(This Bible study is for my evangelical brothers and sisters.
It uses the Protestant Bible.)
“Your eyes saw
my substance, yet being unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the
days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” – Psalm 139.16
What
does the Bible reveal about the value of prenatal life? Does God care about the
unborn child developing in the womb? If God cares, should we? Let’s examine
these questions, and others, in order to give us a Biblical perspective in establishing
our Christian view about abortion.
Who creates
life?
(See Genesis 1.26-27, Genesis 2.4-25, Genesis 5.2, Psalm 100.3, Isaiah 43.7,
Job 10.9-12 & Job 33.4)
Who
is the work of God’s hand? (Isaiah 64.8, Job 31.15)
Does God value
life?
(Deuteronomy 4.32, Psalm 8.4-5, Exodus 20.13, John 3.16, Ecclesiastes 11.5,
Hebrews 2.6-8.)
God’s loving
hand in forming us:
(see Jeremiah 31.3, Isaiah 46.3, 49.5)
God sanctifies
life in the womb.
(Jeremiah 1.4-5, Psalm 22.10b, Psalm 139.13-16.) God even mentions the unborn
baby by name (Isaiah 49.1.)
(nb:
Nelson’s Women’s Study Bible comments
about Psalm
139.13-18: “God
has His eye on us before we were born. These verses avow that personhood does
exist from the time of conception. The psalmist affirms God’s knowledge of his
life from the pre-embryonic stage through death. The Lord weaves and knits together
our beings in the wombs of our mothers (v.13). . . . We are in a real sense
“prescription babies” in that God has a custom design for every individual,
equipping each for specific achievement and purpose (see Isaiah 43.7; Romans
9.20, 1 Thessalonians 1.4).Even the greatest tragedies can be overruled or
transformed to good within the providence of God (Romans 8.28). . . . Even our
worst negative traits can be transformed into positive qualities (Romans 12.2)
God
love all humanity.
(See Malachi 2.10. Nelson’s New
Illustrated Bible Commentary[1] states about this passage that “the use of the
term create calls to mind the great
creation text of Genesis 1.26-27. Deal treacherously:
Because God is the Creator of all humanity (Genesis 1.27), He requires that
humans deal equitably with one another.”)
What
if the unborn child is unwanted? Well, God answered that too. (Isaiah 49.15-16.
Again Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary states about this passage of
Scripture, “The Lord
says: I will not forget you. The nuance of the verb suggests an even
stronger assurance, “As for Me, I am unable to forget you.”)
How then should we respond? (Proverbs 24.11-12,
31.8-9)
It’s an interesting point that we find a comment in Amos 1.13 about God’s anger with
the barbaric ancient wartime practice of opening pregnant women and ripping out
their baby. This is Nelson’s Woman’s
Study Bible comments about this passage:
"Ripping open pregnant women was a means of
controlling the population in neighboring Gilead, alludes to a common wartime
atrocity in the ancient Near East. A sword was used to slash open the stomachs
of pregnant women and rip the unborn baby from the womb (see 2 Kin. 8:12;
15:16; Hos. 13:16). This barbaric practice is documented in an Assyrian text
praising Tiglath-pileser I (about 1100 b.c.)
and in Homer’s Iliad, which advises that not even “the manchild whom his
mother bears in her womb” be allowed to escape from battle. Amos cited this
atrocity as evidence of the depth of depravity of those who consumed the poor,
the weak, and the helpless. For any society, killing the unborn child is the
ultimate sin against the helpless."
The
same Study Bible goes on to comment about the Sanctity of human Life:
“God places special value on human life (Gen.
1:26, 27; Ps. 8:4–6). Human life is sacred because the man and woman alone were
created in the image of God, and that life deserves protection. God commands
His people to protect and defend innocent human life (Ezek. 16:20, 21, 36, 38).
Under the Mosaic Law, the murder of another person deserved punishment by death
because of the value of the life that was destroyed (Gen. 9:6; Ex. 20:13).”
“Scripture extends this special status and
protection to human life in every stage of development and need (Is. 46:3, 4).
The unborn child shares in God’s image (Ps. 139:13–16) and is protected under
Old Testament law (Ex. 21:22–25). Believers are exhorted to defend and care for
the sick, the elderly, and the poor (Lev. 19:32; Deut. 15:7, 8). No one
is excluded from protection and care.”
“Throughout history this biblical view of the
sanctity of all human life has faced opposition—most notably from those who
advocate a “quality of life” viewpoint, suggesting that human life must possess
certain qualities and abilities before it can be considered truly valuable and
worthy of life sustenance. According to this distorted humanistic view, if the
unborn child, the handicapped infant, or the elderly person does not possess
these qualities, that individual is not entitled to the protection which
Scripture or the Law would give.”
“The Bible rejects this “quality of life”
view. The value of human life does not depend upon the person’s functional
abilities or independent viability but is assured because of the image of God
which is found in every human life. God does not measure the quality of a human
being before He bestows His image. God calls upon us to extend our care and
compassion to every life He has created, in every stage of development and in
every need.”
Some
people cite Exodus 21.22-25 in a mistaken view that God places less value on
the unborn child. In fact, this Scripture says the opposite:
“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. [3]
The Evangelical
Commentary on the Bible says the following about the passage above:
“Of
special interest to many Christians are verses 22-25. Unfortunately, most
translations leave the reader with the false impression, which has led in turn
to the wrong application of this passage to the abortion issue. In short, this
law deals with the results of a pregnant woman being struck (accidently) by two
men who are fighting. The result of this unfortunate attack is a “miscarriage”
according to most English translations. The text continues: “[If] there is no
serious injury, the offender must be fined. . . . if there is serious injury,
you are to take life for life, eye for eye ...” (v.23). This has often been
interpreted to mean that a miscarriage occurred. Then the issue becomes how the
mother was affected―the implication
being that the fetus really did not matter; it was not considered a human and
the focus of attention was the mother. This passage is often conveniently used
by advocates of abortion to say that since God did not demand punishment for
the loss of the child, then the fetus did not have image-of-God status.”
“However
the Hebrew of 21.22 literally reads “and hit a pregnant woman so that her
child(ren) come forth, and no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be
fined.” Here the King James and New International translations are helpful. The
Hebrew word for miscarriage is not used
here. Our text portrays a woman being
struck and then delivering prematurely.”
“The very
passage used by some to support abortion, in fact, goes in the opposite
direction. In this case the woman is
accidently struck, but if she or the child dies as a result, then the guilty
party could be sentenced to death. This is the only instance in the Torah where
involuntary manslaughter calls for the death penalty. Generally the guilty
party was to receive refuge from “the avenger of blood” and was not put to
death (Deut. 19.4-10). Injury to the
unborn is the only exception. The reason seems clear enough: God places
high value on the unborn. The law always expresses concern for those least able
to defend themselves.” [ Emphasis added.]
Did Moses’
great instructions to the Israelites have any application to our generation?
“I call
heaven and earth as witnesses today against you,
that tI have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing;
therefore choose life, that
both you and your descendants may live; …”[5]
[1]Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W.
(1999). Nelson's new illustrated Bible commentary (Is 49:15). Nashville:
T. Nelson Publishers.
[2]Thomas Nelson, I. (1997, c1995). Woman's study
Bible . (Amos 1:13). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[3]The
New King James Version. 1982 (Ex 21:24-25). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[5]The
New King James Version. 1982 (Dt 30:19). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
See short video showing development of human life in utero development. Click on image below or this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAZRS5yZHGY
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