When a woman has an abortion or, as they say, 00:00:08.10\00:00:10.97 terminates her pregnancy, has something subhuman 00:00:11.01\00:00:14.34 simply just been evacuated from her body... 00:00:14.38\00:00:16.91 or has the life of a person actually been taken? 00:00:16.95\00:00:20.35 And, what does the Bible say about this? 00:00:20.38\00:00:22.98 You'll find out next on "The Abortion Controversy" 00:00:23.02\00:00:26.25 Welcome to Part 5 of "The Abortion Controversy" 00:00:54.02\00:00:56.72 This is a 13-part series that deals with the big issues 00:00:56.75\00:00:59.82 of life and death given the pregnancy and abortion, 00:00:59.85\00:01:03.26 and whether it's right or wrong. 00:01:03.29\00:01:05.36 I'm Steve Wohlberg and I'm here in our White Horse Media Studio 00:01:05.39\00:01:09.26 with Antionette Duck. 00:01:09.30\00:01:10.70 She is the founder of a ministry called: "Mafgia" 00:01:10.73\00:01:15.00 She has a passion for life. 00:01:15.04\00:01:17.74 She was almost aborted when she was just a little baby 00:01:17.77\00:01:22.51 inside of her mother, but her mother changed 00:01:22.54\00:01:24.25 her mind and we believe that God's providence 00:01:24.28\00:01:27.05 was certainly involved in that, and she's here today 00:01:27.08\00:01:29.82 and she is a speaker, she is a writer, 00:01:29.85\00:01:31.89 and she has a lot to say about this. 00:01:31.92\00:01:33.96 Our topic today is: When is a person really a person?" 00:01:33.99\00:01:38.49 "The kiss for life," based upon the Bible. 00:01:38.53\00:01:42.76 Here we are again... Antionette, this has really 00:01:42.80\00:01:46.50 been a fascinating journey, and I think this is probably 00:01:46.53\00:01:49.97 one of our most important programs because, 00:01:50.01\00:01:51.84 as you know, there's a controversy swirling within 00:01:51.87\00:01:55.71 Christian churches within the religious world 00:01:55.74\00:01:58.01 about abortion and the Bible. 00:01:58.05\00:02:00.48 Some say, "Well, abortion is not forbidden in the Bible," 00:02:00.52\00:02:04.09 and they also say that a person is not a person 00:02:04.12\00:02:07.06 until actually the fetus pops out and takes a breath, 00:02:07.09\00:02:10.63 and so we're going to address this issue and try to do it 00:02:10.66\00:02:13.26 from Scripture as well. 00:02:13.29\00:02:14.66 So, where do you want to start as we move into this? 00:02:14.70\00:02:17.87 Well the first point that I would like to address is 00:02:17.90\00:02:21.00 this misconception that simply because the word "abortion" 00:02:21.04\00:02:25.97 does not appear in Scripture, or just other 00:02:26.01\00:02:28.61 religious authorities, that abortion is permissible. 00:02:28.64\00:02:31.91 Bioethicist, Scott Klusendorf, from The Life Training Institute 00:02:31.95\00:02:34.98 ... I really love his thought on this. 00:02:35.02\00:02:37.79 Is our position that the Bible condones everything 00:02:37.82\00:02:41.16 it does not explicitly condemn? 00:02:41.19\00:02:43.79 Would we really say that? 00:02:43.83\00:02:45.79 Couldn't we think of quite a few things that the Bible 00:02:45.83\00:02:47.86 doesn't actually condemn, but that would grieve 00:02:47.90\00:02:50.13 the Father's heart. Like cigars... 00:02:50.17\00:02:52.03 The Bible doesn't say... I've never read, 00:02:52.07\00:02:54.14 "Don't smoke cigars," but since the Bible is the 00:02:54.17\00:02:56.87 temple of God, and so we shouldn't be... 00:02:56.91\00:02:58.87 well, we're hurting ourselves if we do. 00:02:58.91\00:03:00.84 Absolutely, there are many things we could think of 00:03:00.88\00:03:02.71 that do grieve the Father's heart, 00:03:02.74\00:03:04.08 but they're not specifically listed here. 00:03:04.11\00:03:05.75 And so our position can't simply be, 00:03:05.78\00:03:08.22 "Well, the Bible doesn't say the word and so 00:03:08.25\00:03:10.99 the Lord has made it permissible. 00:03:11.02\00:03:14.16 We are to use Scripture to interpret itself, 00:03:14.19\00:03:17.79 and throughout the entirety of Scripture, 00:03:17.83\00:03:20.10 the value of the human being from creation to the cross, 00:03:20.13\00:03:23.60 to eternity, is proclaimed. 00:03:23.63\00:03:26.60 That's our position as a ministry, 00:03:26.63\00:03:28.07 and what we think really helps to clarify a lot of this issue. 00:03:28.10\00:03:31.77 We know that the Lord is our Creator... 