What does the Bible say about abortion? It's a very sensitive topic,
extremely controversial of both pro-choicers versus pro-lifers,
and today we're going to talk about what does the Scripture say. We will also look at the Scriptures
that seem to be used to advocate for abortion. And I will share Scriptures that I believe speak for
the rights of the unborn children. Now concerning abortion, The Center for Reproductive Rights,
an organization dedicated to promoting abortion around the world, estimates that 60% of global
population lives in the countries where abortion is legal and 25% of world population lives
in the places where abortion is restricted. Based on 2008 abortion rates, by the age of 45
almost 1 in 3 women will have had an abortion in the United States. On the average there's about 2
400 human beings are killed by abortion each day in the U.S.A. Most of the victims
weigh less than one ounce, virtually all of them have a heartbeat, 60% are surgically dismembered
and 40% die from medically induced exposure. In the Scripture it's very clear that only human
beings bear the image of God. Humans are unique. God's covenant with Noah specifies that though
humans can kill animals for food, humans are not allowed to kill other humans. It's called murder,
and God holds them responsible. And in fact He executes His punishment on people who murder
other people. And so in the Bible that is the foundation really, of the doctrine, of the
sanctity and the sacredness of all human life. If we look at the Old Testament we will see that God
is pro-life. From the beginning Genesis 1:28 God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply.
If we look at God's people, they were also pro-life. Exodus chapter 1:17-20, where midwives
were commanded by Pharaoh to kill children and they didn't do that, but they feared God because
God is for life, for children and God blessed them and provided for their homes for that. We see also
that unborn children have legal rights. Now Exodus 21:22-23 in ESV reads as the following: "When the
men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her child comes out, and there is no harm,
the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as a woman's husband shall impose on him,
and he shall pay as the judges determine. If there is harm, then he shall pay life for life."
So sometimes this verse is actually used by people who advocate for abortion saying,
"Look, you know the child, the miscarriage happens and this really pretty much proves that, you know
this little child is not a human being." It's actually the opposite. The translation that I've
read to you, ESV the most accurate translation actually talks about if the child comes out
prematurely there's going to be a fine, even if the child is healthy, but if the child dies,
then the person who hit the woman causing her to give birth prematurely, the person has to die. And
so God gave rights to unborn children. We also see that God forms us in the womb. Psalm 103 it talks
about God who made us, not ourselves. And then Job 31:15 it talks about how God made us. It says:
So God created us and fashioned us in the womb.
We see that God knows us from the womb. The famous Psalm, Psalm 139:16.
God calls us from the womb. Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." We see that
in the Old Testament the children's sacrifice was part of a demonic culture and demonic religion all
around Israel's nation. God was very clear not to allow the children to pass through the fire and
sacrifice to a god of Molech. And as well as in Ezekiel 16:20-21. I'm going to read this to you:
So God was saying, "It's one thing you committed adultery, it's another thing but now,
now you took my children." God is calling them His children. Like just because you don't want
them it doesn't mean God doesn't want them. You have to understand these are God's kids. God just
uses us to bring them into the world so He can enjoy His spiritual family. And when we kill them
on the way out of the womb or after they have been born, God gets very upset about that because God
is pro-life. In extra-biblical Jewish literature, we will see for example in the Book of Enoch where
Enoch would declare that an evil angel taught humans how to smash the embryo in the womb.
