Comedian Event at Angel of the Winds Arena

I canceled my Men’s Life Group since there was only going to be one person attending and decided to go to the Angel of the Winds Arena where Nikki Glasser was playing.

I had a very good time handing out gospel tracts.  I successfully gave out several dozen tracts.  “May I give you a gospel tract”, I offered one couple. To which the man responded “h*ll no”.  The gal gave me a hard look and they walked away and got into line.

When there were only a few minutes before the doors were to be opened, I began open air preaching.

The doors were opened and the people began streaming into the arena.  When the upset couple got to me, the gal said, with a stern face, “you know, you sound crazy”.  

1 Corinthians 4:9-10 (NASB95) 9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor.

I’m not claiming to be an apostle, but I was a bit of a spectacle and I am a fool for Christ. It is out of place in our day and age to proclaim the gospel on the street in an open air setting.

1 Corinthians 1:18 (KJV)

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

God Bless…

Psalm 83

 

The Imprecatory Prayer/Prophecy of Psalm 83

Let’s start off with prayer ourselves…   Dear LORD, please open up the eyes of our hearts and minds to your scriptures as we open up Psalm 83.   Help us to look forward and see what may lie ahead for us as your church and us as citizens of the USA.   Help us to be people of action, ready to serve you and follow your direction.

Psalms 73-83 and 50 were written by Asaph.   Asaph was a prophet as I mentioned a few weeks ago 2 Chronicles 29:30 says Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

Let’s read Psalm 83

1 O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still.

2 For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves.

3 They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones.

4 They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

5 For they have conspired together with one mind; Against You they make a covenant:

6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab and the Hagrites;

7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;

8 Assyria also has joined with them; They have become a help to the children of Lot.

Selah.

9 Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,

10 Who were destroyed at En-dor, Who became as dung for the ground.

11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves The pastures of God.”

13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like chaff before the wind.

14 Like fire that burns the forest And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,

15 So pursue them with Your tempest And terrify them with Your storm.

16 Fill their faces with dishonor, That they may seek Your name, O LORD.

17 Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish,

18 That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.

Verse 1 To those outside of the faith, God is quiet.  He’s silent and He’s motionless.   Only because they don’t pay attention.   I went to hand a guy a gospel tract on Saturday and he said, “I’m an atheist/agnostic through and through”.   I said, well maybe if you read this it’ll change your mind.  He said, no thank you.  I’d like to change your mind. But he wouldn’t take and read (he’s not paying attention). To us, God speaks; through His Word.   We don’t worship the Bible, but I’ll be honest; there are many times as I’m reading and I hear God speak and my spine tingles.   It is said if you want to hear God speak, read the Bible.  If you want to hear God speak audibly, read the Bible out loud.  Now our God (the only true and living God) doesn’t make an ‘uproar’... at least not continually.  He can roar like a lion in many ways, but often, He speaks through a still small voice 1 Kings 19:11-13 So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

and

Zechariah 4:6 Then he said to me, 'This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies.

Verse 2 The enemies of God make an uproar and they exalt themselves.

Contrast that to how we are supposed to intentionally humble ourselves before the LORD.   This is only possible because we know the greatness and the power and the might and the dominion of our God. 1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

Verse 3 Often the way that the enemies of God express their hate for Him is they direct their hate toward us people of faith.   All throughout history the nation and people of Israel have been a satanically inspired target of hate.  Do you ever feel like you have a target on your back?

The people of this world system can be shrewd, and it isn’t so far fetched to think that they actually conspire against us.   You do not have to be a conspiracy theorist to see signs that the world is against us.   We’re told to be shrewd in our dealings.  Not cheaters, fraudsters or con men.   We are taught to be fair, honest, upright and to use wisdom (in other words, shrewd).   Think of what Jesus said in Matthew 10:16 

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves."

Another aspect of this verse is that the target of God’s enemies are His Treasured ones (another version says “Sheltered” ones.  If you feel like you are being attacked by the enemy, remember, you are a treasured, sheltered one under the wings of the Almighty.

