What Was Paul’s Thorn In The Flesh?

February 3, 2012 3 Comments

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

T. De Witt Talmage, one of America’s most prominent preachers in the late 1800s, put it best when he said, “Many of the theological doctors have felt Paul’s pulse to see what was the matter with him.” Boy, have they ever! The question “What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh?” is one of the most well known in all of Christianity. So I thought I’d write a blog post and offer the correct answer so I could clear up the debate once and for all. Yeah, right.

What I will do is name the two contenders for the “best answer” category. Ready? Here we go.

Possible answer #1: The thorn in the flesh was some kind of physical ailment with which Paul struggled continually.

In Galatians 4:13-15, Paul does speak of preaching the gospel in “physical infirmity” and “my trial which was in my flesh.” He also says of the Galatian Christians, “…you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me.” If we take that literally, Paul had a problem with his eyes and perhaps that was his thorn in the flesh. However, it’s possible that “plucked out your own eyes” was just a figure of speech (Matthew 5:29, 18:9).

Even if it was just a figure of speech, the idea that Paul’s thorn in the flesh was some kind of physical ailment (bad eyesight or something else) is further strengthened by the fact that he himself says, “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities…” Furthermore, the thorn was in his “flesh,” which most commonly would be taken to mean “in my body.”

Possible answer #2: The thorn in the flesh was a demon (a fallen angel).

On the heels of using the term “a thorn in the flesh,” Paul further describes the thorn as “a messenger of Satan to buffet me.” The Greek word that is translated there as “messenger” is angelos, which is the common Greek word for “angel.” This answer is given even more credence by the fact that Paul knew the Old Testament well, and the word “thorn” is used multiple times in its pages to refer to enemies of Israel (Numbers 33:55; Joshua 23:13; Judges 2:3; Ezekiel 28:24). All of this explains why both Martin Luther and John Calvin held to this answer.

However, while the term “messenger (angelos) of Satan” seems to refer to an “angel of Satan” (which would be a demon), it should be noted that Paul also referred to the thorn as “this thing” and “it.” This creates a problem for this answer because scripture refers to Satan, the leader of all the fallen angels, as “he” not “it.” The point is that maybe Paul would have used a pronoun if he was indeed talking about a fallen angel.

Well, as you can see, each of these two possible answers has its merits. Because of this, the debate will continue until we all get to heaven. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though. As many students of the Bible have figured out, the fact that Paul’s thorn in the flesh remains unidentified allows more people to relate to it. Putting it another way, if we knew for sure that the thorn was an eyesight problem, it would lose some of its appeal to people who have 20/20 vision. But since we don’t know for sure, each of us has the freedom to compare Paul’s thorn to whatever problem we are wrestling.

Filed under Problems, Satan, The Devil, Bible Study, perseverance, Demons, trials, Comfort, Spiritual Warfare Tagged with , , , , ,

The Shipwrecked Christian

December 13, 2011 Leave a Comment

Maybe you’ve heard the old line, “The world has become so churchy and the church has become so worldly that you can’t tell the difference between the two.” Unfortunately there is a great deal of truth to this. Backslidden Christians create such a major hindrance to what God wants to accomplish in the world. Even more than that, they do untold harm to their own lives.

One of the best descriptions I’ve ever read concerning the worldly, carnal, backslidden Christian comes from Charles Spurgeon. In the October 14 evening devotion from his book Morning & Evening, he compares such a Christian’s entrance into heaven to a shipwrecked sailor having to climb up the steep rocks of his homeland just to get home. There is no peaceful sail into the safe harbor. There is no confident expectation of praise for a job well done. There is no triumphant entrance. There is only the exhausted, worn out, frazzled Christian scratching and clawing his way to a place of safety.

My guess is that Spurgeon had 1 Timothy 1:18-20 in mind when he used that illustration. In those verses, the apostle Paul explains to the young preacher Timothy that some Christians have rejected faith and a good conscience and “concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck.” Paul then gives the specific names (Hymenaeus and Alexander) of two such Christians and says that he delivered them to Satan so they would learn not to blaspheme. According to 1 Corinthians 5:1-7, the term “delivered them to Satan” means what we call “church discipline” (excommunication, “churching” someone). This should show us just how serious backsliding is.