00:03:31.81\00:03:34.21 In Psalms 95:6, it says, "Oh come let us worship 00:03:34.24\00:03:37.91 and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." 00:03:37.95\00:03:41.05 In Isaiah 45:18, it says, "For thus says the Lord, 00:03:41.08\00:03:44.62 Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed 00:03:44.65\00:03:47.32 the earth and made it, Who established it, 00:03:47.36\00:03:49.32 Who did not create in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited: 00:03:49.36\00:03:53.06 I am the Lord and there is no other." 00:03:53.09\00:03:55.86 And, in Revelation 4:11, we are told, 00:03:55.90\00:03:57.93 "You are worthy, oh Lord, our God to receive glory 00:03:57.97\00:04:00.70 and honor and power, for You created all things, 00:04:00.74\00:04:03.74 and by Your will they were created and have their being." 00:04:03.77\00:04:06.98 We know that we were made in the image of the Lord 00:04:07.01\00:04:09.38 that He is the one who established our humanity. 00:04:09.41\00:04:11.41 In Genesis 1:26-27, "Then God said, 00:04:11.45\00:04:15.48 Let us make man in our own image, 00:04:15.52\00:04:17.45 according to our likeness, let them have dominion 00:04:17.49\00:04:19.52 over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, 00:04:19.55\00:04:21.36 over cattle, over the earth, 00:04:21.39\00:04:22.72 and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 00:04:22.76\00:04:25.23 So God made man in His own image, in the image of God 00:04:25.26\00:04:27.76 He created them male and female He created them. 00:04:27.80\00:04:30.00 We focused on that in the last program, 00:04:30.03\00:04:31.37 we really zeroed in on that, that that's the foundation 00:04:31.40\00:04:33.54 of everything... is the creation account 00:04:33.57\00:04:36.30 and that God is our Maker and we're here for a reason. 00:04:36.34\00:04:39.04 And of course in Psalm 139... 00:04:39.07\00:04:41.44 I'd like to read that... Absolutely! 00:04:41.48\00:04:43.11 This has really impressed me. 00:04:43.14\00:04:46.11 This is Psalm 139:13-14, where David is talking to God 00:04:46.15\00:04:51.59 and David wrote, "You formed my inward parts. 00:04:51.62\00:04:56.09 You covered me in my mother's womb," or the margin says, 00:04:56.12\00:05:00.40 "You wove me in my mother's womb." 00:05:00.43\00:05:02.46 "I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, 00:05:02.50\00:05:05.37 marvelous are Your works and that my soul knows very well." 00:05:05.40\00:05:09.87 I was dialoging with a friend of mine, a missionary friend, 00:05:09.90\00:05:13.88 and we were emailing back and forth 00:05:13.91\00:05:16.28 about whether a person is really a person 00:05:16.31\00:05:19.35 until you come out and take a breath. 00:05:19.38\00:05:22.08 And he wanted to know, "Well show me from the Bible 00:05:22.12\00:05:25.29 that a person is really a person inside the womb." 00:05:25.32\00:05:27.39 So I quoted this text where David said, 00:05:27.42\00:05:29.79 "You wove me in my mother's womb." 00:05:29.82\00:05:32.63 And I said to my friend, "David was me 00:05:32.66\00:05:36.36 when he was in there." 00:05:36.40\00:05:37.77 When my first... well, I have a daughter and a son, 00:05:37.80\00:05:40.30 but when Seth was inside of Kristin, we had an ultrasound 00:05:40.34\00:05:44.07 done and I still remember, he was inside 00:05:44.11\00:05:48.51 and the little camera, you know, zeroed in on him, 00:05:48.54\00:05:50.65 and he had his hands on his ears like this, 00:05:50.68\00:05:53.38 and he was just sort of in a certain position 00:05:53.42\00:05:55.75 and I remember distinctly recognizing that 00:05:55.78\00:06:00.09 after he was born that many times, he would be in that 00:06:00.12\00:06:02.52 same position and I thought to myself, 00:06:02.56\00:06:04.36 Seth was there and Seth was there - it was Seth! 00:06:04.39\00:06:07.16 It was my son. Yes, absolutely 00:06:07.20\00:06:09.86 We see that we're not merely human beings, 00:06:09.90\00:06:12.17 we're human beings created in the image of the Lord. 00:06:12.20\00:06:14.57 And in that passage, David is talking literally, 00:06:14.60\00:06:17.54 not just metaphorically, he's talking literally 00:06:17.57\00:06:19.71 about the care with which the Lord crafted his being, 00:06:19.74\00:06:22.78 and it wasn't just after he was born, it was when he was 00:06:22.81\00:06:26.11 unformed and forming, and when was that happening... 