Scripture Reading

Exodus chapter 20. Exodus 20, begin reading in verse 1. And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work, you nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.

Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.

And look at chapter 21, specifically verses 22 to 25. 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. Amen.

Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Our God and our Father, we come now to you who is the author of life. We pray that you would bless our study this morning with reference to the sixth commandment and its specific application in the matter of abortion. God, this is a difficult subject and I pray that your spirit would guide us and cause us to reflect upon the truth because it is ultimately truth that sets us free. We know that the devil is a murderer from the beginning.

We know that he does not stand in the truth. We know that this is a spiritual battle in many respects and God help us to think properly concerning this issue. Help us to think your thoughts after you with reference to this issue and cause us to be able to shine as lights in this wicked world where it is the case that so many innocent people are murdered daily. We ask our Father that you would just forgive us again for our sin that you would supply the Holy Spirit to each and every one of us, to guide our thoughts in the truth.

And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, this is certainly one sermon that I hope that you all remember. It is essentially what I preached last year, what I preached the year before, and probably every year previously. It's one of those messages that I would hope that you have a proper understanding of. Because there's a lot of fuzzy thinking, not only in this world today, but within the church itself.

We need to understand what God says concerning a particular issue. We need to see His view on a particular subject to fuel us in prayer, to fuel us in our lives, to fuel us in all that we do and in all that we undertake. John Murray commented once in his book on ethics. He says, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of life.

Certainly, that is a fitting description of our own day. Morally bankrupt, and it's evident in the abortion clinics. It is evident in the fact that babies are murdered in their mother's womb in some of the most ghoulish, all of the most ghoulish ways that could possibly be carried out. The book of Proverbs, Christ speaks his wisdom there.

He says, but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul, All those who hate me love death." Certainly, we are a death-loving culture in many, many respects.

The Sixth Commandment

This morning, it's very basic. I want to first look at the Sixth Commandment, secondly, look at the sanctity of human life, and thirdly, look at the specific application to the abortion issue, what we just read there in Exodus 21, 22 to 25. If you want to go back for just a moment to Chapter 20, with reference to the Sixth Commandment, The basis for this commandment, the basis for all of the commandments that we find in the book of Exodus, in the book of Leviticus, in Numbers, Deuteronomy, all of that is grounded upon the reality that God is the creator. God made man in his image.

God prescribes to man how he is supposed to live. God is both creator and legislator. He is the lawgiver. He is the one alone that can speak to us in these matters, and we as his creatures need to give heed to him.

We need to listen, and we need to understand, and we need to pay attention, and we need to function in a manner that is consistent with the lawgiver's expression of his will. As well, there is a prohibition stated in the commandment. It's only negative. You shall not murder.

This, of course, applies to internal hatred. The book of 1 John. John tells us that we are like Cain if we hate our brethren. We are not supposed to hate brothers and sisters.

In the book of Matthew, the Lord Jesus says that if, with reference to a brother, we say in our heart, you fool, you raka, you empty-headed one, then we are guilty of violating the sixth commandment. But when it comes to this issue of abortion, what is in view is the external act. And the proper translation is as we find it here in the New King James. You shall not murder.

If you're interested in this sort of a thing tonight, we're going to argue that murder there is the better translation. Kill is not necessarily correct in this section. because killing is not necessarily condemned in the Bible. Somebody would ask me, are you pro-life? Yes, I am pro-life, but I want to qualify it.

God says in the scriptures that self-defense is legitimate. God says in the scriptures that legitimate war is legitimate. God says in the scriptures that the state has the authority to execute criminal offenders. So I'm pro-innocent life.

But those subjects who are guilty of particular crimes ought to die at the hands of the civil government. And again, if you have a problem with that, come tonight. We're going to investigate that in more detail. There is a prohibition here, you shall not murder.

Murder Defined and Distinguished

Kaiser says, while Hebrew possesses seven words for killing, the word used here, which is Ratzah, appears only 47 times in the Old Testament. If any one of the seven words could signify murder, where factors of premeditation and intentionality are present, this is the verb. See, this is what we're speaking about this morning. Murder has to do with premeditation.

Murder has to do with malice of forethought. Murder has to do with a specific intent to end the life of someone else. Certainly abortion falls under that in every step of the way. It is homicide or rather it is manslaughter if we accidentally kill someone.

You must see there's a big difference between somebody who accidentally hits a kid that jumps out from behind a car to someone who willingly goes into a place where they murder babies. The Bible makes that distinction. It makes that nuance and it shows us that not all killing is murder. Certainly all murder is killing, but not all killing is murder.

And so the prohibition here deals specifically with murder. As I said, it's distinguished in Exodus 21, verses 12 to 13, Numbers 35, 9, and Deuteronomy 19, 4 to 13. It shows the difference between an accidental homicide and murder. Webster defines it very clearly, to kill a human being with premeditated malice.

So the prohibition is very clear. We're not supposed to kill people. We're not supposed to murder people. If we were a governing authority, we had that authority, or we were in a war, then we can kill people.

But in terms of us here now, we are not to murder. Abortion is wrong. Euthanasia is wrong. Murdering somebody because they're physically ill is wrong.

God alone has authority. God alone is the lawgiver. God alone is the one who can take life and who gives life. Some have said, well what about the children of Israel when they went and engaged in holy war?

That makes God a murderer. God is not a murderer. God is the sovereign Lord of the heavens and the earth. Whether you die on the battlefield or you die in your sleep tonight, Christ holds the keys to Hades and death.