Spurgeon closes out his devotion with the following words:

It is dangerous for an heir of heaven to be a great friend with the heirs of hell. Even small inconsistencies are dangerous. Little thorns make great blisters, little moths destroy fine garments, and a little frivolity and mischief will rob faith of a thousand joys. O believer, you do not realize what you lose by your conformity to the world. It cuts the tendons of your strength and makes you crawl where you ought to run. For your own comfort’s sake and for the sake of your growth in grace, if you are a Christian, then be a marked and distinct Christian.

To these words I can only add the question: “Christian, do other people think of you as a marked and distinct Christian? I once heard a preacher say, “Some Christians don’t do enough for the Lord to attract a used demon!” Is that you, Christian? Are you, as not only Spurgeon but also Paul described, living a shipwrecked walk with Christ? If you are, my prayer is that you will do the necessary confessing and repenting today. Remember that 1 John 1:9 is still in the Bible and it still works:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Filed under Sin, salvation, Demons, Change, Personal Holiness, Repentance, Heaven, Backsliding, Church Discipline, Confession Tagged with , , , , , ,

Elephants, Grass, & Spiritual Warfare

September 12, 2011 2 Comments

My mother is a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Winston Salem, North Carolina. Dr. C. Mark Corts was the pastor of that church for almost forty years. He died in 2006.

In his retirement years, just before his death, Dr. Corts wrote an excellent book entitled The Truth About Spiritual Warfare. In the first chapter of the book, he deals with the story of Job and explains that spiritual warfare isn’t about us. It is, instead, a battle between God and Satan. Corts writes:

Natives in Africa say, “When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled.” That’s what we see happening in the Book of Job – the clearest look behind the curtain in the Bible. Two titans, God and Satan, were engaged in warfare, and Job was the grass that got trampled.

This whole understanding of spiritual warfare has become very helpful to me whenever I find myself having to play the role of the grass. Nowadays when I sense that I’m in the throes of spiritual warfare, I ask myself two questions. Question 1: What is God trying to accomplish in this situation? Question 2: How is Satan working to keep it from happening?

Let me illustrate. A mother approached me a few weeks ago and asked, “Aren’t you Russell Mckinney?” When I answered, “Yes,” she proceeded to tell me how much she enjoyed my Sunday morning radio broadcast on one of our local stations. She is particularly enjoying my current series Life-Lessons From Proverbs and asked if she could get copies of the sermons for her teenage son. I said, “Sure, I’ll get you some. Give me your phone number and I’ll call you when they’re ready.” She promptly obliged. But a couple of weeks later I called the number and got no answer. I ended up leaving a message saying that the first round of cds was ready and if she would call me back we could agree to a meeting place where I could give them to her.

Several days afterward, though, I hadn’t received a callback. I thought that seemed kind of odd because she had seemed so genuinely interested in getting the sermons. My first instinct was to call her again, but then I got to thinking that I didn’t want to pester her. Perhaps she had changed her mind. I certainly didn’t want to make a nuisance of myself by forcing my own preaching onto her!

So what did I do? I took the matter to God in prayer and asked Him if I should make another run at contacting the woman. He answered by reminding me of what Dr. Corts had taught about spiritual warfare. I asked the two questions. What was God trying to accomplish in this situation? Answer: Obviously, He wanted that teenage son to hear the spiritual truths of those life-lessons from Proverbs. And how was Satan trying to keep that from happening? Answer: He was somehow keeping the lines of communication broken down between me and that mother.

Well, once I had that information, I called the woman again. I was disappointed to have to leave another message, but this time she called me back pretty quickly. We worked out a plan for how I could get the cds to her, and she’ll be getting them either today or tomorrow. She also explained why she hadn’t called me back the first time. It hadn’t been anything personal. She had meant to call but, for whatever reason, just hadn’t gotten around to it. I didn’t tell her that I truly believed that Satan had assigned some of his troops to her case and was actively working to keep her son from getting those sermons. I didn’t want to scare her.

