THE WORD SPEAKS OF LIFE AND GOD’S VIEWS OF IT
Life in the womb stories in the Word
The Call of Jeremiah
Call of Jeremiah\ 4 The word of the LORD came to me: 5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you,
Take note that the Lord had plans in the womb for Jeremiah!
Now note that God has plans for us to be a prophetic one, too. We are sent as believers in the Truth of God. At Baptism and at Confirmation, you are anointed and commissioned. We may think of ourselves as not able to be such a great witness for God, but God thought we could be even while we were in the womb. God touches Jeremiah’s lips, as He will touch ours—to speak His Word to a believing people (Judah) land not faithful to what God had asked them to be (and sometimes the Church is not faithful to His Word about Life. .
God says to him: …a prophet to the nations I appointed you.* c 6“Ah, Lord GOD!” I (Jeremiah) said, “I do not know how to speak….The Lord said: “To whomever I send you, you shall go; whatever I command you, you shall speak. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you”—oracle of the LORD. 9 Then the LORD extended his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me, “See, I place my words in your mouth!”d 10 Today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms… What do you see, Jeremiah? “I see a branch of the almond tree,”* I replied. 12 Then the LORD said to me: You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to carry it out. 13e A second time the word of the LORD came to me: What do you see? I replied, “I see a boiling kettle whose mouth is tipped away from the north.”* 14 The LORD said to me, And from the north evil will pour out over all who dwell in the land.f 15Look… against all the cities of Judah.g 16 I will pronounce my sentence against them for all their wickedness in forsaking me, In burning incense to other gods, in bowing down to the works of their hands.h 17But you, prepare yourself; stand up and tell them all that I command you.
Jeremiah will challenge Judah’s idolatry of his time, and it was named as wickedness to God. Jesus’ disciples today are to speak to issues like the abortion holocaust being supported in our day, which indeed He calls as wickedness .
God speaks further to His servant prophet: Do not be terrified on account of them…18 For I am the one who today makes you a fortified city, A pillar of iron, a wall of bronze, against the whole land: Against Judah’s kings and princes, its priests and the people of the land.i 19 They will fight against you, but not prevail over you, for I am with you to deliver you—oracle of the LORD.
Prophets for Life also will be the Lord’s fortified ones—for the Lord will be with us. He is our Guard. So, He has asked us to be spokespersons for Him. It is true that we will have people fight against us in the battle for Life (vs. 19a), but the Lord says, I am with you to deliver you (vs. 19b).
Another Bible Story with two Womb stories.
The Visitation Mystery and JB and Jesus in the womb Luke 1 excerpts
The Pre-Coming of John the Baptizer Prophet
According to the practice of the priestly service, Zechariah the priest was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense.e 10 Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering,
11 the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. 12 Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid,* Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.f 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
15 for he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink.* He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb,g
16 and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah* to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”…. h 24 After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months.
The Annunciation 35. And the angel Gabriel explained to Mary, in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born (in you) will be called holy, the Son of God.q
36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived* a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.”r 38 Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
We have the fascinating moment and Joyful Mystery of the child John the Baptist in the womb of Elizabeth and the child Jesus in the womb of Mary. Zechariah has been told of the great prophet coming in his son with Elizabeth; Mary has been told of her carrying in these months ahead to Lord Messiah Himself.
As they meet, the two great lives in the womb of their mothers are hidden still, but soon to be revealed. It is the greatest pro-life moment in Scripture.
We are reminded that babies in the womb have a call and purpose already given by God. What a horror to think of who we have aborted in this world who might have been sent to help with medical cures, or peacemaking, or people to advance the human race in a way that was missed—by their being aborted.
The Angels know of this secret hidden world going on. The Word: “You shall not kill” get broken in so many ways by humankind today, and it’s a wonder we don’t have their tears just flood the world in their watching us do what we foolishly do.
Mary Visits Elizabeth. 39 During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,s 42 cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.t 43 And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord* should come to me? 44 For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed are you who believed* that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”u 46v And Mary said:* “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;w 47 my spirit rejoices in God my savior.x 48For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.y
The infant leaped in her womb. That sounds like a life alive inside, excited to become what he is meant to become. John the Baptist is heralding Jesus even ahead of schedule in the womb. This is not just a literary device in the text, it appears to have happened just as described. What a wondrous moment! What an affirmation of life in the womb. It is incredibly startling to consider that the One JB was heralding early was God in the womb of Mary, the Blessed Son now incarnate, and begun a human life journey within her.
When we consider all human life made in the image and likeness of God, as Genesis 1-2 proclaims, then who are we to take the role of ending that life, if it poses no urgent threat to the mother? Is not the abortion an act against God and His image among us? We would abort ourselves if given the choice, or live?
The PRO-LIFE Word in the Psalms 138-140
A portion from PSALM 138 The Psalm is the Celebration of The Rescuer
Sing of the ways of the LORD: “How great is the glory of the LORD!”