God is sovereign. It is not a sin or a crime or murder for Him to take someone out. He has the authority. But for man, His image on this earth, for us to murder someone is a high crime.

It is a sin against God. If things were functioning properly, we would be executed by the governing authorities. The prohibitioner, the positive aspect of the command, Westminster Shorter Catechism says it very clearly and perceptively. What is required in the Sixth Commandment?

The Sixth Commandment requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life and the life of others. With reference to this issue of abortion, not only are we not to go into the womb with sterilized medical instruments and destroy that baby, but rather we are to seek to give it birth, and to nurture it, to care for it, to love it, and to bring it up hopefully in the training and the admonition of the Lord God Almighty. Each of the commandments contain a prohibition and by implication have a positive aspect of the command. Specifically, the target of assault in this command is man.

God does not prohibit people from killing animals. He cannot murder an animal, PETA notwithstanding. Meat is not murder. Meat is a gift given by God to sustain His creation.

Now, I'm certainly not arguing we should be mean, vile, or wicked to animals. We shouldn't kick them. We shouldn't abuse them. We shouldn't create environments and situations where there's needless suffering.

The Bible does not prohibit man from eating meat. The Bible, or God, gives man meat in a utilitarian manner. They're helpful to sustain and nourish our lives, to keep us warm. Obviously, the target of assault in the Sixth Commandment is man himself.

You shall not murder. Man, you shall not murder those who bear God's image because that's the issue. It is the doctrine of creation in the image of God that is the rationale for what we call the sanctity of life. It's not the sanctity of life because man is intrinsically good.

It is the sanctity of life because man bears the image of God. And for those of you who have recently read Biblical Theology by Gerhardtus Voss, whether you remember this statement or not, I agree with what he says. In life slain, it is the image of God, i.e. the Divine Majesty, that is assaulted.

The Sanctity of Human Life

Now when we move to consider the sanctity of life, we'll see that the Bible is very clear, it's very candid, it's very open, it's very instructive in terms of does the image of God apply to man in every state, in every situation? Does it apply to every man everywhere? It most certainly does.

The Image of God in All Human States

Consider the biblical samples. First, the image of God is displayed in the pre-fall state of man. Genesis 1, 26-28. God made man in his own image.

Some have questioned whether we retain the image after the fall. Well, certainly the biblical authors indicate that we in fact do. It is fractured, it is damaged, there is distortion to be sure, but we still bear God's image. Genesis 5.1 indicates that, as does James 3.9.

When James is telling the church not to use their tongues to abuse the people of God, he uses an analogy. He says, with our tongue we bless our God, and with it we curse men who have been made in His likeness. So man is image-bearer before the fall into sin, man is image-bearer after the fall into sin, so that if we murder man, then we are assaulting the Divine Majesty, as Gerhardus Voss well says in his biblical theology. The image of God is displayed in children.

It's not the case that a child has to reach a certain age, a certain age of awareness before we treat them as image bearers. That's not true. God specifies in the law concerning children. He tells Israel, you're not to make your children pass through the fires to Moloch.

Now I realize there are some fools in this world that set out hot coals and they walk along them to see if they have mastery over their feet and can so well it that they can come out the other side without great big wounds. That's not what passing through the fire to Molech meant in Old Covenant Israel. Molech was an idol. Molech was placed in fire.

Moloch had outstretched arms. He just didn't have the use of them because he's an idol, right? Remember Dagon falls before the Ark of the Lord and his head falls off? Brethren, if your God's head falls off, you've got big problems.

If your God can't move his arms, you've got big problems. What was making your children pass through the fire to Molech mean? It means they take their children in human sacrifice and throw them into the arms of Molech. And because he couldn't do this, they'd oftentimes just bounce right off into the flames.

It meant to kill them. It meant human sacrifice. God says don't do that with your children. We might extend that and say God also says you don't abuse your children.

You don't molest your children. You don't do evil things to your children because your children bear the image of God. And if you engage in such a thing, it is to attack the divine majesty himself. In the book of Ephesians and in the book of Colossians, what does God say?

Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath. Why? Because they're wonderful little specimens of human life? Well, they are, but because they bear the image of the living and true God.

We ought not to abuse children. We ought not to abuse and hurt that which bears the image of the living and true God. The Bible tells us that the image is displayed in the handicapped very clearly. Those who have physical challenges and those who have physical restrictions.

What does the book of Leviticus chapter 19 tell us? Very specifically, I'm sorry, yes, Leviticus chapter 19 at verse 14. You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God. I am the Lord.

You see, those who have physical challenges still bear the image of God. We don't make fun of them, we don't make sport of them, we don't use them as objects of ridicule, but rather we treat them with the dignity that is consistent with them bearing the image of God. You know, there's that scene when Jesus is passing through Jericho and blind Bartimaeus raises his voice and he says, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy upon me. The whole crowd says, be quiet.

He doesn't want to hear what you have to say. He doesn't want to listen to a blind beggar. He doesn't want to have to waste time rubbing shoulders with such riffraff. Bartimaeus, be quiet.

Thankfully, Bartimaeus raised his voice and said it again. Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. What does the text say? It says that Jesus stopped, Jesus went over to him, not to the crowd, and he asked him, what would you have me to do?

Isn't that amazing? The Son of God Most High comes before blind Bartimaeus, whom the crowd just silenced, and now Jesus says, what would you have me to do? Well, I want to see, Lord. So Jesus healed him.

She shows the dignity of image-bearing. The image of God displayed in the sick. What does James tell us in James chapter 5? Forget about the sick.