00:06:26.15\00:06:28.58 from the beginning, from conception in those 00:06:28.62\00:06:30.49 early moments and in those early months. 00:06:30.52\00:06:32.85 It's an incredible process, isn't it? Absolutely! 00:06:32.89\00:06:35.32 We'll talk about later the scientific evidence, 00:06:35.36\00:06:37.29 but just when you really understand what's going on 00:06:37.33\00:06:40.30 in there, it's definitely, as the Bible says, 00:06:40.33\00:06:44.07 where David says, "Marvelous are Your works," 00:06:44.10\00:06:47.60 and I can't imagine how any Christian wouldn't recognize 00:06:47.64\00:06:52.11 that that was the work of God 00:06:52.14\00:06:54.81 as well inside of a woman's body. 00:06:54.84\00:06:57.61 Yes, and so we see then that being fearfully 00:06:57.65\00:07:00.68 and wonderfully made, it wasn't for David alone. 00:07:00.72\00:07:03.45 That applies to each and every human being 00:07:03.49\00:07:05.69 who has ever walked the face of the earth, 00:07:05.72\00:07:07.56 from our very beginning till we take our last breath... 00:07:07.59\00:07:10.06 the Lord's hand has been on us. 00:07:10.09\00:07:12.83 Now, there are certain verses that I've discovered 00:07:12.86\00:07:15.16 in my research and you've been reading about 00:07:15.20\00:07:16.87 this for a lot longer than I have. Yes 00:07:16.90\00:07:18.37 I'm fairly new to this, but I'm a fast learner. 00:07:18.40\00:07:20.64 I've learned that there are a number of Bible verses 00:07:20.67\00:07:22.80 that are used to support the theory that 00:07:22.84\00:07:27.18 a human being really isn't a person or a soul 00:07:27.21\00:07:31.41 until they come out and take a breath. 00:07:31.45\00:07:33.88 And, what's the main text that is used to support that theory? 00:07:33.92\00:07:37.65 I believe that's Genesis 2:7. 00:07:37.69\00:07:39.85 Should I read it, or would you like to? Sure 00:07:39.89\00:07:42.92 It says, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust 00:07:42.96\00:07:45.96 of the ground and breathed into his nostrils 00:07:45.99\00:07:48.10 the breath of life and man became a living being." 00:07:48.13\00:07:51.23 People have used this verse as evidence that 00:07:51.27\00:07:56.47 you're not actually alive until you come out of the womb 00:07:56.50\00:07:59.71 and you take a breath through your nostrils. 00:07:59.74\00:08:02.31 There are several problems with this just on a practical level. 00:08:02.34\00:08:06.21 First, there are some babies who are born 00:08:06.25\00:08:09.82 and they don't actually breathe through their nostrils 00:08:09.85\00:08:11.95 for several minutes. 00:08:11.99\00:08:14.29 Does that mean that because they haven't 00:08:14.32\00:08:16.19 breathed through their nostrils that their parents 00:08:16.22\00:08:18.06 would then be allowed to take them and end their life? 00:08:18.09\00:08:21.36 Well, no one would say "yes" because everyone would say, 00:08:21.40\00:08:24.17 "Well no, the baby is out in the world, 00:08:24.20\00:08:25.63 it's now a human being." 00:08:25.67\00:08:29.04 We can't then make that argument that because 00:08:29.07\00:08:32.74 that was the way that Adam breathed through his nostrils, 00:08:32.77\00:08:35.78 that that then applies to the child as well. 00:08:35.81\00:08:39.35 On another level, when we say that this is how Adam 00:08:39.38\00:08:43.79 became a living being, because the Lord breathed 00:08:43.82\00:08:45.45 into him, He breathed through his nostrils, 00:08:45.49\00:08:47.02 and... the breath of life. Right, the breath of life. 00:08:47.06\00:08:49.72 Then he became a living soul. Right 00:08:49.76\00:08:51.09 When we equate Adam to the unborn, 00:08:51.13\00:08:54.90 we're saying that at their very beginning, 00:08:54.93\00:08:57.57 they were the same and they simply were not. 00:08:57.60\00:09:00.04 Creation and procreation are night and day totally different. 00:09:00.07\00:09:04.64 From the beginning and we will explore this more 00:09:04.67\00:09:06.71 in the scientific defense of the unborn, 00:09:06.74\00:09:09.14 but from its earliest moments, the unborn is alive. 00:09:09.18\00:09:12.11 We know that scientifically. 00:09:12.15\00:09:15.28 The unborn is also receiving oxygen as it is 00:09:15.32\00:09:19.22 in that gestational period from its mother. 