Verse 4-5 The enemies of Israel are very explicit.  They want to wipe out Israel as a nation so that the name Israel would be remembered no more.   That’s a direct assault on God and His promises. This has happened throughout history.   A commemoration in Israel Tish b’Av just occurred in Israel on August 3.   That is a day that Israel remembers the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonians in 432 BC and the destruction of the second temple by the Romans in 69-70 AD, the expulsion of the Jews from England in 1290  and the banishment of the Jews from Spain in 1492.   Things like the Holocaust and the October 7, 2023 attack also come to their mind.   They sound sirens and everyone stops wherever they are, in cars on the highway, or in stores or school and they have a moment of silence to remember the devastation they’ve suffered throughout history.

Can we see enemies confederating against Israel in our day and age?   Do the news reports bear this out?   As recently as June 25th, 2025, the Iranian parliament celebrated attacks on Israel, and chanted “death to America” and “death to Israel”.  https://youtu.be/ibkHkH60e3g?si=H9hXgOfcMXupBC_b

Even with as much as is wrong in our own government, can you imagine our Senators and Congressmen in the House Chamber chanting something like that?

In Verse 6-8 we’re given a list of the nations who will ally themselves together against Israel.   The original context of this Psalm likely has to do with 2 Samuel 8:1-14  1 Now after this it came about that David defeated the Philistines and subdued them; and David took control of the chief city from the hand of the Philistines. 2 He defeated Moab, and measured them with the line, making them lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death and one full line to keep alive. And the Moabites became servants to David, bringing tribute. 3 Then David defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob king of Zobah, as he went to restore his rule at the River. 4 David captured from him 1,700 horsemen and 20,000 foot soldiers; and David hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved [enough] of them for 100 chariots. 5 When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David killed 22,000 Arameans. 6 Then David put garrisons among the Arameans of Damascus, and the Arameans became servants to David, bringing tribute. And the LORD helped David wherever he went. 7 David took the shields of gold which were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a very large amount of bronze. 9 Now when Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated all the army of Hadadezer, 10 Toi sent Joram his son to King David to greet him and bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him; for Hadadezer had been at war with Toi. And [Joram] brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze. 11 King David also dedicated these to the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations which he had subdued: 12 from Aram and Moab and the sons of Ammon and the Philistines and Amalek, and from the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 So David made a name [for himself] when he returned from killing 18,000 Arameans in the Valley of Salt. 14 He put garrisons in Edom. In all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the LORD helped David wherever he went.

As well, a similar list of nations is given in second Chronicles chapter 20.

WHO are these nations mentioned in Psalm 83?

• Edom - the descendants of Esau (Jacob’s brother, son of Issac)

• the Ishmaelites - the descendants of Ishmael (of Abraham and Hagar)

• Moab - the descendants of Lot

• the Hagrites - a nomadic tribe descended from Hagar

• Gebal - Canaanite (Phonecian) people (north of Israel)

• Ammon - descendants of Lot

• Amalek - descendants of Esau

• Philistia - descendants of Canaan, son of Ham, son of Noah

• the inhabitants of Tyre - Phonecian people

• Assyria - descendants of Shem, son of Noah

Where are these nations located?

After verse 8, we have that insertion of Selah.  It means pause, rest, reflect.  So let’s all take a deep breath, and pause, reset and reflect for a moment.  Think of God in comparison to what we might consider insurmountable odds.

Now, onto the rest of the chapter… Verses 9 and 10

9 Deal with them as with Midian, As with Sisera and Jabin at the torrent of Kishon,

10 Who were destroyed at En-dor, Who became as dung for the ground.

David is saying, LORD, the way you dealt with Midian, please do the same to these enemies now.   Looking back in Judges 6, 7 and 8, we see how God dealt with the Midianites using Gideon.   We could do a whole series on Gideon and how God used Him and transformed him.   Remember how God called Gideon by an Angel in Judges 6:11 Then the angel of the LORD came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” 

Then we remember the story where Gideon went to go to war against Midian and the LORD said, Hey Gid, you have too many soldiers in your army.   Let’s pare it down.   First, he dismissed any of the men who were fearful or trembling.   But that still left 22,000.  God said, Gid, still too many.  You and your men go down to the steam and get a drink.   Whoever laps the water like a dog, with their hands to their mouth without kneeling, you can keep.  Whoever kneels to drink, send them back.  That left Gid with 300.   And God defeated the Midianites with just 300 soldiers and Gideon.