Disregard the sick? Pretend like the sick aren't there? No, that's not what James says. James is very clear, in James chapter 5, that if a man is sick, let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.

And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. You don't lose the image of God when you're on a sickbed. The image of God is displayed as well in the elderly.

The elderly. In a society that oftentimes marginalizes the elderly, we need to be reminded of this. What does Leviticus say when an old man comes into our midst? We rise before him.

You know, brothers and sisters, our younger generation needs to learn this lesson of respect. You younger people, when an older man comes into the room, you ought to follow what God actually says in His Word and defer and show reverence. When we go up there this afternoon to eat, you're not the only person on the face of the earth. I know that's a surprise.

I understand that you may think that, but defer to the elder folk among us. Defer to someone who's sick. Defer to someone who needs help. In fact, why don't you even try to help them?

Because the Bible says we honor the dignity of God in men when we revere them, and when we serve them, and when we understand that they are, in fact, image bearers.

The Image of God in the Pre-Born

Then, of course, the image of God displayed in the pre-born in the womb. I'm sure you're all familiar with the passages. I read the Psalms, Psalm 139 at the outset. Let's rehearse a few more of these so that we can load our consciences with what Scripture says concerning babies in their mothers' wombs.

Genesis chapter 25. Genesis chapter 25, specifically beginning in verse 19. This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham begot Isaac.

Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian, Pat and Aram, the sister of Laban, the Syrian. Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. But the children struggled together within her." Note what the text says. It doesn't say the product of conception.

It does not say a lump of undefined selves. It doesn't say something that we can disregard. It doesn't say something that we can vacuum out. It doesn't say something that we can introduce a saline solution upon.

It says children, very specifically in the text. Notice, the children struggled together with her and she said, if all is well, why am I like this? So she went to inquire of the Lord and the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb. as two children. Nations are born from the womb.

Two nations are in your womb. Two people shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.

And the first came out red." The first came out red. Remember that language, because I'm going to ask you to think about it in just a moment when we look at Exodus 21. The first one came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over.

So they called his name Esau. He had the look only a mother could love. Just kidding. He's all red, he's all hairy.

She hugged him nevertheless and loved him. He's an image bearer of the living God. Afterward, his brother came out and his hand took hold of Esau's heel. So his name was called Jacob." Again, similar things go on in the Old Testament.

Turn to the book of Job for just a moment. When Job is rehearsing his life, when he's rehearsing the fact that he had been, as far as he was able, a godly man. He was seeking to honor the Lord, he sought to fear the Lord. And in Job 31, beginning at verse 13, he says, When they complained against me, what then shall I do when God rises up?

When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb? Job says, He made me in the womb.

When Job was in the womb, he was Job. David does the same thing in Psalm 51 when he's rehearsing his native depravity. He says, in sin did my mother conceive me. He's not saying the act of marital relationship was sin.

He's saying that the moment that David became, he was a sinner. He says, my mother conceived me in the womb. He speaks of David in the womb. Jeremiah is called from the womb to be a prophet to the nations.

When we get to the New Testament data and scriptures, and I have others. If you want these notes, email me. I will happily send them to you. There's no copyright.

You can do whatever you want with them. You can post them on the internet. You can go hog wild with them. You can do whatever you want.

You don't have to give any credit. You don't have to say anything. Just use it. It's that important to let people out there that don't think.

Christians, they couldn't argue the case for what the Bible says concerning abortion if you gave them hours. Brethren, it should be like this. There should be certain truths the Christian can answer. What must I do to be saved?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved. Who is your God? He's infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. In how many persons does this one God exist?

Three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What does the Bible say about abortion? It says that God abominates it because it is the murder of the pre-born. Well, how do you prove that?

These texts These texts teach us what God's mind and what God's will is concerning this particular situation. Look at Luke chapter 1, so you can see it's not just an Old Testament convention, but it is a New Testament one as well. Luke chapter 1, very intriguing section of Holy Scripture, obviously a lot going on in terms of birth, in terms of new life, in terms of inhabitants of the womb. Look at Luke 1 at 15.

For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. You see, John the Baptist would be filled with the Spirit even in his mother's womb. Why?

Because John the Baptist is an image-bearer. Why? Because John the Baptist is a servant of God Most High. Why?

Because John the Baptist is a human life even when he's in his mother's womb. Notice in Luke chapter 1 at verses 41 to 44. Luke chapter 1 verses 41 to 44. and it happened when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit then she spoke out with a loud voice and said blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb but why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me now there are two observations here that we really ought to take notice of first the Greek word used here that says babe is the same Greek word later used in Luke's gospel to refer to outside of the womb children. There wasn't a different idea involved.

There wasn't a different word choice involved. They're children outside of the womb when they're brought to the Lord Jesus Christ to be blessed. The same word applies to children inside of the womb. They're children!

This is the pro-choice propaganda. It's not a baby, it's the product of conception. It's just a lump of tissue. It's just undefined cells.

This is Orwellian speak, brethren. This is the truth is false and the false is true. You've got to be able to identify propaganda and point it out. I mean, we could even actually use the word, yeah, product of conception is human being.

They use the word fetus. You know, most Christians don't even realize that fetus in Latin means unborn baby. It sounds more technical and easier to murder when we call it a fetus though, right? We've got to depersonalize it.

You see, this is the tactic of the devil. This is the tactic of his henchmen. Depersonalize those who want to ruin. We don't want to say those little babies already have beating hearts, they already have little hands, they already have little feet, they already have little knees, they already have little heads, they already have all those things.