00:09:19.25\00:09:22.36 Adam, at his very beginning, was formed. 00:09:22.39\00:09:26.49 He was a form of a man, but he was not alive. 00:09:26.53\00:09:29.86 He was inanimate clay, he was just lifeless. 00:09:29.90\00:09:33.20 Absolutely... he needed the breath of life to become alive. 00:09:33.23\00:09:37.71 To jumpstart him! Absolutely 00:09:37.74\00:09:39.47 The unborn is already alive. 00:09:39.51\00:09:41.91 They've already been jumpstarted. Yes! 00:09:41.94\00:09:43.58 And so, I mean Eve, when God took Adam's rib, 00:09:43.61\00:09:46.61 and made a woman, she was alive, 00:09:46.65\00:09:49.85 and then as the baby is then conceived, 00:09:49.88\00:09:51.95 and then begins to grow, that baby is alive, 00:09:51.99\00:09:54.39 and to correlate and say because Adam needed the breath of life 00:09:54.42\00:09:58.86 in order for an inanimate object or inanimate person 00:09:58.89\00:10:02.60 to become a real person or a real soul 00:10:02.63\00:10:04.43 based on Genesis 2:7, then to move from there 00:10:04.47\00:10:07.00 to a life coming out and breathing, 00:10:07.04\00:10:09.84 then they become a living soul, it's apples and oranges. 00:10:09.87\00:10:12.94 It's totally different, it really is. Yes 00:10:12.97\00:10:15.11 Vastly different and, as you mentioned, 00:10:15.14\00:10:16.48 it also... well to me, it assumes that the 00:10:16.51\00:10:19.51 breath of life is oxygen. 00:10:19.55\00:10:20.92 Now, if it is oxygen, then still the baby has oxygenated blood 00:10:20.95\00:10:26.72 as it is growing in the womb. Yes 00:10:26.76\00:10:28.96 And so, to me, it's just a huge jump leap in logic 00:10:28.99\00:10:33.53 to look at the creation of Adam and say - until a baby comes 00:10:33.56\00:10:36.56 out and breathes or at least breathes through the nose, 00:10:36.60\00:10:40.00 then it's a living soul. Yes 00:10:40.04\00:10:42.44 I just can't see it. Yes, absolutely 00:10:42.47\00:10:44.67 Well, and as I read "Greg Koukl," a bioethicist, 00:10:44.71\00:10:48.88 with "Stand to Reason" said: 00:10:48.91\00:10:50.25 "Basically, this verse proves that you need the breath 00:10:50.28\00:10:53.98 of the Lord to, as you said, jumpstart an inanimate object 00:10:54.02\00:10:57.89 made out of clay - that's in essence 00:10:57.92\00:11:00.42 what this verse has proven here. 00:11:00.46\00:11:01.89 Right, I want to just read a quotation from the 00:11:01.92\00:11:04.13 world famous medical director, he is dead now, 00:11:04.16\00:11:07.20 of Battle Creek Sanitarium, years ago, 00:11:07.23\00:11:08.96 Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. 00:11:09.00\00:11:10.33 He was one of the most well- known physicians of his time, 00:11:10.37\00:11:12.87 and in little book he wrote called: 00:11:12.90\00:11:14.54 "Man, the Masterpiece" in 1894. 00:11:14.57\00:11:17.41 He said that "from the very moment of conception," 00:11:17.44\00:11:21.14 he said, "processes have been in operation which result 00:11:21.18\00:11:25.68 in the production of a fully developed human being 00:11:25.71\00:11:28.45 from a minute cell. 00:11:28.48\00:11:29.98 As soon as this development begins, 00:11:30.02\00:11:32.32 a new human being has come into existence." 00:11:32.35\00:11:35.22 So, he is very clear on this, and I think we can continue to 00:11:35.26\00:11:40.10 build our case that that is the truth. 00:11:40.13\00:11:41.60 I mean, David said, "You wove me in my mother's womb." 00:11:41.63\00:11:46.90 It was Him and I think whether Seth was 00:11:46.94\00:11:49.57 inside or outside, it was still Seth. 00:11:49.60\00:11:52.21 We're inside a building right now and when we go outside, 00:11:52.24\00:11:55.41 we're still us. 00:11:55.44\00:11:56.78 We're who we are inside and we're who we are outside 00:11:56.81\00:12:00.35 that in the fetus' case, and from what I understand, 00:12:00.38\00:12:02.78 "fetus" is Latin for "little person." Absolutely 00:12:02.82\00:12:05.85 Little person that whether they're growing and developing, 00:12:05.89\00:12:10.03 they're still who they are even before they come out 00:12:10.06\00:12:14.50 and take their first breath whether it's from 00:12:14.56\00:12:16.06 the nose or from the mouth. 