Of course, my arguments are dependent upon the fact that the Bible is the revelation of God, and that it is true in everything that it declares. And so, the unbeliever and Bible-denier aren’t going to be convinced by anything that I might say tonight. They must be convinced by the Holy Spirit of God, if my arguments are going to mean anything to them. As far as I am concerned, while Jesus of Nazareth and John the Baptist were still unborn, they conclusively prove that man-induced abortion is murder.
According to its use in the Bible “conception” is equivalent to “birth.” I realize that some of you don’t appreciate my reference to Greek and Hebrew words, but sometimes they are important. For example, this Greek word is “gennao” (ghen-nah’-o), coming from the root word “ginomai” (ghin’-om-ahee.) That root word means “to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being.” And notice how “genao” sounds much like “generate.” I don’t know if that is a coincidence or if they are related. “Generate” comes from the Latin word for birth – “genus,” which probably came from this Greek word. And of course, “to generate” is to bring something into existence – ie. “to conceive.”
“Conception” is the act of bringing something – someone – into being – giving him existence. And clear proof is seen when we look at the other sixty-four times that this word is used in the Bible. Nearly half of the occasions where we find this Greek word are here in Matthew 1. “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren.” As far as the Holy Spirit is concerned, “to conceive” is essentially “to give birth.” Going on, we could play word games with Matthew 2:1 because “gennao” is found there. “Now when Jesus was (conceived) in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.” Was Jesus conceived in Bethlehem or Nazareth? One word is used to talk both about His conception and his birth. Please turn to Luke 1:13 – “But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall (conceive) thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.” There is absolutely no doubt that the Bible equates conception with giving birth. On the day of Pentecost there was the miraculous gift of tongues – Listen to what the people said, “How hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were (conceived)?” One more verse to prove my point – Paul was talking about his citizenship and heritage. “I am verily a man which am a Jew, (conceived) in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel. Actually the word is translated “birth,” but it means either “birth” or “conceived.”
In Matthew 1 the word “conceived” is not the only thing to which the anti-abortionist can point. “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.” “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Where does man get the right to throw aside the age-old-description of pregnancy – “to be with child”? At what point, and who was the expert who decided that some children are children while other children are only fetuses? Twenty-five times in both Testaments we find the description of a pregnant woman as “being with child.” “And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.” “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.”
Notice that Matthew 1:23 is a Greek quotation of the Hebrew Isaiah 7:14. Matthew says, “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son.” Actually Isaiah goes back to the word “conceive” – “The Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.” Obviously, the Greek “to be with child,” was considered to be equivalent to “conceive.” And to clinch the nail down tight, the Hebrew word translated “conceive” in Isaiah 7:14 is in fact more often translated “with child.” Most of those twenty-five references to “being with child” could properly be translated “having conceived.” “And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.” “If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman’s husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.”
If there was never another Biblical word spoken on the subject, I would be satisfied that abortion is murder. But there is more – much more.
“And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.” I’m not foolish enough to think that the unbeliever won’t talk about the coincidence of the unborn fetus kicking out just when Mary greeted her cousin. But I am Biblically foolish enough to believe that there was no coincidence involved.
Verse 41 says, “when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb.” What is a babe? The Greek word is “brephos” (bref’-os), and it is translated four ways – “babe,” “child,” “infant,” and “young child.” Twice Elizabeth speaks about her unborn baby John as a “babe” – in other words … as a child. When we get to the birth of Christ in Luke 2 we read. “And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” This time the “babe” was already born. “And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.” During our Lord’s ministry people brought their babes to him. “And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them.” Those infants were actually “babes.” As Paul said of Timothy, Peter repeated of all of us. “And that from a (babe) thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.”
I thought about going from here to look at some of the other scriptural arguments against abortion, but I decided against it. If as I say, there is proof enough when studying the conception and birth of Jesus and John, and we’ve just review Jesus and John, then we shouldn’t need to look at any other scriptures. I’m going to save them for another message on another day.
There is no doubt in my mind as a student of the Word of God – the Bible teaches that man-induced abortion is as much the murder of a child as the murder of a three-year-old child.