It's easier to call them a product of conception or a fetus or something that depersonalizes them so that we can get one over on the opponents and murder them in the name of medical science. Another observation that we ought to observe here. Verse 42, then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, but why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? You see what the scene is?

Elizabeth is pregnant with the Baptist. The Spirit of God comes upon Elizabeth's womb. Mary, who was pregnant with the Lord Jesus Christ, comes to visit Elizabeth. Of course, Elizabeth pronounces this beatitude upon her, blessed are you among women.

But do you hear what Elizabeth says? Notice very specifically, why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Elizabeth acknowledges the lordship of Jesus Christ while Jesus Christ is pre-born in the womb of Mary at this particular time. Do you understand that if pro-choice advocates had their way, if abortion was practiced to the degree that these wicked people want it practiced, we'd have no nations, because Jacob and Esau would have been wiped out.

We wouldn't have had David, king of Israel, because he would have been wiped out. We wouldn't have had Jeremiah the prophet to the nations, because he would have been wiped out. We wouldn't have John the Baptist, and we wouldn't have the Lord Jesus Christ. Another interesting passage is Galatians 1.15.

The apostle says that God separated him from his mother's womb to be an apostle. We have continuity. Jeremiah the prophet, a prophet to the nations. Galatians 1.15, we have the apostle Paul, the preacher to the nations.

The Bible is absolutely clear in this instance, that at every stage, at every place, in every situation, human life is dignified, human life does indeed possess sanctity, not because of our intrinsic worth, but because we bear the image of a God who has intrinsic worth, who is majestic, who is altogether lovely, and we are to demonstrate and show forth that glory in our day-to-day lives.

The Incarnation and Human Dignity

So we see the image of God displayed in man, but the sanctity of human life is seen also in the image of God displayed in the God-man. What does Jesus do? The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christ dignified flesh. Christ took to himself flesh. Hebrews 2 tells us he took flesh upon himself. This was absolutely essential.

This was absolutely requisite. Gregory of Nazianzen, one of the early fathers says, whatever is not assumed is not healed. If Christ did not assume our flesh, He doesn't save us from our sins. He became real man.

He became like us, yet without sin. If that does not dignify, if that does not magnify, if that does not show the sanctity of human life, you're not thinking properly. The Lord Christ didn't take on the nature of a dog. He didn't take on the nature of an Oriole.

He didn't take on the nature of anything other than man. He dignified it. He made it his own. He assumed it so that he could redeem it and heal it from its iniquities and sins.

Exodus 21 Applied to Abortion

Now, let's look specifically at an application in chapter 21 of the book of Exodus. I hope you're following the trajectory. We've looked at the sixth commandment. We've identified the sanctity of human life.

Now we're going to amplify it and see how it applies particularly to life in the womb. Exodus 21 verses 21 to 25. Now the context is most important. That's why I read both sections at the outset.

Chapter 20 is the Ten Commandments. Remember? I know that was a long time ago, but hopefully you'll remember. I just read it.

And then what happens? There's a shift that comes. Not a shift, but application. Look at chapter 21 verse 1 in the passage.

Now these are the judgments which you shall set before them. In other words, here we've given you, or God by Moses has given the Ten Commandments. These are general principles. These are prohibitions.

There's positive aspect. There are things to be gleaned. All of this is not the command of God. Some foolish preacher recently stood up recently and said that Hebrew has no word for command.

You know what's even more foolish is that people didn't toss him out on his ear. Brethren, Hebrew does have a word for command. Trust me, the Ten Commandments are not suggestions, they're not promises, they're laws from the Lawgiver who made this earth and has the right to regulate, the right to dictate, the right to govern as He sees fit. But when we ask the question, how do we flesh out these ten laws in civil society, that's what chapters 21 to 23 do.

It gives us a concrete application of those commandments given to us in the Decalogue, or the Ten Words. Again, Kaiser says, while these judgments deal mainly with temporal matters, they nevertheless are based on one or another express commandment in the Deca Law. Let me give you an example of that. You will find in the rest of the books of the law, you will find a prohibition about having a flat roof and not putting a fence around it.

Is God the cosmic architect? Is he the cosmic social engineer? He looks down from heaven and he wants to see uniformity among his people. There's a fence, there's a fence, there's a fence, no fence, you're in trouble.

No, the idea of the fence is so that if somebody wanders up on your roof they don't fall off and die. Makes sense, doesn't it? It's like if you have a swimming pool in your backyard. Guess what you should put around it?

Oh, I don't know, a fence so your neighbor kid doesn't fall in and die? That is a concrete application of the sixth word. While the sixth word speaks specifically to murder, if we are foolish, if we have an ox that we know gores and we don't lock him up, we are guilty before God. The same token, if we have a roof that little three-year-olds could fall off and die, and we don't put a fence around it, the sixth word speaks to that as well.

Maybe you didn't murder, but you're such a fool, you caused death in that instance, and you're either going to have to pay monetarily or pay with your life, depending on the circumstances. You see, that's how 21 to 23 function. That's how much of the book of Deuteronomy functions after the giving of the Decalogue of the Ten Commandments in chapter 5. We see detailed explanation of those commandments from say about chapter 12 all the way to chapter 25.

It is God fleshing out for us how then we ought to live. He says, it is most appropriate, therefore, that these judicial and political regulations given by God to Moses, when Moses approached the thick darkness where God was, should be set alongside the Decalogue. The two belong together in time as well as in interpretation.