And now we come to the application portion of this post. Do you feel like you are currently under spiritual attack? Is the aura of spiritual warfare hanging heavy around you right now? If the answer is yes, please take some time right now to ask yourself the two basic questions about the warfare. What is God trying to accomplish in the situation? And how is Satan working to keep it from happening? You’ll probably be surprised at how straightforward and simple the answers are. Then, once you have those answers, you’ll be able to move forward wisely concerning the situation. Understand that you are the grass upon which two elephants are engaged in battle and keep doing your part to help God accomplish His will.

Filed under Adversity, Angels, Choices, Demons, Doing Good, God's Will, Influence, Personal, prayer, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, The Devil, trials Tagged with , , , , , , ,

Lucifer

August 17, 2011 Leave a Comment

Two of the Bible’s best passages concerning the fall of Satan and the other rebellious angels are Isaiah 14:12-14 and Ezekiel 28:1-19. But what makes these passages a bit confusing is the fact that each one also deals with an earthly ruler. Isaiah 14:12-14 pronounces God’s coming judgment upon the king of Babylon, while Ezekiel 28:1-19 pronounces it upon the king of Tyre.

You ask, “So if the passages talk about two earthly rulers, why do we bring Satan into the context?” We do it because certain parts of the passages simply cannot refer to anyone but Satan. Consider the following examples, all taken from the New King James translation.

1. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!…” (Isaiah 14:12) No earthly king of Babylon ever fell from heaven.

2. “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…’” (Isaiah 14:13) No earthly king would think that he could ascend to heaven and take over.

3. “You were in Eden, the garden of God…” (Ezekiel 28:13) No earthly king was in the garden of Eden..

4. “You were the anointed cherub who covers…” (Ezekiel 28:14) A cherub is a type of angel.

5. “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” (Ezekiel 28:15) Because every human being is a sinner from birth, no one is perfect from the day he is created.

In light of these examples, it’s clear that God is speaking to more than the kings of Babylon and Tyre in these passages. Yes, He’s pronouncing judgment upon them, but He’s also speaking to Satan. The implication is that Satan is the real power behind their thrones. He is so closely associated with the two kings that God can speak to him even as He is speaking to them.

Okay, with all that understood, now let me explain the name “Lucifer,” which is used in Isaiah 14:12. I need to begin by saying that the King James and the New King James are the only two English translations that use this name “Lucifer.” The Hebrew word these two translations render as “Lucifer” is helel. Bible scholars are in agreement that helel literally means “shining one,” “bright one,” or even “light-bringer.” Translators have often translated it as the so-called “morning star” or “day star,” which is actually the planet Venus appearing in the east just before sunrise.

As evidence that translators agree on this meaning for helel, consider the renderings that modern translations give to Isaiah 14:12:

1. “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn!…” (New American Standard Version)

2. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!…” (New Revised Standard Version)

3. “Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens!…” (Holman Christian Standard)

4. “How you have fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning!…” (The Amplified Bible)

5. “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!…” (New International Version)

Alright, now that we understand the literal meaning of helel, the question becomes, “Then why do the King James translation and the New King James translation render the word as “Lucifer”? Actually, since the New King James simply sticks with the King James rendering, the question is really, “Why did the King James translators go with the name “Lucifer”?

The answer to that is found in the fact that before the Bible was ever translated into any kind of English, it was translated into Latin. The Latin translation was called the Vulgate. And what is the Latin word for “morning star”? It is “lucifer.” You see, when the King James translators came to Isaiah 14:12, they decided to just carry the name “lucifer” over from the existing Latin translation. In other words, “Lucifer” is not an English word. It is, instead, a Latin word that was incorporated into an English translation.

It’s sad that modern translators have been criticized by some for simply doing their job. When they came to helel in Isaiah 14:12, they actually translated it rather than go with some long-standing Latin word that would need translating itself because so few people know Latin. In doing so, the translators left themselves open to the charge of attempting to rob the Bible of one of its greatest teachings on the devil. Even worse than that, since Jesus calls Himself “the Bright Morning Star” in Revelation 22:16, they’ve been accused of associating Jesus with Satan or even promoting the lordship of Satan.