00:12:16.10\00:12:17.43 Seth, when he came flying out and I was right there, 00:12:17.47\00:12:20.74 he was screaming and I'm pretty sure that 00:12:20.77\00:12:23.77 his breathing was coming from the mouth, not from the nose, 00:12:23.81\00:12:25.97 at least right away. 00:12:26.01\00:12:27.34 What I also think is interesting before we move 00:12:27.38\00:12:28.84 on is the Bible, when it refers to the unborn, 00:12:28.88\00:12:32.35 a baby in the womb versus a baby outside of the womb, 00:12:32.38\00:12:35.22 in the Greek, the same word is used "brephos." 00:12:35.25\00:12:39.75 It's used to refer to the baby. 00:12:39.79\00:12:41.59 We see that in Luke 1:41-44, where Mary went to Elizabeth 00:12:41.62\00:12:47.76 and the baby leaped in Elizabeth's womb... 00:12:47.80\00:12:50.33 That was John... Yes, John the Baptist 00:12:50.37\00:12:53.40 leaped in her womb. 00:12:54.24\00:12:55.70 The word in the Greek that's used there is "brephos," 00:12:55.74\00:12:59.41 when the babe leaped in her womb. 00:12:59.44\00:13:03.21 In Luke 2:12, then when we're referring to the Savior, 00:13:03.24\00:13:06.72 who is now born in the world, in the manger, 00:13:06.75\00:13:09.55 the same word in the Greek is used to refer to the Savior. 00:13:09.58\00:13:13.62 The Scripture is not drawing a distinction in value there. 00:13:13.66\00:13:16.76 It's not calling the baby inside the womb by a certain term, 00:13:16.79\00:13:19.86 and calling the baby outside the womb by a different terminology 00:13:19.89\00:13:23.53 to somehow establish a subhuman versus human value scale. Right 00:13:23.57\00:13:29.17 The baby is human from the beginning 00:13:29.20\00:13:31.47 throughout until it's born. 00:13:31.51\00:13:33.21 Got it. Now, what about... there are other Scriptures 00:13:33.24\00:13:37.31 we've looked at Genesis 2:7 briefly. 00:13:37.35\00:13:39.28 There are other Scriptures that are used, a couple of them. 00:13:39.31\00:13:42.15 There's one in Exodus 21, there is one in Numbers 5 00:13:42.18\00:13:44.95 that are used and I've read these arguments. 00:13:44.99\00:13:46.96 People have used these arguments, these Scriptures 00:13:46.99\00:13:48.89 to try to prove that a fetus is subhuman, 00:13:48.92\00:13:53.26 and, you know, that's not really a person. 00:13:53.29\00:13:56.93 So let's just - why don't we look at those verses? Sure! 00:13:56.97\00:13:59.20 Exodus 21:22 is one that is quite controversial... 00:13:59.23\00:14:06.74 Okay, I'll get there as quick as I can. 00:14:06.78\00:14:12.01 Exodus 21... All right, I'll just read it, 00:14:12.05\00:14:14.28 and then you can comment. Absolutely 00:14:14.32\00:14:16.18 Verse 22 says, "If men fight..." I'm assuming it's 2 men fighting 00:14:16.22\00:14:19.99 ... and they hurt a woman with child... 00:14:20.02\00:14:21.89 and I'm assuming that means that the wife has 00:14:21.92\00:14:24.89 gotten involved in the tussle... got 2 men fighting 00:14:24.93\00:14:27.53 and the wife gets in the middle of this... 00:14:27.56\00:14:29.23 "... and so that she gives birth prematurely, 00:14:29.26\00:14:31.97 yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished..." 00:14:32.00\00:14:35.00 meaning the other person, not the husband, 00:14:35.04\00:14:37.01 "he shall be punished according as the woman's husband 00:14:37.04\00:14:39.81 imposes on him and he shall pay as the judges determine." 00:14:39.84\00:14:43.98 And I've heard this interpreted to mean that the 00:14:44.01\00:14:47.95 fetus, which supposedly there is a miscarriage, dies, 00:14:47.98\00:14:54.69 that if the fetus was truly a person, then God would 00:14:54.72\00:14:58.09 give a more stricter punishment, but the punishment is 00:14:58.13\00:15:01.33 simply a fine that the husband imposes upon the other man, 00:15:01.36\00:15:05.40 and they use that term to prove that, really, 00:15:05.43\00:15:08.20 it's just something subhuman in there. 00:15:08.24\00:15:10.21 What do you think about that? 00:15:10.24\00:15:11.57 Well, I think, first of all, the Lord is simple. 00:15:11.61\00:15:17.01 He's not complicated, He is very complex, 00:15:17.05\00:15:20.12 but He asks us to come to Him with faith like a child. 00:15:20.15\00:15:23.42 ... Not seeking to twist things to make them mean 00:15:23.45\00:15:26.09 what we want them to mean, but approaching His word simply. 00:15:26.12\00:15:28.82 Just reading this text on its face, we have on scenario. 