Correct Translation Protects Mother and Child

The first item we want to look at in this passage in 21, 22 to 25. I've read it, let me just flesh it out. Two men are fighting. which is probably not a good idea to do in the first place. These two men happen to be fighting and one of the men, probably one of their wives, is there and she's pregnant.

In the midst of the exchange of blows, she gets smacked. She gets hit. She's a pregnant woman that gets struck by two fools or one fool that is fighting with another fool on the street. The law regulates such conduct.

Again, you did this accidentally, but because of the circumstances, you're going to have to pay with your life in this particular instance. We need to understand the correct translation. Again, if you've been with us any years, you'll know that this is what I always like to go through because it's so important. Notice, the New King James translates it accurately.

The ESV translates it accurately. If you're represented by those two, it more than likely translates it accurately. Notice, if men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely. That is a good translation.

The older New American Standard, the older new, it's kind of interesting, right? We have an old King James and a new old King James, whatever. The older New American Standard translated horribly. They have changed it in their update, and for that we're very thankful.

The Message Bible is another one. It's terrible. How the Message found its way in the pulpits is still a mystery to me. I just don't get it.

I really, really, really, really, really, really don't get it. Not just for that particular translation, but for it. It says, when there's a fight and in the fight a pregnant woman is hit so that she miscarries but is not otherwise hurt. Now I'm gonna ask you to pay close attention for just a moment.

You might say, what's the big difference? It's huge. See with the correct translation you have two persons that are protected by the law. In the incorrect translation, you have one person that is protected by the law.

Let's go to the correct one. If a woman is hit and she gives birth prematurely. The language is literally, and her children come out. Remember I asked you to remember Harry read Esau?

What did he do? He came out, didn't he? That's the language of childbirth. He came out.

Moses uses a plural noun in this instance. Her children come out. In case there are twins, or there are triplets, or there are quadruplets. I don't know if that's correct, or centuplets, or whatever.

A whole bunch of babies. They're all protected by the law. You see that? In the first instance, with the correct translation, you have protection afforded to the mother and everything that comes out of her bears the image of God.

In the incorrect translation, she miscarries and then no harm follows to her. Then her husband will have to pay a monetary fine. That's not what the text is specifying. The text affords protection not only to mother, but to children.

When translators miss that, they miss it by a mile. It is simply not the case that the Bible doesn't say anything about abortion. We have seen all of the passages that refer to children in the womb as children. And we see a very specific law in the Mosaic application, in the Mosaic legislation, an outflow of the Ten Commandments, an outflow and application of the Sixth Commandment that protects mother and protects child or children that come out prematurely You see, Hebrew has a word for miscarriage, and it's not used here.

Hebrew has a word for one untimely born, and it's not used here. The language that is employed here is not, she has a miscarriage, and then no harm follows to her. The language is, her children come out prematurely, and if no harm follows to her and to them, The law speaks to this issue in crystal clear language. We don't often hear it.

I think the Bible says we shouldn't commit abortion. I think the Bible might say something about the death penalty, but you know I really don't think it's fair. Who cares what you think? Who cares?

We have the mind of God revealed to us in Holy Scripture. Our task as the church is to study it, and to learn it, and to apply it. Not to better it, not to innovate it. It's actually becoming quite burdensome to see the abuse that is inflicted upon the Bible.

Increased Protection for the Pre-Born

Notice, secondly, see in the correct translation, Notice secondly the increased protection for the pre-born. Go back for just a moment to verse 12. He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

You see, that's that distinction between manslaughter, which is accidental, even though it doesn't sound that way. Manslaughter is a terrible word, isn't it? Manslaughter. It just doesn't sound pleasant.

But in terms of the Bible, there is no culpability legally. It was accidental. Murder! This is an instance of an accidental homicide.

You know what happens if you accidentally killed somebody in Old Covenant Israel? The gorel, the near kinsman redeemer, would come after you to avenge the blood. But what God did was establish three cities of refuge throughout Palestine and throughout Israel so that the person who accidentally committed homicide could run to that city of refuge and be safe. Notice the instance that we have concerning the abortion in chapter 21, 22-25.

This is an accident as well, isn't it? Neither of these men sought to hit the pregnant woman. Look at the language. If men fight and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows.

The target was not the woman and her child. The target was me and knucklehead B. And while we were exchanging blows, we accidentally hit the wife who was pregnant. You see, it's accidental.

You get that? They weren't trying to hurt her. They weren't trying to hurt the baby. They weren't trying to hurt the children in her womb.

You see, before this, if you accidentally committed homicide, you could run to the city of refuge. Not in this instance. There's not a city of refuge for this. That's why I say it's increased protection for the pre-born.

Notice, "...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 judge has determined." So the two men fight, she gets hit, the child comes out prematurely, but the child's okay and mom's okay. The man's going to have to pay. I mean, you have to pay. Children and young people learn this lesson.

Foolish mistakes and dumb things will one day cost you money. If they don't now, they cost your parents money. But they will one day cost you money. And if you young men want to go out there and ball for it all, realize there are repercussions.

I've often thought when I've seen a 17-year-old spitting his wheels and he's got an N on the back of his car, I've thought to myself, he hasn't had to pay for tires yet. He really hasn't. This was an accident. But notice what the text goes on to specify.

"...he shall pay as the judges determine." Now notice in verse 23, "...but if any harm follows." Now we're not just talking about to mom, we're talking about the children who came out. We've got mother, we've got children protected by God. There's increased protection. There's an increased penalty There's an increased sanction in this instance because you foolish men damaged a woman and her baby.

Look at what it says. 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. This is the law of retaliation. Before you say, oh that's from a barbaric time, way back when.

