An insightful writing about abortion, by Tim Bauer, Pastor . . .
Blessings of God that affect the womb
Gen. 29:31 "Now the Lord saw that Leah was unloved, and He opened her womb..."
Gen. 30:22 "Then God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and opened her womb."
Gen. 49:25 - This is part of Jacob's blessing to his son Joseph. "...And by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb..."
Exodus 23:26 - If the Israelites obeyed the voice of God (v.22), "There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in the land..."
Deut. 7:13 "And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb..."
Deut. 28:1-4 "...If you will diligently obey the Lord your God... all these blessings shall come upon you... the fruit of your womb will be blessed..."
Deut. 28:11 "...the Lord will grant you abundant prosperity in the fruit of your womb..."
Deut. 30:9 Because of repentance and obedience to God's commandments (vs.1‑8), "Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb..."
Psalm 127:3 "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward."
Curses of God that affect the womb:
Gen. 20:1-18, Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister," afraid that Abimilech, king of Gerar would kill him. "Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, `What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done" (v.9). The sins of God's people affected the wombs of those whose land they were in. "And Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his maids, so that they bore children. For the Lord had closed fast all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham's wife" (v.17‑18).
Lev. 26:2, A curse of the Lord on His people for their disobedience. "And I will let loose among you the beasts of the field, which shall bereave you of your children." The beasts of Hell are loose!
Deut. 28:18, Another curse of the Lord on His people for disobedience is that "the fruit of your womb will be cursed..."
Hosea 9:10-17, Israel was harshly judged by the Lord due to her harlotry in forsaking the Lord and going after other gods. The Lord said that they would have "no birth, no pregnancy, and no conception... give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts... even though they bear children, I will slay the precious ones of their womb."
Hosea 13:16, Further judgment from the Lord where He says, "...their little ones will be dashed in pieces, and their pregnant women will be ripped open."
Can the sin of God's people affect others around us?
Gen. 12:9-20, This is the other account of Abraham calling Sarah his sister and the consequences of it on Pharaoh and his house. "But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, `What is this you have done to me?" (vs.17-18)
2 Samuel 12, In this passage Nathan the prophet confronts David with his sin of adultery with Bathsheba. Because of it, the Lord judged David, telling Him, "the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me... I will raise up evil against you from your own household..." The Lord also struck the child and he died.
2 Samuel 24, David sinned against the Lord by numbering the people. "So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel.. 70,000 men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died" (vs. 15). The scriptures go on to say that "David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking down the people, and said, `Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done wrong, but these sheep, what have they done?" David then built an altar to the Lord and "the Lord was moved by entreaty for the land, and the plague was held back from Israel." (See 2 Samuel 21:14)
Jonah 1, Jonah's disobedience to God's command put the men who were in the ship with him in great danger. When they found out that the great storm was because he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord they said to him in vs.11, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?" Jonah replied to them, "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you."
In a day when many in the church cry out for "justice to be served", and for people to be "held accountable for their actions", it's time for us, the church, to repent of our own hypocrisy. The Lord is pointing His holy finger at us as the prophet Nathan did to David and cried out, "You are the man!" Is this plague of abortion that is upon us today a direct reaction to the action of our sin? The world is asking us, "What have you done to us?" We must repent and deal with the sin that is in the camp. If we will humble ourselves and pray, and seek the Lord's face and turn from our wicked ways because of the plague the Lord has sent amongst us, then He has promised us that He will "hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:13-14). The scriptures are clear.
Fighting against abortion:
Dealing with sin in the camp, Joshua 7: The Israelites had just come from a great defeat at Jericho and were moving on to their next enemy. It was the small town of Ai. After spying out the land, they told Joshua in vs.3, "Do not let all the people go up, only about two or three thousand men need go up to Ai; do not make all the people toil up there, for they are few." It goes on to say that when they came up against them to fight that they fled from them and 36 Israelites were killed. When Joshua found out, he immediately formed a committee on forming a better plan of attack and then presented it to the congregation who then voted on it. Of course that is not really what happened. That would be foolish. So why do we do that today? The answer is because we now seek the wisdom of men before the counsel of God.
We don't understand the connection between the lack of power against an enemy and the sin in our midst. Joshua didn't consult with other men about the problem, but fell on his face before God to find out why this had happened. The Lord answered him in vs.10-13. The Lord told Joshua that "Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. And they have even taken some of the things under the ban and have both stolen and deceived. Moreover, they have also put them among their own things. Therefore the sons of Israel cannot stand before their enemies... they have become accursed. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy the things under the ban from your midst."
