The Scourge Of Racism
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I will soon wrap up the series of posts the Lord Jesus Christ has led me to make since November 27, 2022 examining His foreknowledge then, literal experience of persecution to the death in God’s will as an instructional example to us Christians. Before this though, I want to revisit an event and a person in those posts that impact critical issues in our times. Today, on this Sanctity Of Life Sunday dedicated to urging every citizen in our nation to treat human life beginning at conception as from God and sacred (Psalm 139:13-16; Isaiah 44:24; Luke 1:30-35), I bring the Lord’s Word and a warning to those who continue to wickedly clamor for the right to murder the unborn.
The event that inspires this post is Herod’s massacre of the male children two years old and under in Bethlehem and its surrounding districts in his attempt to destroy the Lord Jesus Christ as a young Child he feared as a rival to his throne.1 Make no mistake about it; the dark and evil heart that could murder babies and toddlers out of the motives of fear and narcissism is the same one in those that would take out the unborn in their mother’s wombs. I know this from the forgiven guilt and shame of having been a teen father that gave consent as well as relieved endorsement to the abortion of my children before and during the days of Roe v. Wade as I wrote in previous posts and my book.2
The apostle Matthew is led by the Holy Spirit in his Gospel to comment on Herod’s massacre of the children that it “fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah; lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted, because they are no more,’” (Matthew 2:17-18, NKJV). At first glance, it seems that the Lord simply foretells this event over 600 years in advance rightly acknowledging the grief of the Bethlehem mothers figuratively represented by a woman named Rachel, but quite unfeelingly offering no explanation of why or comfort. However, deeper Bible study bears great fruit showing otherwise!3
Led by the Holy Spirit, a deeper Bible study involves examining the background of Rachel and God’s prophecy as it originally appears in context. Indeed, Rachel is the second of two wives of Jewish patriarch, Jacob, that were sisters when he was sent to get one by his father, Isaac, from his mother’s people (Genesis 28:1-5). He meets and falls in love with Rachel and works seven years per agreement with her father, Laban, to marry her. But Laban deceitfully sent in his older daughter, Leah, when it was time to consummate the marriage and gave Rachel to Jacob only if he served him another seven years--he did (Genesis 29:1-30). The women competed to bear him children.
Leah and her maid gave Jacob eight sons and one daughter, while the maid of barren Rachel bore him two sons. By God’s grace Rachel was finally able to conceive and bore Joseph to Jacob (Genesis 29:31-30:24). She also bore him the last of his twelve sons, Benjamin; dying in the process with great sorrow and was buried as the family made their way from Bethel to “Ephrath” “(that is, Bethlehem),” (Genesis 35:16-20, NKJV). Though she had borne him fewer children than Leah, Rachel is considered the mother of all Israel because Jacob loved her. Her burial location would prove significant in what are actually two future events involving Rachel’s children.
In Jeremiah’s day hundreds of years later, Babylon’s invasions of Judah as God’s judgment yielded captives that were marched in chains on the well traveled road northward from Bethlehem and other cities to various staging locations that included Ramah (Jeremiah 40:1-6). The Lord used Rachel as the mother of Israel to figuratively represent all the affected mothers weeping at their children being taken away. But this Word was given in the larger context of Jeremiah 30-33 as God spoke of a future day when He brings a remnant back to the land complete with Messiah their King and “a new covenant,” (Jeremiah 31:31-34, NKJV). So, He tells Rachel to ‘“Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears for your work will be rewarded…,’” (Jeremiah 31:16-17, NKJV).
There was hope for the future because God would bring Rachel’s children that were taken back as a remnant to Israel’s border (Isaiah 49:8-26)! But they are not all of them. As this prophecy is true in the natural, so too, in the spiritual and applies to the male children Herod killed instead of Christ. They live as does every unborn child ever aborted (Ecclesiastes 12:7)! The innocents killed by Herod died in Christ’s place so He could live and die for them and all mankind on the cross!4 As a result, the innocents will be raised at Christ’s command among all who have ever lived and with the saints, enjoy immortal glory (Psalm 90:3-4; Isaiah 26:19; Luke 20:37-38; John 5:24-30, 11:23-27). Woe to all the unrepentant murderers of the unborn (Genesis 9:5-6; Revelation 20:11-15)!5
1 Read the December 18, 2022 post, Christ Persecuted As A Child, under the category, Instruction.
2 Concerning previous posts see for example, the one on January 21, 2018, Protecting Our Children, under the category, Biblical Worldview. You can pick up a Soft or Hard Cover copy of my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics at your favorite internet bookseller or brick and mortar bookstore and the Strong Man Store.
3 If you want to learn how to get the most out of your Bible study, I invite you to take the layman’s Fruitful Bible Study Self-Paced Video Course the Lord led me to develop to help. Get an overview of the course in the introductory first session at https://youtu.be/uufAkc3aYSc on our Strong Man Virtual Institute YouTube Channel.
4 The unborn and young children are not without the nature and taint of sin from Adam (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12). So, it must be atoned for as Christ accomplished on Cal- vary. They are however, innocent of willful sin because of not having yet reached the age of accountability before God which is generally when they have the ability to un- derstand biblical right from wrong (Proverbs 20:11; James 4:17).
5 While I and to be sure, every other born again, biblically conservative Christian advocate for the unborn in America continue to rejoice in the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022, the spirit of murder behind legalized abortion remains intact and influential throughout the land (John 8:44). This is evident in the protest marches and persecution of Christians to include attacks on associated properties such as churches, businesses and pregnancy resource centers that have erupted. It is also seen in the efforts State by State to retain legal sanction for murdering the unborn and once again grant it nationally, this time through congressional legislation. Let all deceived and led by the spirit of murder to kill the unborn recognize if you will that the Lord is being gracious to allow you the opportunity to give heed to His warning and repent now, since no such opportunity will be offered on judgment day (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)!
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