THE BIBLE – THE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA… # 1 --- LIFE --- The sanctity of LIFE has been at the core of our culture. Genesis 6:5-7 explains that overwhelming wickedness and evil are the what the Lord will wipe off the face of the earth with the flood. After Noah and his family are on dry ground again, the Lord focuses on the sanctity of life. Genesis 9:5-6 explain that man is made in God’s image, and the shedding of man’s lifeblood is a grave charge that must be answered by the life of the killer. When a man sheds another man’s lifeblood, man shall shed his blood. There is no wavering over the value of human life. When God delivers the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17) prohibit murder. Many versions say, “Thou shall not kill,” but the Hebrew word is specific for “murder.” That solves a potential contradiction: many specific crimes against God and man call for the death penalty, while the other one says, “Thou shall not kill.” The Law given through Moses drew the distinctions between intentional and unintentional killing in Exodus 21:12-14. The Law given on the mount also states in Exodus 21:23 that the man who causes the death of the unborn child “shall give life for life.” In addition, even unintentionally causing the death of a slave brings “punishment.” (Exodus 21:20) (Like manslaughter?) The rest of the Old Testament and the whole of the New Testament sustain the sanctity of the human life. In centuries of legal history since the Bible was completed, most law systems have prohibited the murder of human beings. How dearly I would like to say that our country now places the same value on the lifeblood of the human race. One week-end in Chicago’s south side and many other urban areas gives us a troubling view of casual murder. Even more troubling is that fact that a woman has the legal right to snuff out the life of her unborn child, for whatever reason she chooses. She shuts down the little brain that began its neural activity at 19 days after conception. She stills the little heart than began beating 39 days after conception. In later months, they put a small body in a “medical waste” container that would have lived many years, if it had been born. Our bill of rights protects the life of every United States citizen, except those with less than one second of exposure to the light of day. Many states have struggled over euthanasia and assisted suicide, which further weakens the ideal that human life is a gift of God that man should guard and protect. That same wickedness and evil that brought the flood in Noah’s day continues to haunt the human race, and the totalitarian regimes of men like Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot have executed millions of their own people. As our government drifts farther from the recognition of God in public assemblies, we need to brace for the shock that when we totally remove God, our life is not worth the price of one square meal. Pray for our world to return to its former glory, and help restore the value of our precious lifeblood.
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 22:27:52 +0000