We see also the first century Jewish historian Josephus, he wrote that the law orders that the
offspring to be brought up and forbids women to either cause abortion or to make away with
the fetus. Now when it comes to the New Testament, the New Testament goes even deeper into advocating
for the unborn, for the rights and for the dignity and that the fact that they are
human beings. For example, a very famous verse in Luke 1:41 where it says: "And it happened,
when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was
filled with the Holy Spirit." So little John in Elizabeth's womb is called babe or a baby. Now
Greek word for that is brethos and it's the same word that is used for Jesus when angels announce
Jesus's birth to shepherds and they said, "You will find a babe." It's the same word
as Elizabeth, as this is describing Elizabeth's baby in the womb, "You will find a babe wrapped in
cloths and lying in manger." Also it's the same word that is used later on in Luke 18:15 where
people were bringing babies, they were not just coming pregnant women. They were bringing actually
babies that were born already to Jesus for Jesus to bless them, and that's the same word that is
used to describe little John in the womb. The fact that Elizabeth calls Mary "the mother of my Lord"
before Mary gives birth indicates she was already a mother. And so that's another confirmation
that children in the womb have value and dignity. If we look at the writings of the early Christians
outside of the New Testament, we will see for example in the Didache 2:2 it commands that
"thou shalt not murder a child by abortion or kill them when born." In the Letter of Barnabas 19:5
it says, "You shall not abort a child." And so both the New Testament, the Old Testament,
extra-biblical writings and the early church advocated for the life
of the unborn. Now concerning abortion, there's been so much speculation, especially online,
of people misusing and quoting the Bible out of context to push the idea that
God supports abortion from the Bible. One of them is when God made Adam He breathed into Adam
and then Adam became a living being. That's in Genesis 2:7. And so the question rises from that,
if Adam's life begun at first breath, then why do Christians insist that life begins at conception?
Well you must understand is that Adam was created but this was not how everyone is brought into
this world. For example none of us were made with God putting dust and breathing His breath
into us. We come out of the womb. Adam didn't have a mother. Adam didn't have an umbilical cord,
you know where he spent nine months in the womb. So Adam's creation shows how the human race begun,
it does not apply to all life since the original creation. Therefore life begins at conception,
not at first breath because Adam's creation does not apply to how you and I come into existence
and into this world. The other component that is used or the other verse that is used
is Numbers chapter 5 where God "supposedly" institutes abortion. Now in Numbers chapter 5
there is this procedure, it's very unusual procedure, known as a jealousy offering.
So if a suspicious husband suspects his wife cheating on him, he would come to the priest
and the priest would prepare a drink offering. Like a bitter drink of holy water mixed with the
dust from the tabernacle floor and he will declare a curse from God. So if the wife
is guilty of adultery, then she would get sick from drinking this water and her belly would swell
and she would no longer be able to have children. Now some people propose that Numbers chapter 5
actually is talking about God giving prescription for priests on how to cause abortion because in
actually NAV Bible translation, in the footnote it uses the word that "she will miscarry",
instead of talking about her stomach being swollen, it says that "she will miscarry." And so,
but we must understand is that however pregnancy is not what the passage is talking about.
It's about the sin of infidelity and pregnancy is nowhere mentioned or even hinted at in the
text. Majority of Bible translations do not translate "she would miscarry." They would
talk about her womb shivering and talk about pretty much the idea that she will not have
children. So this curse of infidelity would lead to barriness, not to miscarriage because in Middle
East at the time, for a woman not to have children was extremely big,
personal disgrace. But let's just for a moment imagine or assume that this verse does talk about
abortion, God causes abortion. It will still not justify woman's personal choice to abortion,
because the accused woman is not exercising her right to choose but God is exercising His
right to judge. The bitter water is not causing the abortion. It is God who brings judgment and
takes life. God is the Author and the Sustainer and the Creator of life and He's the only one
who has the right to take life when He chooses to. Only God can take life, not you and not me.
Well some people will argue, "Well God killed His son, why can't I kill my children?" Well first of
all, it wasn't God who killed Jesus, it was our sin who did, according to Acts 2:23. Secondly,
Jesus willingly gave His life for all of humanity when He gave up His spirit on the cross.
And so therefore you can't use that to justify abortion. Some people say, "Well in the Old
Testament, it seems like in Isaiah 13:18, Hosea 9:16 indicates, it gives us this notion
that God kills unborn fetuses. So why can't I do it if God does it?" You must understand this,
Isaiah prophesied God's judgment on Babylon. Hosea prophesied God's judgment on Israel for their sin
and wickedness. These judgments are punishments not prescriptions. God is the righteous Judge who
judges the wicked. You and I are not God and His judgments are not your prescriptions.
Now you may say, "Well abortion is legal, therefore it makes it right."