No nations today practice the same thing. Instead of calling it the law of retaliation, we say more civilized sounding things, which I don't think they do, like, well, the punishment must fit the crime. Exactly. And if you two men go out and you let a blow fly and hit a woman and hit her child, or that she gives birth prematurely and either the children or she is injured to the point of death, then you will die.

It's increased protection, isn't it? Now, I just ask the question, if God regulates and God speaks to this accidental occasion, then how much more state-licensed, state-subsidized facilities that have as their end game the murder of babies in their mother's wombs? You know, it's times when I study this particular doctrine, when I get into the word about this, I wonder how can we ever pray God bless us as a nation? I think we ought to pray with the prophet who said, in your wrath remember mercy.

There's no possible way God looks down upon a nation that is filled with blood guiltiness. Says, I can't wait to bless, I can't wait to bless, I can't wait to bless. The blood of righteous Abel cried out from the grave. What about the billions of babies that have been murdered?

There's actually something on the web called the abortion counter. numberofabortions.org. It's sick. While you're sitting there watching these numbers it says since you've been on this site 35 babies have died. It's inconceivable that we do this.

It's inconceivable that this is not causing us to cry aloud and spare not say stop murdering image bearers.

The Law of Retaliation

The law of retaliation is specified by God. That's our third observation. If during the struggle the woman is struck and her baby is born prematurely, if no harm follows to mom or babies, then a monetary fine is assigned. If harm follows, then life for life.

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. That's what God says concerning this issue of abortion. Look at the exposition of Exodus 21, consider the abomination of it. The Didache, which was an early Christian sort of a handbook, probably dated around AD 110.

Didache 2.2 says, you shall not abort a child or commit infanticide. You see, the early Christians had to deal with this as well. They didn't have state-licensed, state-subsidized facilities that carried this out in sterile conditions. Now, the early Christians faced people that would not get a boy and they'd take the baby girl and put it out on the trash heap.

The baby girl was either taken and used as a slave or as a prostitute or the dogs in the city would come and eat the baby girl. You see, they had to deal with this stuff too. Listen to Calvin on Exodus 21. He says, "...if it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his place of most secure refuge." We'd all agree with that.

I mean, I wouldn't want to be killed out in the field, but I certainly wouldn't want to be killed while I'm sitting in my chair at home. This is my place. This is my haven. Leave me alone.

Wait till I get out in the field and let me have it. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light." Consider God's statement. These six things Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood." If someone were to say, you Calvinists believe in the doctrine of total depravity, absolutely, and we believe in the doctrine of judicial innocence.

A totally depraved person still gets protection from the law. If they are judicially innocent and haven't done anything worthy of death, then we ought to do everything we can to protect them. That applies to babies in the womb. Certainly they are judicially innocent.

No baby that's done horrible things that deserves the magistrate's sword. Baby is doing what God made it to do, developing in its mother's womb, such that it can come out and live and bear God's image and hopefully be converted unto Christ and serve Him all of its days. Revelation 21.8 tells us, "...but the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable murderers, sexually immoral sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." So there's exposition. We've looked at the Sixth Commandment, sanctity of life, and a specific application with reference to abortion.

Application

I want to close with a couple of thoughts before we go. First, the state and abortion. In the last hour, we were reminded by our brother that, thankfully, Canada has, as of yet, allowed RU486. One man as well defined that as a human pesticide Are you 486?

Take this pill and it will destroy the baby in your womb. Actually, they don't say it quite like that. It will help with unwanted pregnancy. Well, thankfully Canada has put the brakes on that until Health Canada decrees that it's okay.

How do you decree that a pill that kills people is ever okay? I just don't get it. How do we get into some of these things? Canada, surgically, ranks right up there with North Korea. in terms of the availability of abortion.

There is no restriction on surgical abortion. You mean Canada? Canada's nice. Canada's fiscally responsible.

Canada has a leader that goes places and says things. Canada's streets look good, Canada's people are kind and courteous, but Canada's abortion clinics run heavy with blood. And you do the numbers, and I said this last year, in America it's over one million, in Canada it's over 100,000, which taking populations, it's the same, percentage wise. Now don't think I'm vindicating my country.

No, I wouldn't think to do that because my country, their clinics run thick with blood. Listen, the criminal law amendment 1968 and 1969 introduced by Pierre Trudeau's liberal government legalized abortion as long as a committee of doctors signed off that it was necessary for the physical or mental well-being of the mother. Another nation that recently joined the sort of top three, four of most liberal places in the world to get an abortion is Israel. Israel. of people that allegedly are looking for Messiah to come from a woman have resorted to abortion on demand.

Well, the woman still needs to meet with a committee of three to get the permission, but I read that it's approved about 98% of the time. Pretty amazing. When we look at the United States, we look at Canada, we look at Israel, and we got something in common with North Korea? You mean we have some affinity with that wingnut?

Yes, we do. We most certainly do. Legalized abortion as long as a committee of doctors signed off that it was necessary for the physical or mental well-being of the mother. Now get this, in 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R vs.

Morgenthaler that the existing laws were unconstitutional and struck down the 1969 law. The then-governing progressive conservatives attempted but failed to pass a new abortion law. And since then, Canada has had no criminal laws. Listen to that.

Since then, Canada has had no criminal laws governing the subject and abortion is a decision made by a woman with her doctor. Now, I'm not one who thinks the government should fix everything. In fact, I actually believe the government's role is quite small, biblically defined. I'm one who would argue that we need less government rather than more government.