On this whole subject, Merrill Unger, the highly respected Bible scholar and commentator, has pointed out that Isaiah 14:12 isn’t the only Old Testament passage where the morning star and angels are linked together. The other passage is Job 38:7, which speaks of the time when “the morning stars” sang together and all the “sons of God” shouted for joy. (Job 1:6 and 2:1 plainly show that the term “sons of God” refers to angels in the book of Job.) So, you see, it really isn’t so strange that the original Hebrew of Isaiah 14:12 would describe Satan as the “morning star.” And as for Jesus using the title for Himself, that’s His emphatic way of saying that He is the true “morning star,” one far brighter and far greater than Satan.

Filed under Angels, Bible Study, Demons, King James only, Satan, Scripture, The Bible, The Devil Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

How Many Angels Are There?

August 16, 2011 Leave a Comment

In Hebrews 12:22, the New Testament’s original Greek uses the word murias to describe the number of angels that God created. It is from this word that we get our word “myriads.”

It isn’t hard for translators to understand the basic meaning of murias, but they do struggle somewhat with how best to put it into English. Take the translators of the classic King James for instance. In Hebrews 12:22, they go with “innumerable” to translate it, but in Revelation 5:11-12 they render it “ten thousand times ten thousand.” In Acts 19:19, they translate it as “fifty thousand,” but in Luke 12:1 they again use “innumerable.” In Acts 21:20, it’s “thousands,” while in Jude 14 it’s “ten thousands.”

The challenge of precisely translating murias has led some translators to basically jam the Greek word straight into the English by rendering it “myriads.” This could be called a transliteration rather than a translation. For example, in the New American Standard Version, Hebrews 12:22 reads “myriads of angels” and Revelation 5:11 reads “myriads of myriads.”

While I understand why murias might be translated as “innumerable,” we really shouldn’t think that God created an infinite, limitless, never-ending number of angels. The fact is, there is a certain number of them. No doubt it is an exceedingly high number, but it is a countable number, at least countable by God.

How do we know this? We know it because Revelation 12:4 says that when Satan fell from heaven “His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth.” (N.K.J.V.) Obviously, Satan doesn’t have a literal tail, and the angels that followed him in his rebellion against God aren’t literal stars, but the point is made: A third of the angels that God created can now be classified as “fallen” with the angel Satan. And to have a third of something, that something must have a set number, right? There simply is no such thing as one-third of innumerable.

So, now that we know all this, how do we answer the question, “How many angels are there?” Well, it’s clearly impossible for us to calculate an exact number, but we can feel very safe in saying that there are tens of thousands. I wouldn’t argue with anyone who believes there are hundreds of thousands. I wouldn’t even rule out that there are millions, perhaps even billions. What I do know is that however many there are, the more the better because the majority (two-thirds) of them still do God’s bidding.

Filed under Angels, Bible Study, Demons, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, The Devil Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Walking In Truth

July 29, 2011 Leave a Comment

In 3 John verse 3, the apostle John says of his spiritual children:

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

A man was on trial for murder. All the circumstantial evidence strongly indicated his guilt, but the police hadn’t been able to find the corpse. That left some doubt as to whether the jury would convict him. But the man’s lawyer believed the jury was leaning towards doing just that. So he resorted to a clever trick.

In the lawyer’s closing argument, he said, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I have a surprise for you all. Within one minute, the person presumed dead in this case will walk into this courtroom.” Then he looked down at his watch as if counting the seconds. Thirty seconds later he turned and started staring at the courtroom door. The jurors, somewhat stunned, all fixed their eyes on the door as well. But after the allotted time had passed, it became obvious that no one was walking through that door.

Finally the lawyer broke the silence by saying, “Actually, I made up the previous statement. But since each of you looked at the door with anticipation, I submit that you all have reasonable doubt in this case as to whether or not my client really killed anybody. And because of that I insist that you return a verdict of ‘not guilty.’” The jury then retired to deliberate.

But they came back in just a few minutes later and pronounced a verdict of “guilty.” The defense lawyer was outraged. Risking the ire of the judge, he shouted at them, “How could you do this? You must have had some doubt. I saw all of you stare at that door.” To that the jury foreman replied, “Yes, we did look. But your client didn’t.”

