Protecting the unborn in America

What I am about to say is not going to surprise too many people.

On the one side there will be those who will be wringing their hands because a preacher has dared speak out on what some deem a political issue, even though they have yet to prove the preacher can ever lose his First Amendment free speech rights to speak out on what is a moral issue that has been politicized. On the other side, they will say that it is no great surprise the father of 11 children is absolutely against abortion.

What you need to know today is what God says about America’s abortion addiction. Today, if you will only listen, God wants you to know that he is absolutely against it. And the first thing he wants you to know is that the child within the womb is called fruit, not a fetus.

In Exodus chapter 21, God said to Moses: “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her …”

Just like all the rest of God’s creation, God created mankind with the ability to reproduce itself, thereby guaranteeing a continual lineage out into the future. This is what children represent and is the thought behind Psalm 127 where the psalmist says, “the fruit of the womb is his reward.”

It is also the thought Moses conveys to Israel before they enter the promise land for them to be sure to keep God’s covenant with them and thus insure his blessing. In Deuteronomy 7 he says, “And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb …”

In all of scripture, God’s blessing always began with the fruit of the womb, above and beyond all other material blessings. And conversely, it was always a curse when that fruit was destroyed. Today, America’s addiction to abortion represents God’s curse on our land. What’s more, enemies are they who do destroy this fruit. In Isaiah 13, speaking of the Babylonians, avowed enemies of Israel, the prophet says, “Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb.”

The second thing God wants you to know is that fruit is so precious to him that he calls on men to protect it. Notice how Exodus 21 continues: “… he shall surely be punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”

While I realize it may not be politically correct, God all the same put responsibility on the males to defend the family. And why? Because women are created the weaker vessels, as identified by Peter in his first epistle. And Paul adds to this a woman’s greater susceptibility to deception, especially with regard to pregnancy, in First Timothy chapter 1.

Let’s put this in modern-day perspective. Are we to believe that a young girl under tremendous pressure from a boyfriend who thinks so little of her that he won’t marry her and provide for her and that baby is capable of making the right decision? Can she be assured of the truth from those who depend on women in her situation to keep their very doors open?

And why are we to believe that most parents are dysfunctional, but not government employees or abortion practitioners? Who has the greater vested interest? At this moment in her life, this young lady needs a man to stand in her defense, and his name is Dad.

Lastly, God wants you to know that punishment for this crime will be meted out. In Exodus 21, God ends by saying, “And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life.”

Again, in the whole of scripture, when innocent blood is shed, God expects man corporate to avenge it by shedding the blood of the murderer. And let me tell you, a babe within the womb is absolutely innocent. It had nothing to do with its conception and it sure did nothing to cause an abortionist to extract it from its mother’s womb.

The truth is that abortion, in God’s eyes, is a capital crime. The sad part is that we would call it cruel and unusual to use the death penalty in like manner as it was performed on that little one. But be assured, that even as God is loving, so is he just, and those with the blood of these innocents on their hands will stand before him some day, and they shall not escape.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or ron.hamman@gci.net.