homosexual acts, adultery, rape, bestiality, kidnapping, and perjury-in-a-capital-offense – they share the sense of smashing at God's image in man in a major way.
Besides the summary statement in Gen. 9, an examination of the case law and a few basic stories from Bible history -- I believe there is a persuasive case to be made for expecting God's severe (if delayed) attack against the responsible men of a generation who refuses to put to death those whom God has "put under the ban". When He says a human act calls for the death penalty, we could think of it as sending the criminal up to a higher court of appeal.
In our generation, I believe we have slipped off the truth in all three junction points:
We confuse the definition of crime: “if man sheds man’s blood..”
We call feticide abortion, but abortion doesn't have to mean anything worse than early birth, from which there is the possibility of harm (from the classic passage Ex 21:22). We err in failing to word it as the murder of killing MAN, as Gen. 9:5,6 puts it.
We reject the definition of punishment: “…by man his blood shall be shed.”
Then, even if we call it murder, we seldom connect that solidly with the necessity that murderers deserve the full justice of a timely trial with adequate witnesses and due process, followed by physical execution.
We ignore the consequence on a lenient society: “…I will require…”
We fail to appreciate the God’s warning: "I will require the life of man". He will eventually "take the life" of the responsible men of a society who refuse to execute those He defines as capital criminals.
I will focus on this, since I'm sure you are already familiar with purely-rational arguments like:
[Capital punishment prevents 2nd offenses] and
[burden-the-taxpayer-for-life-imprisonment] and
[Death penalty is deterrent]
The short-passage proof-texts seem to be:
Gen 22:22 You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; 24 and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
Prov 22:22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
Or crush the afflicted at the gate;
23 For the LORD will plead their case
And take the life of those who rob them.
The shortest story-passage is found in 1 Kings 20:35-43
42 He said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life shall go for his life, and your people for his people.’” 43 So the king of Israel went to his house sullen and vexed, and came to Samaria.
In this case it appears because of Ben-Hadad's direct challenge (Yahweh was on the same plane as all the other imaginary gods of the nations) that Yahweh considered him "under the ban" (the phrase for "holy war"). Being specially marked out for execution by God; King Ahab was responsible to kill the Syrian king, following through on the military victory that God provided. Instead he forges a favorable trade agreement with Ben-Hadad. So, the prophet reminds Ahab of the application of Gen. 9:5,6, that -- since he did not execute the capital criminal -- God will be requiring Ahab's life.
As far as other stories that illustrate this principle, we all might first think of Sodom and Gomorrah. I'm wondering now, if that story is not primarily centered on other offenses more than the homosexual-act angle that people usually think of. The men of these towns had been escalating their rebellion against God for a long time (like America). But think how it was offensive when they directed their attack against even God's angels, and the human (Lot) that had been the earthly second-cause for Abram's rescue from their deportation and slavery under Chedolaomer's coalition forces. If Lot had not been captured with Sodom's population, Abraham would never have given chase to rescue the people and plunder. So instead of gratefully honoring Lot for being the occasion of their rescue from death and slavery, they threaten Lot with homosexual rape. God describes this high-handed, prideful, ungrateful, dishonoring of Lot (and through Lot -- Abraham, and God Most High, Possessor of Heaven and Earth, Who had strengthened Abraham for the rescue) an “outcry” that had reached up to heaven.
The affair of the Benjamite men (Judges 19ff) of Gibeah in the last chapters of Judges is an even stronger lesson. This reminds us of Sodom, and here the attack against the Levite's concubine, is both an attack against the marriage-image of God in man, as well as an attack against the Levite as the Bible teacher and representative of God through His word. Twice God confirms to the confederated tribes to execute the Benjamite criminals, as well as all the Benjamite men - as long as they are trying to protect the guilty from God's justice. If the men of Gibeah would have "thrown their heads over the wall" when the confederated tribes appealed for them to participate with them in executing God's wrath against the guilty individuals -- they would have saved their own lives, and the lives of their wives and children. Only a few men would have had to die. Instead the 26,000 Benjamites faced the 400,000 soldiers of the Confederated Tribes and said defiantly, "You and who else?” And of course that "who else" was God and His law, so that now His Name was at stake.