As clever as lawyers can be, not one of them is in Satan’s league when it comes to twisting and distorting the truth. Revelation 12:9 says that he “deceives the whole world.” Jesus said of him, “There is no truth in him” (John 8:44). Rest assured that if Satan was able to talk Eve out of the truth, he is able to deceive us too. We are no match for him. That is why we must make it a matter of regular prayer to ask the Lord to give us discernment and wisdom in regards to what is true and what isn’t.

If you haven’t done so today, take a moment right now and ask the Lord for such discernment and wisdom. Tell Him that you don’t want to believe anything that is a lie. Tell Him that you don’t want to be duped by Satan. Tell Him that you want to know the truth so that you can bring your life in line with it. After all, who wants to walk in a lie?

Filed under Choices, Counsel, Demons, God's Will, Satan, seeking advice, Spiritual Warfare, Temptation, The Devil, Truth Tagged with , , , , ,

Should We Pray Silently To Keep Satan From Hearing?

March 30, 2011 Leave a Comment

A fellow preacher and I once had an interesting conversation concerning people praying aloud and Satan being able to listen in on those prayers. The question we kicked around was: Is it smarter to pray silently so that Satan and his fellow fallen angels (demons) won’t be able to hear our requests and, thus, thwart them?

Upon first impression, the answer seems to be that, yes, we should pray silently. I mean, after all, Satan and the other fallen angels can hear, can’t they? And the sole purpose of their existence is to mess up what God is trying to do, right? So why give them advance notice of what we are asking God for in prayer? Isn’t that kind of like an army publicly announcing it’s battle plans to an enemy army?

But to find our answer my preacher friend and I turned to the Bible, and we quickly realized that we just couldn’t make a scriptural case for always praying silently. The simple truth is that the Bible gives us various instances of people praying aloud. Solomon prayed aloud in his great prayer of dedication for the Jewish temple (2 Chronicles 6:12-42). Eliajh’s prayer on Mount Carmel seems to have been aloud (1 Kings 18:36-39). Those believers who met in that upper room following Christ’s ascension prayed aloud (Acts 1:24-25). So did Paul and Silas when they were in prison (Acts 16:25). Paul also prayed aloud when he met with the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20:36).

Now, it is certainly true that Jesus instructed His followers to go into a room and shut the door when they prayed (Matthew 6:5-6). However, His purpose in saying that was to get them to avoid the hypocritical way of public praying “for show” that was so common among the Pharisees. Basically, what He said was, “Hide yourself,” not “Shush yourself.” Actually, you can pray aloud even if you are in your room with the door closed.

So, in the end, we should understand that there is no Bible prohibition against praying aloud. Yes, Satan or some other fallen angel might be listening in, but that doesn’t mean they have the power to either prevent or delay God from granting a request. So, if you like to talk out loud when you pray, go for it. After all, what you say in prayer is much more important than how you say it.

Filed under Demons, fear, God's Omnipotence, prayer, Prayer Requests, Satan, Spiritual Warfare, The Devil, Trusting In God Tagged with , , , , , , , , ,

Headed North

March 16, 2011 Leave a Comment

Is it possible for a person to be moving north and south at the same time? Sure. Imagine a man walking south on the deck of a ship that is headed north.

As we live the Christian life, we oftentimes face problems and setbacks. Some of these are merely us reaping the crops of bad seed we have sown. Others strike us by way of the devil and his demons. Other times we get caught in the choppy wake of the sinful actions of other people.

The truth is that these problems and setbacks can be likened to us walking “backward” in life. But what we must realize is that no matter what befalls the Christian in this earthly life, he is still bound for heaven and is constantly progressing in that direction. A Christian’s current steps, if they are troublesome, may take him in an undesirable direction, but overall the ship is relentlessly headed for glory.

In Romans 8:18, Paul addresses the subject of how God will one day make all of creation right again. Specifically, this is a reference to the coming “kingdom age” when Christ will reign upon this earth for one-thousand years. But the verse also sheds light on the matter of the Christian being bound for heaven despite struggling in this life. Paul writes:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Remember this promise, Christian, and don’t let go of it. No matter how bad this earthly life gets, you are headed for a better one. You are headed upward (call it “north”) to heaven and no amount of having to walk “south” down here will change that.

