Articles
The Roe Decision: A Word of Caution
All good people everywhere, and especially God’s true saints, have reason to rejoice at the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a 49-year scourge on our society – the legal pretext for killing tens of millions of our children in the most brutal and heinous ways imaginable. About the only difference between modern abortionists and devotees of Molech is that the modern slaughter has been carried out behind closed doors whereas in the long ago it was done as public ritual.
We are not here concerned about the legal elements of the decision, for abortion will continue in various states. The court merely decided it was not a constitutional issue. Rather, individual states will decide through their legislative process whether to allow it and under what circumstances.
Our joy rests in the fact that fewer lives will be sacrificed to personal convenience and sexual “freedom.” One would hope that the inconvenience, financial expense, the removal of full-throated advocacy, in addition to counseling and other forms of social aid, would persuade young mothers to carry their children to term and either raise them themselves or allow for adoption.
Enough of this weeping and wailing from narcissistic celebrities, sports figures, politicians and other spoiled, infantile advocates who audaciously lament the return to a degree of moral sanity and intellectual rationality (don’t be fooled: the vast majority of abortions are performed out of personal convenience, not rape or concern for the mother’s health).
But let us not exaggerate the victory. History has shown time and again the resilience of evil. It is not uncommon to see wickedness rise from the ashes of defeat and unleash vehement wrath upon its enemies. We need look no further than Elijah’s victory on Mt. Carmel to illustrate this truth.
A more decisive defeat for Jezebel and her 850 prophets can hardly be imagined (450 representing Baal; 400 for Asherah – 1 Kgs 18:19). Elijah had proposed a “duel of the G(g)ods” to settle the matter, and for inexplicable reasons the false prophets accepted the challenge (Charlatans who accept public challenges are either self-deceived or arrogantly think they can manipulate any situation to their own advantage. I remember the famous psychic/mentalist, Uri Geller, appearing on The Tonight Show in 1973: Johnny Carson unexpectedly tested him to move objects via his thoughts or discern a drawing in a sealed envelope – which Geller claimed to be able to do. NBC broadcast the humiliating defeat for Geller to the whole country; look it up on YouTube).
Defeat #1: At any rate, after the entire day of leaping around the altar, mutilating themselves and crying out to Baal and Asherah, “there was no voice; no one answered; no one paid attention” (18:29). The false prophets were humiliated by the non-response of their gods, not to mention the mockery of Elijah for their foolish delusions (18:27).
Defeat #2: After all these impotent, ridiculous theatrics, and after having his own offering drenched in water, Elijah made a simple plea to Jehovah: “let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant … and that You have turned their hearts back to You again … Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, ‘The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!’” (18:36-39).
Defeat #3: “And Elijah said to them, ‘Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!’ So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there” (18:40). What a complete vindication of God, Elijah and the law of Moses! And what a decisive, public failure – and demise – of the prophets of Baal! But what effect did this have on Jezebel and the populace of Israel?
Very little, actually. Jezebel redoubled her efforts to kill Elijah (1 Kgs 19:2), and her wicked ways continued until she was finally dispatched by Jehu according to divine vengeance (2 Kgs 9:30ff). There was a brief respite from rampant Baal worship during Jehoram’s reign (2 Kgs 3:2), but the seeds planted and nurtured by Jezebel repeatedly sprang back to life in both Israel and Judah, resulting in their eventual downfall.
The lesson for us. We should not underestimate the tenacity of evil. The godless forces that managed to subvert the highest court in the land 49 years ago are enraged that their political leverage has been weakened. They will not go quietly. The battle will merely shift to the state/local politics and elections. The rioting, fire-bombing and graffiti; the rhetoric against those who defend the sanctity of life; the attack against the Supreme Court itself; the propaganda of coat hangers and back-alley abortions; and the pathetic whining of actresses who can’t star in a movie because they’re pregnant are just beginning. The other side does not fight fairly, and they do not give up easily. We should have learned by now: hope for true reform does not lie in a human judiciary but in the human heart transformed by the gospel of Christ.
But let us hasten to add a positive note to all this wretched debate about the disposal of innocent, helpless babies: God can and will forgive even the sin of infant murder. Yea, there is no sin whatsoever that cannot be forgiven if one’s guilt is expressed in true remorse and repentance. Forgiveness must be sought on the basis that God makes it available; i.e., through genuine acceptance of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is more than a verbal admission or vague regret but a wholesale submission to Christ as Lord and humble trust in His atoning blood through confession and baptism. As Ananias said to Saul of Tarsus, the murderer of God’s children, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Ac 22:16).
While repentance sometimes requires restitution and/or repair of wrong done, in the case of abortion (and some other sins) this is not possible. The aborted child is now in God’s loving care and, as is often said, “in a better place.” But rather than linger in unresolved guilt and excessive self-loathing (cf. a.m. sermon on 6/26/22), those who have done such must be willing to accept God’s forgiveness, learn the lesson of pain and regret, if possible counsel others who may contemplate similar actions, and move forward in full assurance of God’s peace and mercy.