The LORD is on high, but cares for the lowly and knows the proud from afar.
I walk in the midst of dangers, yet you guard my life when my enemies rage. You stretch out your hand; your right hand saves me.
Hear the Word of the Lord: The God of life will be a rescuer on high… who’ll care for the lowly, who are in danger from their enemies. A prayer of the aborted ones who were lowly and opposed by the proud.
God has the final say and judgment. You stretch out your hand that saves me.
We suppose that God has a hidden plan to rescue all the lowly babes who see their enemies rage versus them. God will prevail for them. Yet that doesn’t mean we should keep aborting, knowing that God will ‘fix things.’ This is the sin spoken of in the temptation made upon Jesus by the devil, when the tempter says—Leap off this precipice, for the Lord will rescue you by his angels. Jesus answers; No, and you shall not tempt the Lord thy God in this way!
PSALM 139 The One Who formed me, fashioned me, and planned life for me.
1 [For the leader. A psalm of David.] LORD, you have probed me, you know me: 2you know when I sit and stand;*ayou understand my thoughts from afar. 3You sift through my travels and my rest; with all my ways you are familiar.
4Even before a word is on my tongue, LORD, you know it all. 5Behind and before you encircle me and rest your hand upon me. 6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, far too lofty for me to reach.b
As we live through the Abortion/Anti-Abortion differences, the morality of killing or taking of innocent life has been an evil—according to the Church’s teaching. Only in the arena of war or defense of life or proper protection forces has there been any ‘allowance’ for taking a life. The saving of a life of the mother has been regarded as a reasonable “choice” of having to have to abort a life in the womb. Yet the very high majority of abortions are for convenience sake or the refusal to take responsibility for a babe in womb, as like to put the child up for adoption or foster care or such, if necessary, because of the parent’s inability to raise them.
Yet we serve a God of Life. In Moses’ time it was a fork in the road choice—choose Life, choose God—or be of death and apart from God and His laws. The 5th Commandment also was clear.
Read this Psalm and God shows His fascination for every child, and David writes as like the person spared from death, but instead given life.
As to human considerations being chosen over God’s will for Life– the verse from David says: Before a word is on my tongue, you know it all. You are omniscient. Your knowledge is far too lofty for me. And yet, humankind thinks they know better, and they sin in that way of thinking. If only humankind would realize the worth of each life, it’s dignity!
In the next text, David ponders about the people who’d think they can act apart or secretly from God, and not offend His Life Affirmation. Where do you think you’ll hide from God?
7 Where can I go from your spirit? From your presence, where can I flee? 8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I lie down in Sheol, there you are.c 9 If I take the wings of dawn* and dwell beyond the sea,*10 Even there your hand guides me, your right hand holds me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely darkness shall hide me, and night shall be my light”*—12 Darkness is not dark for you, and night shines as the day. Darkness and light are but one.d
Abortion is a dark sin, but it is forgivable. Yet people choose to try to hide for the Light on it. The Scripture says “There is no place to hide!” Yet indeed it’s a dark place, wherever it is, with one fleeing from God. But why remain in the dark?
The verse has a reference to the sin at Eden, when Adam/Eve thought they could hide from God. Yet from Genesis on we know of our God Who offers us His guiding Hand in Mercy, so as to that we can hold fast to Him again, and walk with Him in life. He is the heartbeat maker, the blood mover, the maker of light and water and air to sustain us. He is also the Breath of Life, and natural Life itself. I think of the righteous man Enoch, who is mentioned in Genesis. God delighted in him and gave him reward for his faith-walking.
II 13 You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb.e 14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know. 15 My bones are not hidden from you,
Modern science can see into the human body, even in the birth processes back to embryonic development. There is a wonder to this 9 month journey which we can secretly see now. We have x-rays to even see our bony self, past our flesh.
B When I was being made in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth.* 16 Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down;f my days were shaped, before one came to be.
God authors a life. Before the man-woman intercourse (or test-tube making of life) God has plans for human life to be. This is all a secret to us. Like the depths of the earth or sea have had their secrets from us on earth. God’s eyes saw us before we were made. God thought of us first, before the creation of us. There is a Book of Life described (such as in Revelation) as a list of humankind and of God’s purposes for them. All are meant to come to Him, as we are born in the image and likeness of God (and in goodness) but the Genesis story also describes a Fall of Man. We fell into sin and separation from God, even while He sees our making as “good.” God sees all our days ahead of us, even before we have started.