00:15:28.86\00:15:33.09 The scenario is... 2 men are fighting, they strike a woman, 00:15:33.13\00:15:36.50 and her child comes forth. 00:15:36.53\00:15:38.83 If no harm follows, then the person who hit her, 00:15:38.87\00:15:43.94 will pay a fine. 00:15:43.97\00:15:45.31 Same scenario... 2 men are fighting, they hit a woman 00:15:45.34\00:15:48.68 and a child comes forth, if any harm follows, 00:15:48.71\00:15:51.68 it will be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, 00:15:51.71\00:15:55.08 burn for burn, stripe for stripe. 00:15:55.12\00:15:56.82 Just reading the text on its face, 00:15:56.85\00:15:59.69 the context doesn't imply death. 00:15:59.72\00:16:04.76 It implies a child coming forth and it's the same 00:16:04.79\00:16:09.16 scenario both times where we're talking about 00:16:09.20\00:16:12.03 harm that either is done or not done, 00:16:12.07\00:16:14.60 both to the mother and to the child. 00:16:14.64\00:16:17.21 If the child comes forth and no harm follows... 00:16:17.24\00:16:20.54 Well, the implication that is no harm to the mother, 00:16:20.58\00:16:23.28 and no harm to the child. 00:16:23.31\00:16:24.65 So people are reading into this that the baby is dead. 00:16:24.68\00:16:26.82 Yes, and in the research that I did... 00:16:26.85\00:16:30.02 phenomenal research has been done by many people 00:16:30.05\00:16:33.99 interested in this issue. 00:16:34.02\00:16:36.12 One of them is "Stand to Reason Organization" 00:16:36.16\00:16:39.49 that's just really wonderful. 00:16:39.53\00:16:41.46 I read about the Hebrew, the way that the actual Hebrew 00:16:41.50\00:16:45.47 that's used here, there are two Hebrew terms... 00:16:45.50\00:16:49.04 "Yalid and yasha" and I may or may not be 00:16:49.07\00:16:51.31 pronouncing those correctly. 00:16:51.34\00:16:52.67 But they refer to the child coming forth, 00:16:52.71\00:16:57.08 and they do say that a child comes forth in the Hebrew. 00:16:57.11\00:17:01.78 What's fascinating is this term "yasha," when it's used, 00:17:01.82\00:17:05.79 throughout Scripture, it's always used in the context 00:17:05.82\00:17:09.49 of life - something coming forward. 00:17:09.52\00:17:14.00 The Lord said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures." 00:17:14.03\00:17:18.43 When the Lord was talking to Noah, he said, "Bring out 00:17:18.47\00:17:21.47 with you every living thing of all flesh." 00:17:21.50\00:17:24.51 And these are all in Genesis... 00:17:24.54\00:17:28.08 "Then man will not be your heir, but one who shall 00:17:28.11\00:17:30.25 come forth from your own body." 00:17:30.28\00:17:33.75 Again in Genesis... "Now the first came forth 00:17:33.78\00:17:35.88 all over like a hairy garment." Talking about Esau, 00:17:35.92\00:17:38.65 when Jacob and Esau were born. 00:17:38.69\00:17:41.06 It's the same word, "yasha," 00:17:41.09\00:17:42.42 and it's used in the context of life. 00:17:42.46\00:17:44.26 I've heard that some Jewish scholars will say that 00:17:44.33\00:17:46.93 the baby did die, but that doesn't necessarily mean 00:17:46.96\00:17:49.70 that that's what happened, that's just their view. 00:17:49.73\00:17:51.37 A friend of mine, as we researched this and he 00:17:51.40\00:17:54.44 explained to me, he said, "Really, what's 00:17:54.47\00:17:56.24 happening is that God cannot and does not justly 00:17:56.27\00:18:00.64 assign blame, full blame in the situation 00:18:00.68\00:18:02.71 because there's three people involved. 00:18:02.74\00:18:04.71 The woman might have just run into the fight, 00:18:04.75\00:18:06.75 she might have fallen down, the husband might have 00:18:06.78\00:18:10.55 hit her a little bit or the other man might have 00:18:10.59\00:18:12.45 hit her and so it's hard to assign blame, 00:18:12.49\00:18:15.19 and there might have been other factors. 00:18:15.22\00:18:16.93 So the reason why God doesn't give a stronger punishment 00:18:16.96\00:18:19.96 is simply because it's impossible to assign full flame 00:18:20.00\00:18:22.93 in the situation and as you said, 00:18:22.96\00:18:24.43 we don't even know that the baby has died, 00:18:24.47\00:18:26.74 and so, He gives a reasonable consequence which is a fine. 00:18:26.77\00:18:31.61 But to take this text and to use it to mean 00:18:31.64\00:18:34.94 that the fetus is subhuman because the fine was not 00:18:34.98\00:18:38.48 stricter, again, it's a big stretch just like in Genesis 2:7 00:18:38.51\00:18:42.48 Now, we've got to move along... 