At the beginning of this account in Chapter 7, vs.1 tells us that "the sons of Israel acted unfaithfully in regard to the things under the ban, for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, took some of the things under the ban, therefore the anger of the Lord burned against the sons of Israel." In their conquest of Jericho the Lord had specifically told His people in Joshua 6:17-18, "And the city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the Lord... but as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, lest you covet them and take some of the things under the ban, so you would make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it." One man's sin affected the entire camp. It cost the lives of 36 men who were killed battling Ai. It would cost more than that as we will soon see. Moses had warned the people back in Deut. 23:9 & 14, "When you go out as an army against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every evil thing... since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you lest He turn away from you."
Before I go any further, I would like to briefly discuss the phrase "things under the ban". I kept seeing it as I read my N.A.S. version of the bible. The N.I.V. interprets it as "things devoted to destruction" or "condemned things." The King James calls them "accursed things." The Hebrew term for these interpretations refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them. God's people were not to take these things for themselves because they came with a curse. Deut. 7:26 says, "And you shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the ban..." In Deut. 13:17 Moses told the Israelites, "And nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase..." To bring things under the ban into your midst means certain judgment from God on you and others around you. (See Lev. 27: 28-29, Deut. 2:34 and 3:6, 1 Samuel 15:9, 1 Cor. 16:22)
The Lord told Joshua to bring all the Israelites near, man by man, "and it shall be that the one taken with the things under the ban shall be burned with fire, he and all that belongs to him, because he has transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he has committed a disgraceful thing in Israel" (vs.l5). Joshua then brought all the tribes before the Lord, family by family, man by man, until Achan was singled out. Do you know that the Lord is doing that very thing today?! Judgment begins in the house of the Lord. He is sifting His people and the chaff is being removed. The tares are being separated from the wheat and bundled up together for the fire (Math. 13:24-30). God is calling His true bride out from the Babylonian, harlot church of Revelation 17 who is selling itself out by going after other gods, warning them, "Come out of her, My people, that you may not participate in her sins and that you may not receive of her plagues, for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities... give back to her double according to her deeds... to the degree that she has glorified herself (who are we glorifying in our lives? Take a good hard look!) and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning (remember who God said would also receive of this torment unless they came out) for she says in her heart, `I sit as a Queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning (the Queen sat in a place of ruling authority also, below the King. So do we with Christ. We say today, "I am a Christian, I am protected even though I now sit on the throne of my heart. Nothing will happen to me. I'll be raptured away from Christ's coming again in judgment.) She will be burned up with fire for the Lord God who judges her is strong" (Rev. 18:4-8). This is what happened to Achan. God says if we, His people, do not repent, this is what will happen to us! A similar passage is found in Isaiah 47:7-11 where it says, "... you said, `I shall be a queen forever'... Now then, hear this you sensual one, who dwells securely (which is actually a false sense of security) who says in your heart, `I am (that is God's name alone! See Isaiah 46:9 which is right before this passage.), and there is no one besides me, I shall not sit as a widow (meaning, "I will not lose my husband, Christ.) nor shall I know loss of children... and disaster will fall on you for which you cannot atone, and destruction about which you do not know will come on you suddenly."
Achan's sin had now been exposed by the Lord, just as ours will be. He confessed in vs.21, "When I saw among the spoil a beautiful mantle from Shinar (N.K.J.V., A beautiful Babylonian garment; We must not keep anything that belongs to Babylon, it has been put under the ban!) and two hundred shekels of silver and a bar of gold fifty shekels in weight, then I coveted them and took them; and behold, they are concealed in the earth inside my tent with the silver underneath it." What things under the ban have we coveted and taken, hiding them within our earthly tents. May we act like the messengers Joshua sent and run to get these things within our hearts to pour them out before the Lord. Joshua and all Israel then took Achan and all that belonged to him, including his sons and daughters, up to the valley of Achor, which means "the valley of trouble". In vs.25-26 Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The Lord will trouble you this day.' And all Israel stoned them with stones; and they burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones that stands to this day, and the Lord turned from the fierceness of His anger. Therefore the name of that place has been called the valley of Achor to this day."
We as God's people must cry out to God like David in Psalms 139:23-24 and say, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and if there be any hurtful way (or way of pain) in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." There was a similar prayer laid out before the Lord from a man named Jabez in 1 Chron.4:9-10. It says that "Jabez was more honorable than his brothers... And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, `Oh that thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me (or cause me pain)!' And God granted him that which he requested." As we bring out the things that the Lord reveals through His Holy Spirit that are concealed within us, and lay them out before the Lord on His altar, His fire will fall and consume them. This is why the Lord said in Hosea 2:15 to unfaithful Israel that He would make "the valley of Achor as a door of hope." If we will truly repent of our sins before the Lord, and He sees a great heap of stones over them, that He will then give our enemies into our hands. As Joshua 8:2 goes on to tell us, He will not only give assurance of victory, but will also tell us exactly how to do it! Praise His name! May we act quickly as Aaron did in Numbers 16:48 when Israel sinned against the Lord and he "took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked."