God would see all His creatures in His image, the ones born and the ones whom the world would take away in death. He has seen the people taken away in abortion, by wars, by humanity’s utter brokenness and by the fragility of life as we have it now. God can make His provisions for us in secret, as He sees what’s coming upon us. God foreknows. It informs us that God provided a Redeemer for us for the situation posed in the world. We rejoice especially in that Abraham/ Isaiah moment when He revealed that plan. Child sacrifice was evident in the world as a wrong notion and action of pleasing the gods. As Isaiah is on the altar, God reveals to Abraham that the child is not to be killed, but that God will enter into the life of all children by coming one day as One, to redeem the world. The Genesis revelation of One whose heal is bruised foretells the Messiah’s coming. He will be the Son and only One to be sacrificed up, in being acceptable to the Father. It’s a Gift of the Divine to counter all the taking done in the world in sin.
There are God’s designs at hand –but too much to fathom—yet still they are there.
III 17 How precious to me are your designs, O God; how vast the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sands; when I complete them, still you are with me.g
There was a plot to kill the Just One (as we heard in Wisdom 2 in a September Sunday reading)—so the Word tells of the world’s rebellion that was so bad that God could see how we’d even seek to destroy His life among us in Incarnation. God pre-saw The Bethlehem Massacre. Could the decline in Jerusalem be so bad that Jews would seek to kill the Messiah even as a child? Yes. God saw how this act of cruelty would lead to a life He’d make as a pure and right sacrifice at the Cross of Calvary. He’d so love the world as to become the everychild/everyman as Sacrifice for our sin. Yet He would suffer and die that death for all.
19 When you would destroy the wicked, O God, the bloodthirsty depart from me!h 20 Your foes who conspire a plot against you are exalted in vain.
When we consider the plot to kill the “obnoxious” Just One – don’t we get embarrassed or peeved or upset that our human race we stoop so poorly to do it? It’s why David writes….
IV 21 Do I not hate, LORD, those who hate you? Those who rise against you, do I not loathe?i 22 With fierce hatred I hate them, enemies I count as my own
David is saying that God’s enemies are his enemies. He is upset that the world conspires to take life, even that of the God/man of promise (in his line).
Today we’d say Hate the sin, love the sinner. So our hatred is held back, because we know that God in Christ Jesus is always trying to save the sinner and change hearts. But it is awful to consider of how many are living in opposition to God and His Ways and of Life. We have a righteous anger about it.
Yet God does ask us: What side are you on? Do you have an inkling of what God ‘feels’ about the taking of his created life? David thus invites God to…
23 Probe me, God, know my heart; try me, know my thoughts.j 24 See if there is a wicked path in me; lead me along an ancient path.*
In the conversion stories of Aborters who later became believers and pro-life champions, the story of Bernard Nathanson is a stirring one among many testimonies of people who invited God to reveal more truths about the abortion movement. And it led to God trying their thoughts and shedding Light upon the wicked path they were on, and shedding Light and invitation to the ancient path. The path of The Lord’s Righteousness.
I am glad Nathanson converted.
David isn’t finished, as Psalm 139 really continues into Psalm 140.
PSALM 140 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I 2Deliver me, LORD, from the wicked; preserve me from the violent,a
3 From those who plan evil in their hearts, who stir up conflicts every day,
4*Who sharpen their tongue like a serpent, venom of asps upon their lips.b
II 5 Keep me, LORD, from the clutches of the wicked; preserve me from the violent, who plot to trip me up.c 6*The arrogant have set a trap for me; they have spread out ropes for a net, laid snares for me by the wayside.
7 I say to the LORD: You are my God;d listen, LORD, to the words of my pleas. 8 LORD, my master, my strong deliverer, you cover my head on the day of armed conflict. 9 LORD, do not grant the desires of the wicked one; do not let his plot succeed.
III 10Those who surround me raise their heads; may the mischief they threaten overwhelm them.
With all the nasty things to endure from the abortion rights crowd through the years, these lines in Psalm 140 seem like a Scripture for pro-lifers. “Preserve me from the violent… from the serpent tongues speaking against us… from those who lay traps for us… who plot and lie to get their way.”
If I have ever seen the devil, then it was in an advocate’s mean, hateful eyes upon looking upon me as their enemy, for my speaking up for a child’s right not to be killed. It was violence versus peace. Secular humanism versus being God-fearing.
The reasonable answers to how to respond to the crisis of people born in this sexual revolution time—they are not getting any due attention or consideration.
We have taken the lives of so many children, that it would equal the equivalent of the number of people who presently are the population of all New England states and much of New York. If America mourned the loss of people in 911, in New York, then imagine how many more have been lost in abortion, with no memorial or recognition of the atrocity? There is a holocaust museum in DC for the Jews lost in a modern holocaust in World War II. Will there ever be one in DC for the aborted Americans? If all those aborted children from the 1970’s up to today were given a “mail-in” vote at the ballot boxes in America—then do you think that there’d be a multi-million lead for life in votes? Those pro-life voters have been eliminated from the polls, but their cries from Heaven appeal to present voters, in God’s Name, to pull levers that would acknowledge them and stop our savagery.