Much has happened since I was last in the office. Most troubling of the events I missed, was a bill before the US Senate which would make the ancients who worshipped the Canaanite god Molech proud. Who was Molech? He was a metal statue of the pagan god Molech. The statute was heated with fire and a priest would place a baby onto its searing hands. The ancient Canaanites would watch the baby burn to death, all in attempt to earn their god’s favor.
People were trying to make their lives better by giving up their future (the child) for a momentary blessing and for a provision in the present. The present “benefit” consumed them. The future blessing didn’t matter. Does that sound familiar?
I found it beyond belief that a bill could go before the US Senate which would allow the killing of a baby in the womb up until the moment of birth. It would allow partial birth abortion. It would force all medical staff to participate. Where do we live? It garnered 49 votes. Seriously?
But I ask, how do we preach the truth in love in an environment such as this? Our culture has lost any biblical perspective on parenting and children. God has lost His voice in public discourse, that’s for sure.
The Bible says that children are a blessing from God, while our culture has reduced them to a choice. When we discard babies by the millions as medical waste, what kind of a society do we really have? We assume we are morally superior to those ancient Canaanites who burned their children to find favor with God. But are we? Solomon set up a shrine to Molech in the Valley of Hinnom, which became the Greek word for hell. Is the Valley of Hinnom any different from American landfills of dismembered and discarded unborn babies? False gods destroy us. They always will.
So much of the support for abortion is laced in euphemistic language. The world supports abortion because pregnancies and babies impact the careers and the earning power of women. But does a woman’s ability to bear and nurture new life add value to us all, and especially to her? Yes. When we hear of an equality that must be achieved through abortion, what is the unspoken message? It is this: if women want equality in the professional business world, they must become more like men; babies must be removed from the picture. But if that is true, then we deny part of their God-given capacity.
At its core, abortion is anti-woman because it devalues one of the unique capacities God has created for women – the ability to bear and nurture new life. In the name of business, this beautiful and godly capacity is ignored. This should stop. And it must begin with the Church. God calls life good. He calls women and men good. And children are His blessing to women and men in marriage. The Church must confess this with confidence and joy. Careers are good gifts from God, but they are not God. We have one God. He is good and His Word is good. We need to think clearly and speak with sincere love.
But don’t forget 49 Senators sided with our modern worshippers of Molech.