If the cities surrounding Gibeah would have refused to take up offense for their guilty relatives, the war would have extinguished only the 700 warriors of the town, along with their families and what few of the other tribes might have been killed in the disciplinary action.
As it was, because the entire tribe rallied to the cause, the total casualty count was over 65,130 Israelite warriors (if we don't count the near-1000 men of Jabesh-Gilead with their families), and all the relations of the 26,100 Benjamites that were slaughtered as their cities were put under the ban. Were the Benjamites loving their brothers? Was it merciful to try to defend them? Was it patriotic to try to take up arms to stand between the wrath of God and those capital criminals He had put under the ban? These are questions American Christians need to wrestle with -- especially those men working as soldiers and policemen. This administration is also attempting to defend those God requires us to execute.
If we assume that the action against Jabesh-Gilead was in accordance with God's law, then we have the Gen 9:5,6 principle demonstrated that God requires us to hazard the blood of our lives in willing support of executing God's capital criminals. Most Christians are in a position similar to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, except that we are not dragging our feet while the majority of our culture around us is urging us on to execute God's wrath against the evil-doers. Instead, it's more like:
Rom 1:32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
The involvement of Phinehas in the Gibeah story reminds us of the earlier, similar, positive story when Phinehas (acting under the authority of religious and civil leaders) interrupted God's direct, general execution of the responsible men (who should have been executing the idolatrous capital criminals instead of participating with them).
Num 25:8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. 9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000. 10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”
How many more men would have died if Phinehas had not have executed the capital criminals? That time they lost almost as many men before Phinehas interposed, as Benjamites died in Judges. How many men might God have killed if the Israelites had not participated with Phinehas to arrest the rebellion against God's law in Gibeah?
Two other stories that illustrate the principle:
2 Sam. 20:20 Joab replied, “Far be it, far be it from me that I should swallow up or destroy! 21 Such is not the case. But a man from the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against King David. Only hand him over, and I will depart from the city.” And the woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.” 22 Then the woman wisely came to all the people. And they cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and threw it to Joab. So he blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, each to his tent.
Compare this relatively-happy ending with the massacre at Gibeah. A "wise woman" like the one in Abel Beth-Maacah, respectfully heeded, could have saved 65,000 lives.
2 Kings 10:18 Then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now, summon all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests; let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal; whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it in cunning, so that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” And they proclaimed it. 21 Then Jehu sent throughout Israel and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And when they went into the house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 He said to the one who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out garments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out garments for them. 23 Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab; and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search and see that there is here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
Now Jehu had stationed for himself eighty men outside, and he had said, “The one who permits any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape shall give up his life in exchange.”
25 Then it came about, as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the royal officers, “Go in, kill them; let none come out.” And they killed them with the edge of the sword;
Those are the little pictures. There are big pictures like: when Joshua came in to Canaan to fulfill God's prophecy to Abraham that the Amorites in the land would be wiped out. For generations, these nations had failed to put to death capital criminals. As we read Judges, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the other prophets, we know that, before God sent raiders and imperial armies to punish His own rebellious people, they evidenced public approval of the capital crimes of murder, human sacrifice, public rituals of idol worship, kidnapping, and adultery.
If the application of these principles is faithful to the way we should interpret the whole Bible, it looks like America should already be experiencing "warning" judgments from God. And, in fact, we should be able to see it. I think most of us do, but we all need encouragement to act on the implications of what we sense is happening. We see one side -- the 55 (now 60?) million lives extinguished through feticide, and we know that has got to be wrong. Not everyone sees what this is going to do to our pension and health-care funding in the decades ahead - when there will be no one to produce the wealth we think we are going to be entitled to in our old age. Mostly people are thinking of the poor Mom, and the "ick" factors -- not so much about the Dad, and how he is affected by the workings of his conscience for eternity. By the way, if you have a professional need-to-know, read "Lime 5", just be advised, the necessary details can’t help being pornographic text. Those folks have had to unearth the gritty details in the process of malpractice litigation in the industry. When you get done, you will understand much better why God says, "Shall I not judge a nation such as this?”