Filed under Adversity, Backsliding, Comfort, Demons, Eternal Security, Heaven, perseverance, Problems, Reward, salvation, Satan, Sowing and Reaping, trials Tagged with , , , , , ,

Illegitimate Praying

February 24, 2011 Leave a Comment

The Bible tells of many different people praying to many different gods. The Jews from the Old Testament and the Christians from the New Testament prayed to the “LORD” (Yahweh, Jehovah). The false prophets of Elijah’s day prayed to Baal. The Philistines prayed to Dagon. The Moabites prayed to their false gods, as did the people of Ur. The Egyptians prayed to a pantheon of false gods. The book of Jonah says of Jonah’s fellow sailors “and every man cried out to his god.” You get the idea.

All this shows how naturally religious man is. Innately we understand that creation’s mere existence proves that there must be a Creator God (Romans 1:20; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1). A creation, especially one as intricately designed and detailed as ours, can’t just burst forth from nothing. Nothing will continue to be nothing endlessly unless a Creator God goes to work and creates something. Therefore, the mere fact that we have a creation proves that there must be a God. As the old line goes, you can’t have a clock without a clock builder.

From time immemorial this commonsense truth has driven people to attempt to commune with the Creator God. They’ve tried to worship Him and offer up prayers to Him. But the problem has historically been that man’s nature of sin has corrupted these attempts at worship and prayer. This explains the origins of the various forms of idolatry that have dotted our world since the early pages of Genesis (Romans 1:20-23).

And so, in the midst of all the praying that is done to all the gods via all the religions, we are left to figure out who is praying legitimate prayers to the legitimate God. Someone says, “Well, I think that any prayer that is prayed in sincerity to any god must be classified as legitimate.” Certainly that idea sounds very sweet in an “I’m okay,
you’re okay” kind of way, but it simply isn’t Biblical. Did you know that the Bible says that sacrifices, and by implication prayers, that are offered to idols are, in actuality, offered to demons (fallen angels, the spirits associated with the idols)? You’ll find that teaching in 1 Corinthians 10:19-21, Deuteronomy 32:15-18, and Revelation 9:20. That’s a far cry from legitimate!

Filed under Demons, idolatry, prayer Tagged with , , , , , , ,

What The Bible Teaches About Abortion

January 25, 2011 Leave a Comment

This past Saturday, January 22, marked the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in the infamous Roe vs. Wade case. That ruling legalized abortion in America. As it so happens, yesterday I dropped off some items our church had donated to our local Tri-County Pregnancy Center. These two occurrences have brought the issue of abortion front and center to my mind.

The number of babies reported as aborted in America now stands at over 53 million. Please stop right now and read that sentence again. The Nazis killed 6 million Jews in World War II, and history rightly labeled it a holocaust. It makes you wonder what we should call 53 million forced deaths. Tragedy? That’s too soft. Atrocity? That’s a little closer. Barbarity? Now you’re getting warmer. Savagery? That might be about as accurate as we can come.

And the plain fact is that the death toll actually stands at more than 53 million. I say that because it is common knowledge that abortion is oftentimes a “cash” business, and in such businesses the books aren’t always, shall we say, exact. Why pay the I.R.S. when you can cheat, right? Before she became a Christian, Carol Everett was the head of multiple abortion clinics, and she freely admits that she routinely kept two sets of books at her clinics, one for herself and one for the I.R.S. In light of such typical operating procedure, there’s simply no way of calculating a truly accurate number of abortions that have been performed in America. 

But it’s not my purpose here to try and figure out the exact number of babies that have been lost since Roe vs. Wade. It’s also not my purpose to bring politics into the discussion. No, what I really want to do with this post is take the Bible and explain just what it teaches about abortion. So, if you have a problem with what I say, your problem will be with God’s written word, not with me. Keep that in mind as we go along.

Now, I want to ask and answer three questions, and question #1 is:

  

“According to the Bible, when does life actually begin?”

 

The answer is: at the moment of conception in the womb. As proof of this, I’ll cite five passages and ask you to read them carefully, with an open mind.

