Mary’s Voice

A friend once said to me that since the Bible didn’t address the subject of abortion, women are left on their own to know what course to take. I agreed that the word “abortion” doesn’t occur in the Bible, but it seemed to me out of character for God not to have an opinion on the subject. A long time later, after years of Bible reading, I thought I knew His opinion.

When Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill boy babies during birth, but not after birth, he indicated that a pre-birth killing was not a crime in his religion, but that after birth might be a crime. The midwives lied to Pharaoh that the Hebrew women gave birth successfully before the midwives even arrived, and so they didn’t kill the babies: “And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own.” (Exodus 1:21)

At this early time the commandment, “Thou shalt not kill” from the ten commandments had not yet been given. The midwives intuited the character of God from their own history and their experience of the joy of life in delivering healthy babies.

Of all the reasons to have an abortion, the Bible addresses most of them. Mary was arguably too young in addition to being unmarried. Sarah and Elizabeth were both too old. Neither was promised that she would survive childbirth, but all of these rejoiced to be pregnant. Elizabeth experienced the joy of her unborn baby when she heard Mary’s voice: “As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” (Luke 1:44)

In a later generation Susannah Wesley bore nineteen children, of whom only ten survived to adulthood. Her sons John and Charles shaped the beginning of the Methodist Church in England and the United States. We have Charles to thank for “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”, which is sung in almost every Christian church today.

Unmarried, too young, too old, too many, too poor( The Wesley’s were desperately poor.), are all reasons we think of abortion. They are all reasons God thinks of blessing.

“Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb He has spoken my name” (Isaiah 49:1) The question isn’t really, “Does the Bible have an opinion?”, but rather, will we, like the unborn John the Baptist, rejoice to hear Mary’s voice?

Love in Him,

Prue