But on this fundamental thing, they need to step in, step up, and stop murdering babies. This is what Machen says. He says, the civil government is not intended to produce blessedness or happiness. It's not.

God produces blessedness and happiness, doesn't he? If you're waiting for the political conservatives to provide blessedness and happiness to you, you've got a big problem. Let me just tell you. I hope this guy gets in so I can have blessedness or happiness.

Christ is at the right hand of the throne of the majesty on high. He's the one who doles out blessedness and happiness. What's the role of the state? What's the role of the government?

It's not intended to produce blessedness or happiness, but intended to prevent blessedness or happiness from being interfered with by wicked men. Their task is to make sure that my blessedness and happiness doesn't get taken away by someone else. And even in that, they're not to do it in some Gestapo-type fashion. He goes on to say, the state exists for the repression of evildoers and the protection of individual liberty. of evildoers, not subsidies to evildoers, not laws that open doors to evildoers, not laws that bring down ultimately the wrath and judgment of God upon our heads because these streets run with blood.

What about the church and abortion? It is prevalent. Randy Alcorn, at least several years ago, said, that abortion is happening in the professing church, not as much as it is among the pagans, but it's happening. How can that be?

How can it be? Here's a couple of suggestions. First, the professing people of God, and a lack of understanding. We've seen both the Bible studies.

We just don't know. We need to know, brethren. So life or death matter to know. We need to understand.

We need to pray in an informed manner. We need to communicate with pagans in an informed manner. We need to communicate with professing Christians in an informed manner. The professing people of God and surgical abortion.

It actually happens. It happened in Israel. The prohibition is given by God in Leviticus to not let your children pass through the fires to Moloch. Guess what's condemned in the prophet Jeremiah chapter 32?

Right into Moloch's dead arms so that it falls into the fire. The professing people of God and the voting booth. It's amazing to me. If a man stood up and said, I'm gonna run for president and I'm a pedophile.

I don't think many people would say, I'm going to back him, but he's a pedophile. I know, but he's good in other ways. I'm going to run for president and I'm the biggest thief you'll ever meet. I'm going to vote for him.

He just said he's a thief. I know, but I like his policies over here. A man stands up and he says, I'm a murderer, or I endorse, I advocate murder. Somehow that's tolerable for Christian voters.

He said, well, what are you talking about? Well, in America, again, not saying my land is the land of the joyful, godly ones. In America, the first term, President Barack Obama got about six million votes from the evangelicals. Now remember, President Barack Obama, when he was Senator Barack Obama, voted three times.

Voted three times to oppose a law that was entitled the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. And if you have to ask the question, just go through it again. What could the Born Alive Infant Protection Act have as its goal? Basically, it was a suggestion or a bill proposed for voting on that said if a baby survives an abortion, then the medical staff would be duty-bound to provide medical care to that baby to see it make it.

Three times Senator Barack Obama voted against that. What kind of a man does that? But what kind of a Christian votes for it? You know what was really intriguing too?

You remember Kermit Gosnell? If you have not heard that word before, Google it. Make sure you have a bucket present so if you have to vomit, it's right there. This guy was a ghoul in Philadelphia.

FBI went in there on drug suspicion. that he was basically peddling Oxycontin. They get in there and they find this house of horrors. It's a licensed, state-licensed abortionist, but even pagans were repulsed by what was going on. You know what was intriguing?

In 2013, during his trial, I think it started in April, probably went to about May or June, In the same month, in April, President Barack Obama went and spoke to Planned Parenthood. Now, do not fool yourself and take that Orwellism and say, wow, that's a good group that's helping us plan to be good parents. No, they're in the abortion business. So you've got Kermit Gosnell.

You can actually flip through the channels. You can see the Kermit Gosnell story on the one hand, and then see Barack Obama speaking to Planned Parenthood on the other. The crescendo came for me. I remember it vividly.

I was sitting in a billeting room in Idaho. I mean, out in the middle of nowhere. I'm watching this thing, right? I shouldn't say that.

Mountain Home is a beautiful place. But I'm watching this and at the very end of his presentation, that man had the gall to say, God bless Planned Parenthood. How in the world could someone go and tick his name off? I am not preaching to you this party.

I am not preaching to you this party. I am preaching to you biblical law. And if a man stands up and says, I love to molest children, vote for me. Most professing Christians will say, there's no way.

But if that selfsame man stands up and says, I support a woman's right to choose, we'll still vote for him? It's madness. Another concern with reference to the prevalence of abortion, the professing people of God and sexual immorality. I ask the question, how can it be that someone who professes Christ would seek out an abortion?

Because sinners sin. And then sinners try to cover their tracks. We have an illustration of this in the life of King David of Israel. He sins sexually.

How does he seek to remedy the situation? Not through the murder of the pre-born. We'll give him a hat tip for that. But he murders Uriah.

You see, sin begets sin. And young people and children, be very careful. Leads me to my next concern. Sexual immorality.

Guard against it. Resist it. Stay the course. Be faithful.

If you're 20 and you say you just don't know what it's like, you're going to be married soon and have more years with that blessing than you currently know now. Deal! Resist it! If He tells you, you gotta show Him that you love Him, tell Him, I love Jesus and I'm gonna serve and honor Him.

And any man that tries to get me to do that is not a man I want to be saddled with for my life. Kids, young people, resist it. Pornography. You say, well that's making a leap.

No it isn't. People don't get pregnant without sex. I know that. I really know that.

I'm not a biologist. I'm not a whatever. But I know that people do not get pregnant without sex. What's a stepping stone?

