Life for Life
Exodus 21:22-25
Once each year the clergy of the Reformed Episcopal Church are asked, by their bishops, to preach a sermon on a particular subject. This is the only Sunday of the entire year that we are required to do so, which would lead one to believe that the topic is an important one. Not only is it important, but in our society today, quite controversial. It can bring out emotions like no other topic in this country can. It has lead to violence, and is a hot-button issue among both politicians and citizens. It not only separates progressives from conservatives, it has led to much strife within Christ’s church. According to the Center for Disease Control and the Alan Guttmacher Institute, it is directly responsible for 48,589,993 deaths in the United States from 1973 to 2006. Worldwide, it takes approximately 46 million lives each year. We are of course talking about abortion.
From a Biblical Christian Worldview perspective, abortion has always been considered an atrocity toward mankind and blatant disobedience of God’s commandments and His Holy Scripture. The sixth commandment clearly states, “You shall not murder”. To the “true Christian” the meaning is clear and cannot be interpreted in any way other than what it was intended. We are not going to debate the meaning of a “true Christian” but instead concede that from the very beginning of the Christian church, abortion has been considered murder.
The “Didache (literally, “The Teaching”) of the Twelve Apostles” is the earliest instruction manual we have of first century Christianity. It contains instruction on the “path of life” and the “path of death”. It also includes basic teachings on Christian practices such as Baptism and Communion.
The second chapter of the Didache is based in the second great commandment, Love thy neighbor as thyself: “And now the second commandment of the teaching. Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not engage in pederasty (sodomy), do not engage in sexual immorality. Do not steal, do not practice magic, do not use enchanting potions, do not abort a fetus or kill a child that is born.” (ii, 1,2)
Where would the “Twelve” have received that teaching from? The answer of course is found in scripture itself. In the 21st chapter of Exodus we read; "When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life…” Exodus 21:22-23
What this passage is saying is that if there were two men fighting and one of them accidentally hit a pregnant women standing nearby, and she bore the child or in the case of twins, children, and no one was injured, the man would have to pay a fine imposed by the father and agreed upon by judges. This fine had to be paid because of the possibility of injury. If however the mother or child were killed during the incident, it would cost the man his life. “But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life…” 23a
This passage carries with it some very interesting implications. The first observation we should make is that this is a case of accidental abortion and not intentional abortion. If the penalty for accidentally hitting a woman and causing her to lose her baby is death, it should go without saying that deliberate abortion is prohibited by this case law.
Secondly, if the penalty for accidental abortion is death, how much more would the penalty be for intentionally inducing an abortion?
The third thing we notice is the fact that even if no injury is inflicted upon either the mother or the child, the man must still pay a fine. It is clear from this teaching that there is special protection for both the mother and her fetus in this law.
The fourth thing we should notice is that God takes this protection of mothers and children, born and unborn, very seriously. How do we know this? Listen to the words of God in Deut. 22; "If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.” Deuteronomy 22:6-7
If a bird and her young are important enough for God cover under His law, you can bet a mother and her unborn baby are.
To say or teach that this passage does not address the issue of abortion is to deny the clear teaching of it. Arguing about when human life begins is superfluous because any harm to a mother or her fetus is against biblical principles and God’s law. No Christian can, in good conscience, deny that.
Others however, passionately deny that an unborn child has any kind of protection whatsoever and many spend their lives ensuring the rights of mothers to kill their children. Most people consider the Roe v. Wade decision the beginning of the major atrocities against the unborn, but the slaughter began long before that. “In 1946, the Inez Burns abortion case in San Francisco led to the realization that, whereas the annual births were 16,000, the annual abortions in the city numbered 18,000. (Rushdoony, Institutes of Biblical Law, Vol.1, p265)
In 1958, before accurate records were being kept, the estimated number of abortions in the U.S. ranged from 200,000 to 1.2 million. The killing of innocent unborn children is not a recent problem. The biggest question may be; “why are women aborting their children?” The reasons they give may shock you.
· 25% feel they are not ready for the responsibility
· 23% feel they can’t afford a baby
· 19% don’t want any more children
· 8% say it is because of relationship problems
· 7% feel they are not mature enough
· 4% because it will interfere with education or career plans
· <1% because parents or partners want the abortion
· <6.5% for other reasons
These are the reasons given for approx. 93% of all abortions. The other 7% have to do with the health of the mother or baby and <0.5% are do to rape or incest. It is believed that the majority of women receiving abortions are married.
Here are some numbers from 2003 that are shocking.
· 1,287,000 abortions
· 3500 abortions a day, approx. one every 25 seconds
· 312 abortions for every 1000 births
· In 2003 alone, more children died from abortion than Americans died in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars combined.
· The average cost for an abortion is $372 and the abortion business is a $400 million a year industry.
(Source, National Right to Life)
That last number may have something to do with the reason so many, fight so hard, to keep abortion legal. And although these numbers may be hard to comprehend, there is some good news to report. From a high of 1,608,600 abortions in 1990, the number dropped to 1,287,000 in 2004 and seems to be continuing to trend downward. Unfortunately, some of that is due to RU486, the “morning-after pill”, but there are reasons to be optimistic.
If what is coming out of Hollywood is a reflection of society, things may be starting to change. In the past year there have been no less than five movies released that have dealt with the abortion issue head on. In every case, life has won out over death. The heroes of these films have been the women who have decided to take responsibility for their actions instead of just getting rid of the problem.
With the advancement of ultrasound screening and the internet, young people are getting to watch babies as young as 24 days old in their mother’s wombs. They can see the baby’s heart beating and they know in their own hearts that they are watching a human being and not some object that can be discarded just because someone from Planned Parenthood says it can.
Ultrasound technology is the fastest growing tool for changing the minds of women who are considering aborting their children. Some states are considering laws that would require women to get an ultrasound before the abortion procedure so that they are fully aware of what they are about to do and to whom. When an expectant mother can see the miracle growing inside of her, many times they will chose to let the baby live.
In our own state of Colorado a young lady by the name of Kristi Burton is fighting for the rights of the unborn. Kristi has successfully added a human life amendment onto the state ballot for next November’s election. “The measure…would define fertilized eggs as human beings and afford them state constitutional protection.”(World) If the amendment passes it would guarantee the rights of the fetus under the 14th Amendment, sending Roe v. Wade back to the Supreme Court.
All over this country Christian men and women are fighting for the rights of the unborn. It’s what Christians need to be doing and what we are called to do. If we don’t do it, no one else will. How we do it is up to the individual but the point is that we all need to be doing something. We must speak up for those who have no voice.
48,589,993 children deprived of life in the past 35 years. How we explain that to God, I have no idea. We are not asking “life for life” like God calls for in Exodus 21, what we fighting for is life itself. This is a case of Christian Worldview v. Secular Humanism; Good v. Evil; Right v. Wrong; Life v. Death.
We may have to preach on this subject once a year, and you may have to listen, but the slaughter continues on a daily basis. Each one of us must do our part to end this insanity. If you can pray, then pray. Pray for every volunteer in every pregnancy center in America. Pray for the women that are considering an abortion that God will show them another way. Pray that God will place men and women in authority that fear Him and love His word. Pray that God will not take away His lamp stand and bring judgment upon this country. Pray it is not too late to turn this country back towards its creator and sustainer.
Let us pray; O God, whose most dear Son did take little children into his arms and bless them; Give us grace, we beseech thee, to entrust the souls of the unborn to thy never-failing care and love, and bring us all to thy heavenly kingdom; through the same thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen……