A Response to New York and Iowa.
Soften Our Hardened Hearts
In light of the recent horrific stance New York has taken on abortion making it legal to have abortions right up until the baby’s birth, I wanted to write and make my voice heard. Hot on the heels of New York, Iowa took a stance. If passed it would be the strictest stance in America to date, that if a heartbeat is detected a physician cannot perform an abortion. This would mean no abortions after around 6 weeks of pregnancy. The logic being that if death is determined by the stopping of a heartbeat, then life should surely be determined by when the heartbeat starts.
While Iowa’s stance is much more preferable to me than New York’s, it’s still not good enough.
Just as disturbing as the killing of babies is the reaction of many: a reaction of celebration. How dark is Man’s heart that we would celebrate something so tragic instead of seeking compassion and care for those in extremely difficult situations? What will drive us to finding solutions that bring life to all? I pray light will break through and God will reach in and soften our hardened hearts.
The Spilling Of Innocent Blood
God takes the spilling of innocent blood so seriously. There are clear Biblical laws regarding this issue. Genesis 9:5-6 is the first divine judicial statement in the scriptures. God says whoever sheds innocent blood, his blood must be shed to atone for it. He will demand an accounting for that life - this is not a suggestion but a divine requirement.
In Revelation 6:10, spilt innocent blood literally cries out for justice and again God promises that it will be avenged one day. If we do not stand up against the spilling of innocent blood, then God will take this judgement from our High Courts to His High Court.
Satan Hates God's Image
God formed each and every one of us, we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-18) in His image (Genesis 9:6). Could this be one of the reasons God is so strong on the shedding of innocent blood? Every time someone is killed it’s the destruction of a reflection of His image and Satan hates God’s image.
Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..."
If we were in His heart before we even entered into the womb, then the argument of whether a baby is alive in the womb is null and void. It’s already been decided that life is of value, even from before its creation.
Throughout history there have been times of child sacrifice and government authorized killings of babies; from the days of Moses (Exodus 1) to the time of Jesus (Matthew 2). Psalm 106:36-37 and Numbers 35:33 state that "innocent blood" and "the blood of their sons and daughters polluted the land."
All over the world spilt innocent blood cries out to God for justice. How many millions of people around this world are shedding the blood of the innocent and polluting our land through slavery, abortion, and persecution, just to name a few?
God’s stance when it comes to children is serious. As seen in Matthew 18:6, God says it is better to put a millstone around your neck and cast yourself into the sea than cause a little one to stumble. Yet all around us there is a shedding of babies’ blood on the altar of our convenience.
An Account Is Demanded
The world will stand in judgment for the times we have been quiet during injustice, while innocent blood has been spilt on the soil of our nations. The Church and our nations will be held accountable for being quiet about abortion for so long. Psalm 9:12 says, “He who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cries of the afflicted.” God avenges blood, He does not forget their cry. He takes the spilling of innocent blood - from the blood of martyrs, slaves, and aborted babies - so seriously that He was even willing to hold back His forgiveness and destroy Judah (2 Kings 24).
There is a pollution problem far bigger than Global Warming, and it’s crying out for a day of reckoning. We must look after our world, but looking after the environment whilst staying silent on the issue of the shedding of innocent blood is extremely counterproductive.
Sons and daughters were sacrificed to idols in Canaan. People were sacrificed to Baal to be blessed. Demons demand blood for their empowerment, that’s why blood is offered up in witchcraft. We have blood that is crying out and it is empowering the demonization of our nations (Psalm 106:36-38).
Our idols may look different, but we are sacrificing all the same to idols like convenience, financial gain, power, peer pressure, and so on.
Whose Responsibility?
People say these are political issues. However, they are not political - they are moral issues. Slavery was not a political issue, it was a moral issue. God hates injustice. In order for laws to be changed we often have to see a moral transformation in society, then society demands a change in law.
God tells us if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, He will hear from heaven and heal our land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
All that being said, we must be careful not to condemn those who have been involved with the spilling of innocent blood through being recipients of abortion. I can only imagine some of the horrific situations people have had to walk through to bring them to that decision. Love and compassion should always be our focus.
What I can’t do is let my own experiences, biases, or inclinations affect how I read God’s word. Ultimately God loves us more than we love each other, and He knows what is best.
It’s all of our responsibilities to stand, not just against something, but for something. Let’s not just stand against abortion, but raise our voices in support of fostering and adoption, for the unity of family, and the strength of community.
- Andrew