00:18:42.52\00:18:43.85 Let's go to the other one in the book of Numbers 00:18:43.89\00:18:46.12 because I know that's another verse that's used Numbers 5, 00:18:46.15\00:18:50.69 and these are verses that I've encountered as 00:18:50.73\00:18:52.86 I've been studying this. 00:18:52.89\00:18:54.23 Numbers 5 talks about a woman who is unfaithful 00:18:54.26\00:18:58.13 evidently to her husband, and she is then brought 00:18:58.17\00:19:02.04 before the priest and the priest does a test 00:19:02.07\00:19:06.27 to see whether she is lying or not; 00:19:06.31\00:19:08.24 whether she really was with another man or not. Yes 00:19:08.28\00:19:10.75 And that's in Numbers 5:11 onward and in verse 17, 00:19:10.78\00:19:17.19 the priest takes certain holy water and he has her drink it, 00:19:17.22\00:19:21.12 and then it says in verse 22, "May this water that causes 00:19:21.16\00:19:26.16 the curse go into your stomach and make your belly swell 00:19:26.19\00:19:29.06 and your thigh rot if she is guilty, 00:19:29.10\00:19:31.43 but if she's not guilty, then verse 28 says, 00:19:31.47\00:19:34.34 "The woman has really not defiled herself, 00:19:34.37\00:19:36.30 she is clean and then she is free and may conceive children." 00:19:36.34\00:19:40.21 Yes... So comment on that. 00:19:40.24\00:19:43.08 Well okay, some have read that the thigh rotting 00:19:43.11\00:19:47.68 it's actually a euphemism for the reproductive system, 00:19:47.72\00:19:50.62 and so when her belly would swell and her thigh would rot, 00:19:50.65\00:19:53.92 that means something happened to her reproductively. 00:19:53.96\00:19:57.43 Now, proponents of abortion would say, 00:19:57.46\00:20:01.30 having read into this text, that this woman was pregnant 00:20:01.33\00:20:04.33 and so when her thigh rots, that's the child being 00:20:04.37\00:20:08.44 expelled from her body or having a miscarriage. 00:20:08.47\00:20:11.07 I've heard people say that God is really causing an abortion 00:20:11.11\00:20:12.97 so if God did it, then... it must be okay 00:20:13.01\00:20:15.61 or at least in some situations. Yes 00:20:15.64\00:20:17.91 That has been an interpretation. 00:20:17.95\00:20:20.75 The problem... there are a couple of problems with that. 00:20:20.78\00:20:24.05 The first is the text doesn't say anything about 00:20:24.09\00:20:26.79 the woman being pregnant. 00:20:26.82\00:20:28.16 It doesn't give any indication with that. 00:20:28.19\00:20:30.83 That really is being read into the text. 00:20:30.86\00:20:33.46 The second is, if when we read the text itself, 00:20:33.50\00:20:38.17 it says that, "if she is found innocent, she will be 00:20:38.20\00:20:43.57 released and she will still be able to conceive children." 00:20:43.61\00:20:47.58 Well, what's the opposite of being able to conceive? 00:20:47.61\00:20:49.94 It's barrenness, and so a solid interpretation of this 00:20:49.98\00:20:54.62 would be her thigh rotting, she's struck barren, 00:20:54.65\00:20:58.45 she's no longer able to bear children, 00:20:58.49\00:21:00.02 if in fact she was lying. 00:21:00.06\00:21:02.39 And in that case, it's a judgment of God. 00:21:02.42\00:21:05.49 It's not any kind of allowance for abortion. Yes! 00:21:05.53\00:21:12.87 A totally different situation. Yes! 00:21:12.90\00:21:14.24 In both the Exodus passage and the Numbers passage, 00:21:14.27\00:21:16.54 there is a tendency to say, "Well, we think this caused 00:21:16.57\00:21:20.44 the child to die and so elective abortion is permissible." 00:21:20.48\00:21:24.25 Elective abortion is an intentional act where 00:21:24.28\00:21:27.58 the life of an innocent human being is taken. 00:21:27.62\00:21:31.42 Particularly in the Numbers passage, 00:21:31.45\00:21:33.39 if, in fact, she had been pregnant and she had lost 00:21:33.42\00:21:36.22 the child, that was from the hand of the Lord, 00:21:36.26\00:21:39.49 that was not a carte blanche permission for us to 00:21:39.53\00:21:44.90 then go ahead and take the lives of our unborn children. 00:21:44.93\00:21:47.90 Got it, got it... So Genesis 2:7 about Adam 00:21:47.94\00:21:50.71 becoming a living soul is not a model for a person 00:21:50.74\00:21:55.21 becoming a person when they breathe because it's 00:21:55.24\00:21:56.85 totally different from what happens in procreation. 