Not everything that's legal is right. Isaiah 5:20 says, "Woe to those who call evil good,
and good evil." Holocaust was legal, it wasn't right; slavery was legal, it wasn't
right. People say, "Well you know, abortion is okay when pregnancy happens through rape
and incest." But it doesn't change the fact that another life has been conceived. In fact the Bible
tells us the opposite in Deuteronomy 24:16, that kids shouldn't pay for the sins of their parents.
And abortion really punishes the innocent and lets the guilty go free. God says to punish the guilty
not the innocent. The child shouldn't pay for the terrible crime of rape and incest. The rapist and
the one who commits incest should pay for those crimes and the child should be spared of that
punishment. There's an observation that some people make, that it's better for some children
not to be born because of all the suffering and because of the poverty and abuse that they will
experience, but that is wrong. There's only one reference in the Bible that talks about somebody
should have not been born or it's been better for him if he had not been born, and that's Judas.
And Jesus talked about Judas and He said, "It would have been better for Judas not to be born."
But you have to understand is Judas's choice to betray Jesus was premeditated,
and nowhere did Jesus indicate that it would be right for someone to kill Judas, whether before
or after his birth. We believe every child is wanted by God and God has a purpose for them.
Some people would advocate, "Well if God hates abortion so much why does he allow miscarriages?"
It's important to distinguish between naturally occurring miscarriage and a
deliberate ending of a human life. Even though miscarriage is known as a spontaneous abortion,
it has nothing to do with abortion on demand. Miscarriage is unplanned from a human perspective
but abortion is premeditated and intentional. Due to sin and curses and the fallen world that we
live in today death, accidents and miscarriages do happen but it doesn't give us the right
to go on willfully murdering unborn babies. Some people say, "Well Christians are not pro-life,
they're just anti-abortion." But that is the furthest thing from the truth. The two
commandments that Jesus gave us are to love God and love others. And when God prohibits murder,
He's commanding us to do the opposite: to love. Christians have been at forefront of adoption
and advocating for the rights of children in the womb and children that are handicapped, and
children that have mental illnesses and Christians are fighting for life in the womb and also outside
of the womb. I want to speak to those who have may committed abortion. If you're watching this video,
my desire is not to bring guilt or shame, but my desire is to bring the truth. And the truth of
God's Word is that abortion is murder. It doesn't matter what the culture sells us. We stick with
God's Word because one day we will stand before God. Your own conscience tells you that, that it's
wrong. Abortion leads to a lot of guilt, a lot of regret for a lot of people. It actually opens
the door to a demon of depression and death. And no matter how much you try to forgive yourself,
until you first come to God and ask for Him to forgive you, because it's really against Him you
first have sinned. And ask His blood to wash you and repent of that sin, you will not find peace,
you will not find joy, you will not find forgiveness. There is no forgiveness in
the culture. Our culture is a cancel culture. Only the Gospel and the grace can give you redemption.
So if you've committed abortion, ask God to forgive you, accept God's love and forgiveness.
Forgive yourself because God has forgiven you. God doesn't forgive you because you
forgive yourself. No, you can now let go of the guilt because you were forgiven in Jesus.
Seek professional and pastoral care and some of you might need deliverance.
Visualize God holding your baby and one day you reuniting with your baby. And when God gives you
the strength, serve in some capacity to help other pregnant young women to make a right decision
in life. For those who are Christians and who are kind of like, you are pro-life personally
but you're pro-choice politically. Like imagine if you would say, "You know what,
I'm against slavery personally but I think everyone should be able to have slaves."
Imagine if you would say, "Well I'm personally against killing Jewish people but I don't think
that we should let our religious views affect our political views." Abortion has nothing to do
with politics, it's a moral stance. And I want to encourage you, as a Christian, please reconsider
viewing this as a political view. This is a moral view, that you are responsible to stand for life
and to cry out against a merciless bloodshed that is happening in our culture.
I believe that God will help us to see a day where murdering of unborn babies will be wrong
on the level of the culture, the same way slavery is wrong. Thank you for watching this
video. Let me know in the comments below on your experience with this topic and with this view.
And I ask you please be kind to one another in the comments below. God bless you. Until next time.