Then the reference to Jabin and Sisera.  This is where Deborah and Barak Deliver Israel from Canaanites in Judges 4:14-24 Deborah said to Barak, “Arise! For this is the day in which the LORD has given Sisera into your hands; behold, the LORD has gone out before you.” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him. 15The LORD routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army with the edge of the sword before Barak; and Sisera alighted from his chariot and fled away on foot. 16But Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not even one was left.

      17Now Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said to him, “Turn aside, my master, turn aside to me! Do not be afraid.” And he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. 19He said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a bottle of milk and gave him a drink; then she covered him. 20He said to her, “Stand in the doorway of the tent, and it shall be if anyone comes and inquires of you, and says, ‘Is there anyone here?’ that you shall say, ‘No.’” 21But Jael, Heber’s wife, took a tent peg and seized a hammer in her hand, and went secretly to him and drove the peg into his temple, and it went through into the ground; for he was sound asleep and exhausted. So he died. 22And behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” And he entered with her, and behold Sisera was lying dead with the tent peg in his temple.

      23So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the sons of Israel. 24The hand of the sons of Israel pressed heavier and heavier upon Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin the king of Canaan.

More history… you see how the psalmist keeps referencing history, in a sense reminding God of what He’d done in the past.  It’s more to remind us than God.  But this prayer tactic is used a lot in the psalms and throughout the whole bible.   It’s like, remember what you did before God.   Do that again.   I know in my life, I’ve seen God come through multiple times for me.   I know I can trust God to do it again.

Here in Verses 11 and 12  it says

11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb And all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

12 Who said, “Let us possess for ourselves The pastures of God.”

we have a reference to Judges chapter 7 and Gideon where it says, 

 Judges 7:25 They captured the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, while they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.

Back in Psalm 83 verses 13 through 17

13 O my God, make them like the whirling dust, Like chaff before the wind.

14 Like fire that burns the forest And like a flame that sets the mountains on fire,

15 So pursue them with Your tempest And terrify them with Your storm.

16 Fill their faces with dishonor, That they may seek Your name, O LORD.

17 Let them be ashamed and dismayed forever, And let them be humiliated and perish,

Get ‘em God.   One lesson tonight, is when you have enemies coming against you, call on God to protect you.   Seek refuge and shelter from the LORD.   Let God be your big brother so-to-speak, and let Him stick up for you.

And then as far as prophecy in general; in the Jewish mentality is that prophecy is pattern and fulfillment, not strictly predictive.   In other words, what God did in the past, look for Him to do it again.   Here in Psalm 83, we have this list of enemies of Israel, and you can expect some or all of these nations to come against Israel again.   God will defeat them again.    Do we (or have we) seen anything like this already?   Of course.   Have we seen its ultimate fulfillment yet?  No.

18 That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.

The reason for prophecy in the Bible is that people may know that the LORD is unique.   He is the only one who knows the future because He dwells outside of time.   He tells us what’s going to happen before it does to confirm His credentials as the only true God.   Ultimately what that means for every individual human being throughout history, is that He is not only over all the earth, but He is over every person.   We are given the choice and responsibility of submitting ourselves under His charge.

Psalm 83 is not quoted or directly referenced in the new testament.   How or does Psalm 83 tie in with the end-times?   To get an in focus picture of what the end-times will look like, let’s open up our Bibles to Matthew 24, and hear what Jesus talks about:

Matthew 24:3-10 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. Deception 5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. False Christs 6 "You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. Kinetic Actions in the world See that you are not frightened, for [those things] must take place, but [that] is not yet the end. 7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. 8.8 Quake in Russia a week ago 8 "But all these things are [merely] the beginning of birth pangs. 9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. Christian Persecution Africa and Asia and the Middle East (UK illegal to pray near abortion) (illegal to have church during COVID) 10 "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.

Luke records a very similar end-times teaching of Jesus in chapter 21 of his gospel.   Specifically,

Luke 21:11 says 11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues Greek Loimos  (pestilences) and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

And in verse 25 "There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves Floods in Texas, Typhoon Co-May Philippines.

Ananda Mela Redmond

 It had been 15 years since Ron and I went to the Hindu Indian festival in Redmond called Ananda Mela.

This time I went with Jason And TheRon. We had a wonderful time handed out 150 or 200 gospel tracts.  Spoke with several people briefly.  Put skin on the gospel.

God bless…

Psalm 139

 Psalms 139

Tonight‘s Psalm is about God‘s perfect knowledge of man.  

