Fruit of the Spirit

For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth...Eph 5:9

Winter 2005                                                            Volume 6, Issue 1

Things That Were Written Aforetime...

Lessons in Old Testament Scripture...Romans 15:4

 

HANDS THAT SHED
INNOCENT BLOOD

PROVERBS 6:17

"There are six things which Jehovah hateth; Yea, seven which are an abomination unto Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood; A heart that deviseth wicked purposes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief, A false witness that uttereth lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren" (Prov 6:16-19).

This proverb has a modern-day application to the practice of abortion. In this blunt context, there is a brief catalog of traits which the Holy God of heaven abhors. One of these is “hands that shed innocent blood.” It should be noted first of all that the law of God makes provision for the execution of the murderer (Gen 9:6; Ex 21:12; Rom 13:4), and yet the Old Testament attempted to prevent rash executions in which the innocent might be put to death (Deut 19:7-10). The death of one guilty of a capital crime, however, was not the shedding of innocent blood.

There is perhaps no practice today that illustrates the shedding of innocent blood more than the bloody phenomenon of abortion. More than one million innocent babes are slaughtered annually in their mother's bodies. The unborn child is not merely a mass of tissue. It is: living; human; innocent. Abortion is, therefore, the shedding of innocent, human blood. God will hold accountable those who engage in, assist, or endorse this vile practice. Those who support the practice of abortion do so based on the notion that a pre-birth “fetus” and a post-birth “baby” are two entirely different things.

Yet neither the word of God nor common sense allows for such a distinction. When the virgin Mary learned that she was pregnant, and that she would bear the Christ child, she journeyed to the hill country of Judea and sought out her kinswoman, Elizabeth. Elizabeth, of course, was also pregnant with the child who would come to be known as John the Baptizer.

Luke, the medical doctor (Col 4:14) and historian, declares that when Mary greeted Elizabeth, “the babe” (John) leaped in her womb (Luke 1:41; cf. 44).

The Greek word here employed by Luke is brephos. It is a term that is used in the Greek New Testament to denote either a pre-born or post-born child. It is a term that is used in the Greek New Testament to denote either a pre-born or post-born child. Unlike some modern religionists, who support the notion that the entity within the womb is a mere blob of tissue to be disposed of at will, the inspired writers of the Bible

consider the unborn human to be a child in every sense of the word - as much a "baby" as a newborn infant. He or she is not just a fetus; there is a child in the mother's body.

The fact is, when Dr. Luke presents the record concerning the birth of Christ, he says the shepherds were told that they would find a "babe" lying in a manger (Luke 2:12). Luke again employs brephos. From the divine viewpoint, the product of human conception is a baby - both before and after birth.

It is no more justifiable to take the child's life before its birth than it would be to dispose of it after birth. In either case, the crime is murder. Thus, beside Luke 1:41 write: The pre-birth human is a "baby" - as much as the post-birth child is. See Luke 2:12 for the same word.

Wayne Jackson
Stockton, Ca.

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Inside...
Page 1 - Perhaps It'll "Magically" Appear | Page 2 - Faithfulness Vs. Boredom
Page 3 - Prison Report | Page 4 - Old Testament Studies
Page 5 - The Good Shepherd, Part 1 | Page 6 - Liberty & Love
Page 7 - Christian Evidences | Page 8 - Rejoicing Servants
Page 9 - The Christian Home | Page 10 - Continuations
Page 11 - The Children's Page | Page 12 - Announcements / Continuations

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