Porn. What does Solomon say in the book of Proverbs? Can a man take fire into his bosom and not get burned? Be careful.

You open yourself up to that stuff. You start letting it in. You start getting that craving, and that covetous heart, and that desire. And as a young man, you start objectifying women.

Or as a young woman, you start objectifying men. And you see them as pieces of meat for your pleasure. This is a stepping stone. Guard your hearts.

And then the final one. It's a birth control pill. It's not RU486. It is the birth control pill.

Thanks to Mark Hall. He opened my eyes to this several years ago. And it was the medical journals and the pill sellers' data that shows it. How does the birth control pill work, you ask?

I'm going to save you the time of looking at a book that's about that thick. Actually, it's not all that, about that. Three ways that the birth control works. One, to inhibit ovulation, which is a contraceptive mechanism.

Two, to thicken the cervical mucus, making it more difficult for the sperm to reach the egg. That, too, is a contraceptive mechanism. It is the third one, the fail-safe, the foolproof that is an abortifacient. It works like the IUD.

The IUD is placed inside to irritate the uterine wall so that a fertilized egg will not be received. The third element or the third part of that birth control pill works the same way. Again, this is right on, you can Google this and see it for yourselves. It thins and shrivels the lining of the uterus so that it is less able to facilitate the implantation of the fertilized egg.

Do you know what a fertilized egg is in Christian speak? A human. A fertilized egg is a Jacob. A fertilized egg is an Esau.

A fertilized egg is a David. A fertilized egg is a Jeremiah. A fertilized egg is a Paul. A fertilized egg is the Lord Jesus Christ and I speak reverently.

He was fully man. A fertilized egg is a John the Baptist. You see, if the fertilized egg gets in there and it does not find hospitable environment, the fertilized egg dies. That's abortion.

That's abortion. You see, the prevalence of abortion within the church, brethren, it encourages my heart to be able to say the power of the gospel in abortion. Praise God there is forgiveness for sinners. Praise God the blood of Jesus Christ as Son cleanses us from all sin.

People who have had abortions, men who have coerced their girlfriends into getting abortions, doctors who performed abortions can come to the thought that is open for sin and uncleanness and find Isn't that beautiful? Psalm 25, the psalmist prays in such a way that I think probably would shock most of us. He says to the Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Is that the way you argue with God?

Pardon my sins because they're huge? Pardon my sins because they're great? You probably say, pardon my sins, God, because I didn't mean it. Pardon my sins, God, because I'm really okay.

Pardon my sins. For they are great. What we just sing in Psalter 130, Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord, hear my voice. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquity, O Lord, who could stand?

Isn't that the men of Beth Shemesh's question from 1 Samuel 620? The men of Beth Shemesh looked at the Ark of the Covenant and God slaughtered them. And their response was, Who? Who is able to stand before this Holy Lord God?

That's what David is saying in Psalm 130. If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But, he says, there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. You know what's good news to somebody who's been connected to abortion?

It's the cross. It's the glory of Christ. It's the salvation wrought by Him. It is the forgiveness that He alone can afford.

It is the righteousness that He alone can give. It is the ability that He gives us to stand on that day before this Holy Lord God. And one other passage. Remember Saul of Tarsus, prior to his conversion on the Damascus Road.

What did he participate in? He participated in the murder of Stephen. Didn't he? What?

He just held their coats. He was an accomplice to murderers. If you hold the coat of somebody that's throwing a rock to kill somebody else, you're at fault too. You can't say to the police, I was just holding the coats while these guys robbed the banks.

I was just sitting there with my car waiting for them to jump in. I'll drive them away so they could rob the banks. You are at fault. What happened?

They stone Stephen to death. And in Stephen's dying words, he says, Lord, do not charge them with this sin. Lo and behold, a chapter later, we see Saul of Tarsus going to the road of Damascus so that he can arrest Christians, he can bind men and women, and he can bring them to prison. And what does our God do?

He saves them. Matthew Henry says, with reference to Saul standing there at the bloody death of Stephen. He fed his eyes with this bloody spectacle in hopes it would put a stop to the growth of Christianity. We have reason to think that Paul ordered Luke to insert this, for shame to himself and glory to free grace.

Amen. There is remedy in the Lord Jesus for those who've engaged in sin. flee to Him. If you are young people, if you are older people, and you're not married, and you're playing games sexually, you need to stop. You need to seek Christ.

You need to ask forgiveness, and you need to seek strength from on high. Let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for its clarity on this and every issue that is specifically to be known concerning the glory of God and the salvation that you have brought. Thank you that your law is so clear as well. We ask that you would help us to think these thoughts after you, help us to glorify you in this world, help us, Father, to be prayerful as well. Because in the prophet Ezekiel, the men were told to destroy those who did not sigh and cry over the abominations in the land.

God help us, we pray. Bless us and strengthen us and enable us to shine as lights in this crooked and perverse generation. We pray this through Christ our Lord, amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1:26-28; 5:1; 25:19-26
• Exodus 20:1-17; 21:1; 21:12-13; 21:22-25
• Leviticus 19:14
• Numbers 35:9
• Deuteronomy 19:4-13
• 1 Samuel 6:20
• Job 31:13-15
• Psalms 25:11; 51:5; 130:1-4; 139
• Proverbs 8:36
• Jeremiah 32:35
• Ezekiel 9:4
• Matthew 5:22
• Luke 1:15; 1:41-44
• Galatians 1:15
• Ephesians 6:4
• Colossians 3:21
• Hebrews 2:14
• James 3:9; 5:14-15
• Revelation 21:8
• 1 John 3:15