1. Psalm 139:13-16: “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb…My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret…Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed…”

2. Psalm 22:10: “…From My mother’s womb You have been My God.”

3. Isaiah 49:1: “…The Lord has called me from the womb. From the matrix (inward parts) of My mother He has made mention of my name.” 

4. Job 10:8-12: “Your hands have made me and fashioned me, an intricate unity; yet You would not destroy me. Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews? You have granted me life and favor, and your care has preserved my spirit.”

5. Jeremiah 1:4-5: “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…’”

 

Alright, now, question #2 is this:

 

“According to the Bible, is a mother’s life ever more important than her child’s life?”

 

The answer is, no. While the Bible holds seemingly countless verses that sing the praises of selflessness, love, sacrifice, motherhood, and concern for others, I think a good singular proof text here is Genesis 35:16-20. That passage tells the story of how Jacob’s beloved wife Rachel died giving birth to their son Benjamin. What’s interesting is that despite Rachel’s great importance in the life of Jacob, to say nothing of her importance in the unfolding of the history recorded in Genesis, God let her die and her baby live. That right there ought to tell us something about His mind on this question.

 

And then, question #3 is this:

 

“According to the Bible, does an unborn child have the same standing with God an adult has?”

 

The answer here is, yes, and the passage is Exodus 21:22-25. I understand that these verses are specifically a part of God’s Old Testament law for Israel, and we don’t live under that law, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t glean truth from it. As you read these verses, pay careful attention to how God rates the health of a baby in a womb on legal par with someone who injures it. The verses say:

“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.”    

 

Well, with these three questions and answers, I’d like to think that I’ve said enough to convince you of what the Bible teaches about abortion. But, just for further proof, here are a few more ”quick hits.” Hopefully, you’ll find these instructive too:

1. A man and a woman can have sex, but only God can create “life.” Thus, He is the only one who should have any say over how that life is ended.

2. The argument that a deformed fetus can be aborted without repercussion is not a valid one because in Exodus 4:11 God says to Moses, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?”

3. In Job 3:11, Job asks, “Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?” Think about it, you have to be alive to begin with in order to die.

4. In Genesis 25:23, God refers to Jacob and Esau as two nations even as they were still fetuses in Rebekah’s womb.    

 5. A Christian woman has no right whatsoever to say, “My body is my own, and I’ll do what I want to with it.” She has no right to say that because 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says to Christians: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

6. Psalm 106:34-43; Deuteronomy 12:31; 2 Kings 17:17; and Ezekiel 16:20-21 describe how the people of Israel learned the idolatrous ways of the people of Canaan and ended up sacrificing their sons and daughters to idols, which in reality was sacrificing them to demons. God called these sacrifices the shedding of innocent blood, and His wrath was kindled against Israel as He began to abhor His own people. Should we Americans not expect Him to respond to us the same way in the wake of the millions of innocent babies we have aborted? Keep in mind that Proverbs 6:16-19 says that God hates “hands that shed innocent blood.” 

7. Christians simply do not have the option of remaining silent on the issue of abortion. Proverbs 31:8-9 says: “Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”

Now, in closing, let me be sure to say a word to any man or woman who has been the cause of an abortion. God still loves you. Abortion is not the unpardonable sin, and there is a full and blessed life that can be lived even after an abortion. You need to understand that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses and forgives all sin. Heaven isn’t divided into the camps of mothers and fathers who aborted their children and mothers and fathers who didn’t. For that matter, neither is hell. And while we’ve seen that the Bible has a lot to say about abortion, it has even more to say about the forgiveness that is offered to all in Jesus Christ. That forgiveness certainly extends to the sin of abortion, and Jesus is more than willing to shower it upon you if you will place your belief in Him as Savior. So, I assure you that the purpose of this post has not been to demoralize you by clubbing you over the head with the Bible. What it’s been is an attempt to provide a faithful and fairly thorough analysis of what God’s written word teaches on a highly controversial subject.  

Filed under abortion, Bible Study, Children, Demons, Forgiveness, God's Wrath, God's judgment, Parenting, Seeking Forgiveness Tagged with , , , , ,

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