Stopping “abortion” – suddenly or slowly -- does not do away with the buildup of the blood guiltiness of the mass-murders. Whereas, executing murderers of this type should dampen public approval for subsequent murders of helpless and innocent human-beings. But maybe it is too late for the U.S. The burst of extra private contributions to Planned Parenthood (upon the news that the Susan G. Comen Foundation was shifting allocations away from PP) suggest that it really is too late.
No matter how severe God punishes the population of our country, as Creator, Redeemer, and Judge -- He will not have to apologize to anyone. Here is the grace and strength I find in the application of these principles of God's Word:
Because we have allowed capital criminals to escape God's wrath that we were responsible to communicate to them -- sending them up to a higher appeals-court -- we should expect God to "require" those lives at our hand. We should see events unfold that lead to the premature death of many American men. Our physical lives are forfeit, and we should get used to thinking that way. If that is true, we have nothing left to lose in the culture war of proclaiming the crown-rights of our Lord Jesus Christ to our wicked and adulterous generation.
Numbers 35:31 Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 You shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest. 33 So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land in which you live,
It is another application reflected in a Jim Elliot quote:
"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."
We do not deserve to keep our physical lives after the way our nation has behaved in the preceding generations. And if "we be like to die", then let's risk death in the most effective way possible to love God and our Brother, seek first - God's Kingdom, and exert whatever thoughts, words, and actions are required to arrest and reconstruct our culture for the sake of coming generations. Taking this Bible principle to heart would harness our natural motivations of self-defense for the cause of righteousness.
Slowly reducing the incidence of feticides in the country is a wonderful effect of the hard work of many gracious people. However, it does not do away with the buildup of the blood-guiltiness of the feticides. Executing the murderers of this type would provide the “expiation” Numbers 35 promises, besides providing the maximum deterrent possible in this fallen world.
I believe one of the valid areas of exertion is to remind the Church and the pagan culture around us of this Biblical principle that God will "require". Pastors should be teaching this to their congregations. Congregations should be appealing to their pastors. Neighbors should be reminding neighbors. Fathers should be teaching their children. Children should be appealing to their parents -- lest the Lord come and smite the land with cursing more bitter than what we are already experiencing. When the principle men of a local congregation of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ go with their pastor and sit down with the governor or legislators of their State and explain:
We are sorry we haven't been mentioning this for 170 years, but the Bible has been saying, and most of the history of the Christian church did bear witness to this truth, that the culture dies if it refuses to execute God's criminals. Here's what the Bible says. Here's where you can see it proven out in history. Here is where our State laws and will-of-the-people have been taking us. Here is what is already happening. Now you can see where it is going. Do you want these things to happen to the people of your State? Do you realize the Lord Jesus Christ will hold you personally accountable in His final judgment for your role in these events?"
"Just thought you would like to know. Oh, and that we will be praying that you will have wisdom and courage to do the right thing in fulfilling your oath of office through the authority He has given you. Now we realize that you probably won't believe all this, but our church will be praying for you that God will graciously open your eyes to His love for you, and the complete provision for the penalty of all your guilt in the redemption of Christ, as well as the wisdom of His law that always brings men to greater life, freedom, and prosperity. Of course, if you end up not responding to His plan, we will be responsible to pray that He will remove your from your position of leading the population to what is sure to destroy them."
"We're just sayin'".
But it is not just “us saying”, it is the historical interpretation of the best-selling book in all of human history saying this. Cultures that take these principles seriously are free and prosperous; like Cromwell's England, America's Colonies – instead of France's blood-soaked streets, or the starving-fields of Russia, Ukraine, China, and Cambodia.