• His knowledge is 100% complete - he knows every detail
• His knowledge is absolutely accurate - there are no errors in his knowledge
• His knowledge is intricately, precise - he knows us to the smallest detail
• His knowledge is permanent - he doesn’t forget anything … Hmmm, this leaves us in a little bit of a tough spot though, because he knows our sin and yet because his knowledge is perfect he doesn’t forget.  God himself provided a solution for that problem.

Let’s pray..  Lord please show us how we can be completely honest with You..

Psalms 139:1-24 (NASB95) 1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David. 

This psalm starts with David saying that this is for the choir director of Israel. While other translations say it’s for the chief musician.  It makes you wonder who is this choir director or this chief musician of Israel?

If you were to ask the Sunday school kids, their favorite answer is Jesus. And it may very well be that David wrote this psalm for the Lord himself.  As we think about it, though we remember that the book of Psalms was the hymnal for the nation of Israel so more likely some 139 written by David is addressed to Heman or Asaph.

 1 Chronicles 6:33 (NASB95) These are those who served with their sons: From the sons of the Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,

1 Chronicles 15:17 (NASB95) So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah,

One aspect we learned about the psalmists is that they were prophetic.

1 Chronicles 25:1-5 (NASB95) 1 Moreover, David and the commanders of the army set apart for the service some of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun, who were to prophesy with lyres, harps and cymbals; and the number of those who performed their service was: 2 Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied under the direction of the king. 3 Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun with the harp, who prophesied in giving thanks and praising the LORD. 4 Of Heman, the sons of Heman: Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir, Mahazioth. 5 All these were the sons of Heman the king’s seer to exalt him according to the words of God, for God gave fourteen sons and three daughters to Heman.

All of this context goes hand-in-hand with the fact that God has perfect knowledge of us and of everything in the entire universe.  It’s really unfathomable it’s incomprehensible that God knows everything about everything.  You and I, we may have one or more subjects that we are experts in. We dive deep into that one thing.  Even this age that we live in is the age of specialization.  You don’t just go to the doctor anymore you go to a specialist. People learn more and more about less and less until they know everything about nothing. Quite a contrast to God who knows everything about everything.

Continuing with the second half of verse 1 through verse 12

O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. 5 You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. 

We get the picture that God is actively intentionally watching us.  We can’t escape him if we were to go to the furthest parts of the universe he’s there already.  The bottom of the ocean he’s there. Heaven, he’s there even hell he’s there. So when people say that going to hell is to be out of God‘s presence really in truth, that’s not completely correct. God is there. He’s everywhere. It’s just that there will be no possibility in hell of knowing and communing with God.

So God not only knows what we do and what we say, but also what we think.  Even beyond that God knows and understands our motives. He knows what’s behind or what’s the cause of what we do, say and think.  

We might do, say or think the right thing, but if it’s with the wrong motives, it’s worthless and even worse harmful.   if we do something good but we do it for selfish reasons it’s worthless. If we say something nice, but it’s for the purpose of flattery to get in good with someone it’s a sin.

Romans 14:23b and whatever is not from faith is sin.

Last thing on this topic; since God‘s knowledge is permanent in other words, God can’t forget, does that mean he’s unable to forget our sin.  I think we know the answer to that already but let’s apply scripture to this.

Psalms 51:3 (NASB95) For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.

If David felt like his sin was ever before him, in other words, he didn’t forget his own sin. How could God forget our sin.

Psalms 103:11-12 (NASB95) 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

We need a permanent removal of our sins. We know that the Old Testament sacrifices provided what’s called atonement. In Hebrew the word for atonement is Kaphar.  It means covering. In other words, cleansing from sin. But they had to make sacrifices year after year, demonstrating that the blood of bulls and goats cannot permanently erase sin. I am just going to refer you to Hebrews 9 for this.

Romans 8:1 (NASB95) Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 1:2 (NASB95) To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

1 Corinthians 1:30 (NASB95) But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

1 Corinthians 15:22 (NASB95) For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

So if you’re in Christ, if God sees you in Christ, he sees Christ’s righteousness not your sin. Your sins are permanently dealt with.

Now to Psalm 139:13-16

13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

These verses give us a pro life context.  Let’s just ask and answer a few questions that get to the point of whether abortion is ever okay?