Abortion: A physical manifestation of a spiritual state
"Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows, when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit... Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit and she will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins." Math. 1:18-21
When a person turns to the Lord, they become just as Mary was. The seed of life has been conceived within you by the Holy Spirit, in order to give birth to the image of the Son in your life. This is the seed spoken of in 1 Peter 1:23 where it says, "For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God." James 1:18-21 also says, "In the exercise of His will He brought forth (gave us birth) by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures... Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls." I had always been taught that this happened immediately when you came to Christ. The Lord revealed to me that just as this does not happen in the physical realm, neither does it take place in the spiritual realm. Let me explain to you what I mean.
In John 3,Jesus has an interesting conversation with a man who was well versed in the law, a Pharisee, a teacher of Israel, but who had no spiritual understanding of a very important teaching. It was about the new birth. Jesus told Nicodemus in verse 3-6, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Without this 2nd birth, you will not have the ability to see, or perceive the kingdom of God as it is happening around and within you. This is proven just by looking at Jesus disciples. They were with Him for about 3 1 /2 years, but didn't really get what He was talking about until after Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given. Revelation can only come through the Holy Spirit to understand His word. 1 Cor. 2:14 says that "a natural (unspiritual) man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised (examined)." God also says in Proverbs 1:23, "Turn to my reproof (this is the "water" part, or repentance), Behold, I will pour out My Spirit on you; I will make My words known to you (this is revelation)." Having eyes to see physically, you will be blinded to what is going on spiritually. This is part of the message that was given to the church of Laodicea in Rev. 3:14-22 where Jesus tells them they were blind and needed eye salve to anoint their eyes with. Without the cleansing waters of repentance and the next step of the Spirit of God coming to a heart that has been prepared through that repentance, you will not be able to enter into the kingdom of God.
There are two elements spoken of in the above passage; water and Spirit. The first is external, the second is internal. The water represents the cleansing that comes when we turn to Jesus in humility, confessing our sins and then turning away from the wickedness that brings the wrath of God on us (see Col. 3:1-6). Being a Christian, or a committed follower of Jesus Christ, is not just something you say, but something you do! If you are truly sorry for your sins, then you will turn away from them and do what God commands. His blood that was shed on the cross, and is accepted by the Father on our behalf, then cleanses, or washes us clean from the guilt and burden of our sins.
John the Baptist said in John 1:23 that he was "a voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord." His baptism was "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins." It made ready, or prepared your heart for what was to come after that. John made it clear that there was more. He goes on to say in vs.26-34, "I baptize in water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. It is He who comes after me... this is the one who baptizes in the Holy Spirit." Jesus said in John 7:37-39, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the scripture said, `From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke of the Spirit whom those who believed were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." In John 2:23-25 there were many who believed in Jesus name as they beheld the signs which He was doing. "But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to bear witness concerning man for He Himself knew what was in man." We would call these people in verse 23 Christians because the word says that they were believers in Jesus, and yet Jesus saw their inner man and would not fully commit Himself to them! The word "entrust" in verse 24 means "to commit with confidence". I was taught that "you received all you'll ever get of God and His Holy Spirit when you first turn to Christ in repentance". Well these scriptures alone prove otherwise. It is amazing when the Holy Spirit reveals truth to me, how the false doctrines that have been set up in my mind from the past will do anything to deny that truth and defend itself. They are strongholds of falsehood implanted by the enemy that God wants to uproot from us and set us free! Check out your response and see if this is true with you or not. Whenever the Lord revealed something new to me that went against the false doctrines that I had been taught, I would get very angry. I thought to myself, "Why am I so angry?" It was because anger is a fruit of the flesh (Gal 5:19-21), and that is what those doctrines feed, the flesh!
The Holy Spirit cannot reveal Jesus to you and correct the areas of thinking that are wrong if you walk in spiritual pride, thinking that you know all that there is to know about Jesus. That is rebellion against His Lordship. He is calling His people out of our man-made denominational abominations and into His glorious freedom! It is time for us, the church, to repent of our foolishness and to grow up into Christ. The scriptures say in Proverbs 22:15 that "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child". Our many divisions and differing doctrines prove just how unstable and immature we are. Ephesians 4: 11-16 tells us how to "attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ." We will be transformed corporately as we repent of our useless rituals and then allow the Holy Spirit to change our minds about the difference between the holy and the profane.