I believe that God will not bless any efforts of rolling back feticide in our land -- except those efforts that glorify the Son of God, the Word of God, and the Church of God. Republican, Christian, Conservative political action will not accomplish this (if you haven't figured this out by now). Man, by man's methods, will not succeed in this. If Man could fix it by His own wisdom, it would glorify Man. Common Sense, Pluralism, Religious Freedom, Science, or Philosophy will never fix this. God will not share His glory with another. How it usually works out, is that - when the Church finally has tried everything else and finally gets around to blurting these truths, the World will get mad (Why didn't you tell us earlier?) and the persecution will escalate. This is where God starts to arouse Himself on behalf of the Church.
Think of what God will be motivated to do when the Church communicates His character and law to the unwilling pagans. When we tell them what happens when they don't obey God, and then they don't do it? Do you think God will not act, lest the World be tempted to say, "See I told you so. There is no God. Let Him do good or evil so that we can see it." You know that's when the fireworks start.
There are examples of serious judgment commencing after a 40-year grace-period. There are ominous signs that God's patience has run out. Consider the feticide-related elements of the Affordable “Care” Act. It is bad enough that your tax money is being used to pay mothers to murder their offspring. Now business owners are going to be forced to pay providers to cover drugs and procedures as well. Doesn't logic tell us this is not a “Christian” or a “religious” thing? This is a human issue....
If man shed's man's blood....
Remember how some congressmen in the US House were holding out on passing the legislation until Obama promised an executive order that no Federal money would ever go towards abortions? How is that working out for us? Now (2015) we are paying for it through insurance premiums instead of through taxes.
If these applications are off the mark, by all means broadcast your own proposal that is more efficient, more just, more likely to be accepted by more people – but most of all – more faithfully representative of the revelation of God in the Bible. And quick, before more blood-guiltiness builds up on the Land.
Another proof that there is no place to hide on this feticide issue is that each of us are caught between God’s imperative that we witness to the truth when required, and that we avoid perjury. God requires that we not bear false witness, and the penalty of falsely accusing someone of a crime, is that we should receive the same type of punishment that our defendant would have received if convicted. If we fail to produce truthful witness when required, we shall “bear our guilt”, which I take to be, if not the same as above, at least some follow through by God Himself.
Lev 5:1 ‘Now if a person sins after he hears a public adjuration to testify when he is a witness, whether he has seen or otherwise known, if he does not tell it, then he will bear his guilt.
Dt 19:15 “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16 If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
These principles behoove us to be careful about taking a position on matters of capital offense, and then after settling on a conclusion. Stand fast until more certain information is validated. On Feticide, if you are taking the Biblical application that it is murder of Man, made in the image of God, you can’t help accusing mother, father, doctor, nurse, (not to mention public officials who advocate, defend, & insist on using other people’s tax dollars to pay for – this type of murder) – of a capital crime. If you are false in accusing this, you come under blood guiltiness before God and man. On the other hand, those who defend these personal and official actions of taking the life of the man in the womb, because of their testimony that these actions are not a capital crime – have the consequence of implying that you are a false witness in accusing defendants of capital crime, which defendants are innocent of. If their position were true, then you would be deserving of death, or all the associative lesser penalties depending on the directness of your involvement.
In other words, there is no place to hide.
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Addendum:
On the topics of how pastors might faithful preach the responsibility on the Church and the true nature of feticide, I recommend the 01/24/88 sermon "The Church's Response to Roe vs Wade" from Reformation Covenant Church (Oregon City). To show how far we had already drifted from Biblical law since the 1850's, Pastor Dennis Tuuri highlights one of the relatively unknown arguments for the court’s decision to overturn the Texas law. One of the Justices pointed out that the Texas law to punish the doctor with a few years of jail time was inconsistent with the claim that the fetus was a person on two counts: The 3 or 6-year sentence came far short of the capital punishment proper to anyone convicted of murdering a completely innocent and helpless person; and, in no case, is the father or mother punished at all. They only doubled the jail years on the doctor if the feticide was done against the will of the mother.
Should God not judge a nation such as this?
leperwatchman@yahoo.com
