Rev. Daniel Fleischer
“…Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:28). [It is the will and blessing of the Creator God that husband and wife populate the earth].
“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them…” (Psalm 127:3-5). [God bequeaths children to parents, Genesis 33:5].
If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe” (Exodus 21: 22-25). [He who bequeaths children to husband and wife, takes it seriously when a woman with child in the womb is abused].
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16). [From conception the Lord God sees, oversees, and knows the child in the womb].
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5). [The Lord has a plan for the child in the womb].
“And Hazael said, “Why is my lord [Elisha, the prophet] weeping?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child” (2 Kings 8:12). [Cruelty of any sort against anyone including children within the womb is ungodliness and invites divine judgment against the perpetrators who do not repent].
“Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14). [The children were being physically brought to Jesus for blessing. To deny them such blessing is an offense against children whom Jesus loves. To destroy a child, a living soul within the womb, loved of the Lord, is the ultimate offense. It denies the child the new birth through baptism and the Word. Of the causer of such offense the Lord says, “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6)].
A child in the womb is a living being. (Luke 1:42,44). Mary was carrying in her womb the Child, miraculously conceived “of the Holy Spirit,” (Matthew 1:20). Within her womb was the incarnate Son of God Whose name was Jesus. The eternal Word, (John 1:1), became flesh and dwelt among us, (1:14). “Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh…” (1 Timothy 3:16). When Mary came to Elizabeth, the child (John) within the womb, said Elizabeth, “leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1:44).
The difference between our conception and existence in the womb and that of Jesus was, first, the manner of His conception. “He was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary.” Second, there is the contrast expressed by David, “Behold I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). In the God-Man, Christ Jesus there was no sin. On the other hand, like us, from the moment of His conception, the Heavenly Father saw, oversaw, and knew the Child Jesus in the womb. He was cared for by Mary and her husband, Joseph. After nine months the child was born, just as we. There was never a time or a moment from the conception to His birth during which the incarnate Son of God was anything else than a living being within the womb.
“When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law…” (Galatians 4:4). Jesus was born to die, not according to the deceitful will of sinful man, but according to the will and purpose of His Heavenly Father. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Had our Lord Jesus not been born we would yet be in our sin and under condemnation to hell.
From a purely temporal, rationalistic, ungodly point of view, in today’s world Jesus may not have seen the light of day. As it was, the Child in the womb of Mary, brought to term, was taken by Joseph and Mary to Egypt, having been warned that “Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him” (Matthew 2:14).
How blessed are all reading this that the Lord God has watched over them from conception to the present moment. How blessed are all who were sired and born of Christian parents who counted the lives of their children precious and received them as gifts of God and who brought them to baptism that “through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5) they were born anew into His family and nourished in the faith unto salvation. How blessed are the children of parents who faithfully brought them up in the faith, that in this present evil world they should have hope of eternal life! How blessed are parents today who bring their child(ren) into the world and take seriously their responsibility to faithfully “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).
Amidst an evil and adulterous generation Christians need the reminder that children are a blessing of the Lord. The “State of Hockey” proudly has proclaimed itself a sanctuary state for abortion and infanticide. Proudly it has taken on the ignominious designation, “State of Abortion.” The governor of Minnesota “enshrined the right to abortion and other reproductive health care into Minnesota statutes Tuesday, signing a bill meant to ensure that the state’s existing protections remain in place no matter who sits on future courts” (Associated Press, 1-31-2023). A year later we are told the same governor said, “he is open to the idea of enshrining abortion access in Minnesota’s state constitution.” (our emphasis) According to a Planned Parenthood leader who happens to be of the same progressive socialist party said that since Roe v. Wade was overturned in the Supreme Court “abortions performed in the state have increased by 25% in that time.” The governor “emphasized that he believes the state needs to make sure that Planned Parenthood has ‘adequate funding.’” The lieutenant governor said in a press conference, “Make no mistake that Minnesota will continue to fight to ensure that people have access to gender-affirming care*, to abortion care, and reproductive care overall.” “Democrats already passed a bill during the 2023 legislative session that legalized abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. They also removed language in state statute providing protections for babies who survive abortions while stripping funding from pregnancy centers.” (Emph. ours) (Source: Alpha News, 1-11-2024; online).
It is a civil right in Minnesota to destroy a child in the womb in the name of “reproductive healthcare” or “abortion care.” In Minnesota, whether a resident or not, one can obtain an abortion on a whim. The life of a child who survives an abortion is still subject to being put to death. Scripture calls it evil. It is also sick and even more so when government officials proudly boast and giddily promote what the Heavenly Father calls sin.
Promoters say that Christians who speak against the evil are engaging in politics and accuse them of Christian-nationalism and bias. So be it. It is neither. In the light of God’s Word quoted above and the 5th commandment, “Thou shall do no murder,” the subject is a moral issue. If faithful Christ-believers care about the victims as well as the eternal welfare of the perpetrators, silence is not an option.
In the same vein, a congressman from another state said, “the birth rate in this country is way below replacement level.” It concerns him that this will impact Social Security and Medicare. Further he said—you can’t make this stuff up— “We need immigrants in this country. Forget the fact that the farm vegetables would rot in the ground if they weren’t being picked by many immigrants—many illegal immigrants.” (Blaze Media) At the same time, he promotes abortion. “The right to decide whether to carry or terminate a pregnancy is central to life, liberty, and equality. It is the very essence of what it means to have bodily autonomy, which is a prerequisite for freedom.” (ABC News online) No one disagrees with his reference to “bodily autonomy,” but such autonomy starts with foregoing the activity that leads to pregnancy!
Are we engaging in politics? Only if lying, cheating and hypocrisy are not moral issues. Scripture condemns such things. And most certainly they have an impact on politics which in turn has an impact on the life and social fabric of the nation, as well as of souls that are deceived. “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor” (Ephesians 4:25), expresses a general principle that even the godless should understand. Christians understand that one should first pull the plank out of one’s own eye before pulling the sliver out of the neighbor’s eye. This does not mean that the Christian cannot speak against sin and warn that God will judge impenitent murderers and hypocrites.
Wickedness is not overcome by wickedness. Christians who refuse to contradict their God or demean themselves will not resort to street violence or other untoward activities but will operate within the law on the political front. Love speaks the truth. Within the spiritual, moral framework, they will function in church and state as the apostle wrote: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ… (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
In the repetition of the Decalog, Israel said to Moses: “You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.” Moses responded, “Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever’” (Deuteronomy 5: 27-29)!
The Lord speaks to us through the Scriptures. We must sound the call to repentance, with the prayer that people will repent. The gracious Lord bends His ear to a penitent sinner’s plea, “that it might be well with them and with their children forever.”
As we confess our own sins to the Father, let us pray for the children who are deprived of their time of grace—may God have mercy on them. Let us pray for those who abuse children through abortion, and infanticide, and by their actions demonstrate a selfishness, and a rejection of the blessings of God, a disrespect of His Word and will, and call down His judgment upon the state, the nation, and finally themselves.
God’s Word alone changes hearts and sustains faith in Christ unto salvation and works the sanctified life within each believer. Regardless of the reaction we get, may God, for Jesus’ sake, comfort our heart and move us to faithfully testify to God’s love for the unborn whom the Lord formed and fashioned and for whom He died!
*Another moral issue in which Minnesota is a sanctuary state.
Rev. Daniel Fleischer is a retired pastor, former CLC president, residing in Oakdale, MN.
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