I can see the heels of some digging in and calling this "untrained and uneducated" man's words foolishness from the pit, but you need to take a good look at the fruit of our labor over the last 50 years. Our nation is sinking deeper and deeper into depravity because of the wickedness in the church. It is a documented fact that as the church goes, so goes the world. We have been called to be salt and light to preserve that which is good and to lead the way into righteous living. For instance, the divorce rate in our midst is the same or worse than that of the rest of the world. Our deeds are screaming against our words! Titus 1:16 says, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." Repent church and receive eye salve to reopen your blind eyes. When Christ is again glorified in our midst, then the rivers of living waters will flow freely once again to a dead culture.
In Acts 8, Phillip goes to the city of Samaria where a man named Simon believed and was baptized (in water) in vs.13. The passage goes on to say in vs.14 that "when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit." Simon then offers them money for the authority to lay his hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit. Peter rebukes him strongly in vs.20 saying, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter (or "word"), for your heart is not right before God. Therefore, repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the bondage of iniquity." Remember, this was a man who had believed and had been baptized. The way within him was not yet prepared, or ready, for the Lord to come and baptize him in the Holy Spirit.
There were others in Acts 19:1-7 who Paul came upon in the city of Ephesus. He asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They answered him, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit." Paul then said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." Paul said that "John baptized with the baptism of repentance (water), telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus." He then laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. In John 14:21-23 Jesus said to His disciples, "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose (manifest) Myself to him." Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, What then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word (water, repentance and obedience), and My Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with Him (Spirit descending on a prepared heart.). A beautiful picture of this is found in Genesis 8:6-12 where Noah sent the dove out of the ark three times to check the condition of the earth. In vs.9 Noah sent the dove out for the first time "but the dove found no resting place... so she returned to him in the ark." The cleansing waters had not yet receded enough to leave a place for the dove of God to stay. Remember that the Spirit of God descended as a dove on Jesus in Math. 3:16 when He was baptized. After seven days, the dove was sent out for a second time. "And the dove came to him toward evening; and behold, in her beak (mouth) was a freshly picked olive leaf." The judgment waters had receded with new vegetation beginning to reveal itself. The fruits of true repentance were being seen, unlike the unrepentant, uncleansed, religious hypocrites (Pharisees) of Luke 3:7-9. In vs.12, after another seven days, the dove was sent out for the third and last time. She did not return to him again. The place of habitation had now been made ready. This happens individually and corporately. When we, the body of Christ, are made ready, then the Spirit of God will come and inhabit His people. This is where Jesus has been glorified and the Spirit is then given. The living waters then flow, bringing life to wherever they go.
How many times have we witnessed people, if not yourself, who were convicted of the condition of their heart, being warned by the Holy Spirit that "your heart is not right before God." Then up comes a well meaning, but deadly deceived "counselor" or other church leader to give you what is called "assurance of salvation". He asks you if you asked Jesus in your heart and confessed your sins. When you say yes he then offers a false sense of security by saying, "See, you're fine, don't worry. The devil just wants you to doubt the word of God." In so doing, they produce a spiritual abortion!!! The pressure of the Holy Spirit has been put there in order to move you on into the baptism of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is moving you down the birth canal in order to give birth to the image of the Son in you. Satan quickly moves into position to commit a spiritual abortion on the seed which had been conceived within you. You say, "God would never allow that to happen. I am His child!" Thousands and thousands of babies have already been aborted and God has not yet stopped it! Wake up before it is too late for you. Why do you think Paul so emphatically says in Galatians 4:19, "My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you." He said "again in labor" because he understood the true meaning of being "born again".
Look at your own life. Have you received the Holy Spirit? I am not talking about the perversion of the teaching that says this is speaking in "tongues". That's from the pit. The devil can easily counterfeit the true gift of God (which I believe that there is). So what if you spoke in tongues. Is your life changed? Are you receiving revelation from the Spirit as you study the word? The scriptures say that when the Spirit comes, He will guide you into all the truth and that he will reveal Jesus to or in you! The greatest proof of the Holy Spirit within is a holy life lived out. That is the true witness of the Spirit. How can the Holy Spirit come into your very being, and you not be moved toward the same holiness?
Have you been "clothed with power from on high"? That is what happened at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on those who were assembled together in the upper room. They did not run off to fulfill the great commission in their own strength, but obeyed the Lord who had told them in Luke 24:46-49, "I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high." Jesus had commanded His apostles in Acts 1:4‑8 not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "for John had baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." There is a children's fairy tale called "The Emperor's Clothes". A king is deceived into believing that a beautiful robe was being made for him. He could not see it but was led into believing that it was very real. He went before his kingdom naked and his shame was seen by all. This is very much like the body of Christ. We are blind and naked kings before a world that is laughing at our nakedness. God is telling us in Revelation 3:18, "I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see."
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