Pro-life Christians are constantly instructing us that abortion is morally wrong. But where do they get this idea? As any pro-choicer will inform you, a thorough search through the Scriptures will reveal that the word "abortion" is never mentioned directly. While it's true that you won't find the word "abortion," you will encounter plenty of references to "child sacrifice" and "shedding innocent blood." The Bible has plenty to say on the subject of abortion, you just have to know what to look for.
The Old Testament is replete with warnings against the slaughtering of children:
"There are six things that Yahweh hates,
seven that he abhors:
a haughty look, a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood..." [1]
The most commonly recognized form of "shedding of innocent blood" was child sacrifice. There are many references to child sacrifice in the Old Testament, almost all of which are tied to a "god" called Molech, as in the following verse from Leviticus:
"You will not allow any of your children to be
sacrificed to Molech..." [2]
The name Molech (var. Moloch)--along with it's Greek equivalent, Milcom--is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. From the number of times it appears in different texts, we can deduce that Molech-worship must have been fairly widespread in the ancient world.[3] The Canaanites and Ammonites [4] regularly sacrificed their children to Molech by "passing them through fire," i.e., burning them to death. The sacrificial rite involved placing infants and toddlers in the outstretched arms of a large hollow metal idol (probably shaped like a bull or a man with a bull's head). Beneath the idol a fire was started, and when the metal sides of the idol were hot enough, the arms were lifted mechanically, causing the child to slide through an opening in the idol's mouth or chest. The child was trapped in the belly of the idol and was slowly scorched to death. The parents, along with the rest of the celebrants of this mad ritual, danced and cavorted to loud music, which was played to drown out the screams of the children.[5] Somehow, this abominable practice made its way into the Israelite camps, hence the stricture against the practice was included in the list of prohibitions of Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
Some Christians--myself included--see abortion as a form of modern day Molech-worship.[6] In the ancient rite, the child was sacrificed in the hopes that Molech would bless the family with a good harvest, victory in battle, or financial gain. In the modern "rite" of abortion, women sacrifice their children for their careers, social acceptability, or selfish personal needs.
God makes it perfectly clear what He thinks of the practice of Molech-worship (and by extension, abortion):
"Anyone, be he Israelite or alien resident in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech, will be put to death. The people of the country must stone him...if the people of the country choose to close their eyes to the man's action...I shall outlaw them from their people, both him and all those after him who prostitute themselves by following Molech." [7]
Although giving aborters the death penalty may seem a bit stringent by today's standards, the message which God delivers here to the ancient Israelites--and to his followers in the modern world--is that abortion is an evil which He will not tolerate.
The New Testament also speaks out against abortion, though indirectly, as in the Old Testament.
In the second chapter of Matthew, the author quotes the prophet Jeremiah to relate the massacre of innocents ordered by Herod:
"A voice is heard in Ramah
lamenting and weeping bitterly:
It is Rachel weeping for her children,
refusing to be comforted
because they are no more." [8]
It seems clear to me that Jeremiah's prophecy can be applied not only to the Herod's attempt to crush the infant Jesus, but also to the consequences of abortion through post-abortion stress syndrome. There is nothing more pitiable in God's creation than a woman who realizes, too late, that she has just killed the living, breathing child in her womb.
There can be no doubt that Jesus Christ condemns abortion. In the New Testament, Jesus tells us that God's love for His children is so great that He will pour out His wrath on those who deliberately abuse them.[9] Through these admonitions, and through Christ's reaffirmation of Old Testament laws (cf. Matthew 5:17), we can deduce that He condemns abortion, which is undeniably the worst sort of abuse ever forced upon His beloved children.
Speaking to John in the Revelation, Jesus may be sending the women who "choose" to
abort a direct message:
"'I have given her time to repent, but she is not willing to repent of
her adulterous life. Look, I am consigning her to a bed of pain, and
all her partners in adultery to great hardship, unless they repent of
their practices; and I will see that her children die so that all of
the churches realize that it is I who test motives and thoughts and
repay you as your deeds deserve.'" [10]
Most Christians profess the Holy Bible to be the undisputed Word of God, written by man yet divinely inspired. How is it, then, that we find many Christians today ignoring God's commands against abortion? This disobedience is so widespread that there are entire denominations which support abortion to the point of shovelling the unborn by the tens of thousands into Molech's gaping maw.[11] This is a far cry from Christ's commandment to love the children. Why have these "followers of Christ," like the ancient Israelites, abandoned their faith and revived the hideous custom of child sacrifice? A cursory examination of Scripture reveals that God is patient with His wayward children, but His patience will not endure forever. Psalm 106 gives us a clue as to what will eventually befall America should we allow our people to continue feeding our offspring to Molech:
"[T]hey found themselves entrapped, and sacrificed their own sons and their daughters to demons. Innocent blood they shed, the blood of their sons and daughters; offering them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the country with blood...[God] handed them over to the nations, and their opponents became their masters; their enemies tyrannized over them, crushing them under their rule." [12]I pray that "pro-choice" Christians snap out of the deadly demonic trance Satan has placed them under before it's too late.