One argument the pro choice people make is that we conservative Christians are not truly pro life in all cases. They would accuse us of hypocrisy and inconsistency, if we endorse capital punishment. They’d say you can’t call yourself pro life and yet be okay with putting someone to death.  In a sense, they’re right.  One way to solve this is to call abortion what it really is; the unjust termination of a pregnancy.  It ends the life of a baby. I.e it’s murder.  So we can  indeed be against abortion.   Now as pertains to capital punishment, we would argue it is the just execution of someone who forfeited their right to life by committing murder.  I am not here to argue for capital punishment.  But let’s look at it biblically.

Genesis 9:6 institutes capital punishment, “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

Exodus 21:12 codifies it in law, “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.

Leviticus 24:17 affirms it as law, ‘If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death.

Here’s the kicker, if we were to follow the biblical procedure for determining guilt or innocence, we’d use Numbers 35:30  ‘If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

The biblical procedure for determining guilt or innocence is itself reiterated (witnessed a second time) in Deuteronomy 17:6  “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.

Since our system of justice isn’t entirely biblical, we can see the flaws and at least understand the shortcomings. 

Another pro choice argument is “it’s not a human being”.  You have heard it called a clump of cells, just protoplasm (prehuman).  Answer: it is as human as it will ever be.  Genetically it is identifiable as human. It will develop through various stages from zygote to embryo to infant to toddler to juvenile, etc, etc. to adult.  Each of those stages are stages of human development.

Look at a few pictures…

Another pro choice argument is that it isn’t truly alive.  Ask them to define life or what it means to be alive.  By all modern scientific definitions of life, a child in the womb is alive.   It moves, it grows, etc.  If I could read into what they’re saying, it’s not conscious.  Again this is a matter of developmental stages.   But does consciousness define what it means to be human?  Try to apply the consciousness argument in other stages of life.  We don’t get to kill someone just because they aren’t completely conscious.

What about rape or incest?  Should we allow abortion in those cases?   I refer you to the prior questions and answers.  But also, name any crime where we punish an innocent bystander.  The child conceived by rape or incest is definitely a victim in this circumstance.   Or to state it another way, is it ok to punish the child for the crime of the father?

The biggie today is “ my body, my choice”. I do believe a person should have some level of autonomy over their own body.  The question is whether or not the child in the womb is part of the mother‘s body or is it its own separate body with its own blood supply and own internal organs.   Yes the child is connected to the mom by the placenta and the umbilical cord, but the child is its own separate body.

How about this one? It’s not a child, it's a fetus.  Well fetus is just Latin for a little one or small one.  I call children, “little ones”, all the time. Think about the Bible’s term for pregnant; “with child”.

Isaiah 7:14 (NASB95)

“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

Also think about some things God says about children in the womb.

Luke 1:39-45 (NASB95) 39 Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 “And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? 44 “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy. 45 “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”

Jeremiah 1:5 (NASB95) “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Another argument is; “what if the child will be born into 

• Poverty 
• A broken, fatherless home
• A life of misery 
• A life of disease 
• A home with dead-beat parents 
• A life of physical or sexual abuse 
• Abandonement

So what you’re telling me is that you should be able to preemptively kill a child so it won’t have to endure any of these circumstances?  You are saying you can predict the future.  That really is the definition of playing god.  

It boils down to choosing 

• An education 
• A career 
• A boyfriend or a husband 
• Convenience 

Over having a child.

 

Really, the most important reason for not supporting abortion is the fact that we human beings are created in God's image.   Not born in God's image, but created in God's image.   

 

Genesis 1:26-29 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Please understand, God is rich in mercy and full of loving kindness.   God offers forgiveness to all who would humbly call on him.   God will in no wise cast us out.

God will not only forgive, but he will restore that which has been lost.

Psalms 86:5-7 (NASB95) 5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. 6 Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And give heed to the voice of my supplications! 7 In the day of my trouble I shall call upon You, For You will answer me.

Back to psalm 139 verses 17 & 18

 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. 

God’s thoughts are precious.   I think of Jeremiah 29:11 where God says ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

Another one comes to mind, Zepheniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy

Now we get to God’s knowledge of wicked people.

Verses 19-22 O that You would slay the wicked, O God; Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed. 20 For they speak against You wickedly, And Your enemies take Your name in vain. 21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? 22 I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. 

People may get away with stuff here on earth during this life, but unless they repent and place their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, justice will be served in eternity.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; 24 And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.