00:21:56.88\00:21:59.75 And Exodus 21 is not assigning the fetus to a subhuman 00:21:59.78\00:22:05.29 status when you really look at the context, 00:22:05.32\00:22:07.19 and Numbers 5 is not even really dealing with abortion at all, 00:22:07.22\00:22:11.79 and we don't even know if the woman was pregnant. Yes 00:22:11.83\00:22:13.70 She's probably just having a judgment upon her 00:22:13.73\00:22:15.63 so she can't have children. 00:22:15.66\00:22:17.00 So these Scriptures are really being, as I see it, 00:22:17.03\00:22:21.10 Peter talks about people that twist the Scriptures, 00:22:21.14\00:22:25.67 and they read in and they take them where God really didn't 00:22:25.71\00:22:30.91 intend for them to be taken. 00:22:30.95\00:22:32.78 And I've seen in print these interpretations, 00:22:32.81\00:22:37.39 and I've looked at the verses myself and I've just thought, 00:22:37.42\00:22:39.75 "How do they get that?" 00:22:39.79\00:22:41.36 It's just really not there. Yes 00:22:41.39\00:22:43.49 Well what's really fascinating, going back to the 00:22:43.53\00:22:47.60 Numbers passages briefly, this idea that, 00:22:47.63\00:22:49.60 "Well the Lord did it and so I'm allowed to do it too," 00:22:49.63\00:22:52.17 if you consider the story of David and Bathsheba, 00:22:52.20\00:22:54.64 David had an affair with Bathsheba, she got pregnant, 00:22:54.67\00:22:57.97 and the punishment was that he was going to lose that child. 00:22:58.01\00:23:01.88 But the child was born and the 00:23:01.91\00:23:04.18 Lord allowed the child's life to be taken. 00:23:04.21\00:23:06.72 That was not a permission for David to go forward 00:23:06.75\00:23:10.69 and take the life of his born children simply because 00:23:10.72\00:23:14.39 something has happened... and again, 00:23:14.42\00:23:16.19 this text is not at all clear that that is what happened 00:23:16.22\00:23:19.53 as if she had a miscarriage or an abortion. 00:23:19.56\00:23:21.56 But simply because the Lord acted in a certain way, 00:23:21.60\00:23:25.03 that doesn't mean that we're allowed to take it 00:23:25.07\00:23:27.57 upon ourselves to do that particularly when 00:23:27.60\00:23:33.11 it's taking the life of an innocent human being. 00:23:33.14\00:23:35.58 Right, and we need to look at all the Bible. 00:23:35.61\00:23:37.55 We need to look at the whole Scripture, 00:23:37.58\00:23:38.91 and to me, the situation with John the Baptist 00:23:38.95\00:23:42.25 inside of Elizabeth's body when Elizabeth 00:23:42.28\00:23:45.02 ran into Mary and they met each other, 00:23:45.05\00:23:47.82 and it says that "the babe leaped in her womb," 00:23:47.86\00:23:50.93 and it says, "for joy." 00:23:50.96\00:23:52.79 For joy... that shows me that was a happy camper! 00:23:52.83\00:23:56.63 That was a happy little guy, little Johnny that was 00:23:56.67\00:23:59.57 inside there... and that's the Word of God. 00:23:59.60\00:24:03.61 And to say that, "Well, he wasn't really a person, 00:24:03.64\00:24:06.17 or he wasn't really a soul until he came out," 00:24:06.21\00:24:08.71 you know, to me, it just doesn't make sense. 00:24:08.74\00:24:11.18 Someone that I work with told me recently that 00:24:11.21\00:24:13.75 there was one situation where there was an ultrasound done 00:24:13.78\00:24:15.72 on twins, 2 little girls that were inside the mommy, 00:24:15.75\00:24:20.96 and that the ultrasound showed them holding hands 00:24:20.99\00:24:24.76 together inside and then when they were born, 00:24:24.79\00:24:28.20 it wasn't long after that when they were together, 00:24:28.23\00:24:30.83 you know, lying next to each other, 00:24:30.87\00:24:32.20 and they're holding hands still. 00:24:32.23\00:24:34.04 And it was just so touching and I think to myself, 00:24:34.07\00:24:36.84 "These little girls, once they eventually got names, 00:24:36.87\00:24:40.04 maybe they had been named before they came out, 00:24:40.08\00:24:43.35 it's them there and it's them there whether they're in 00:24:43.38\00:24:47.62 or whether they're out, it's those little girls. Yes 00:24:47.65\00:24:50.69 And, I mean, my little boy was my little boy; 00:24:50.72\00:24:53.32 when he was inside, we talked to Seth before he came out. 00:24:53.36\00:24:56.46 We talked to Abby and it just doesn't make sense 00:24:56.49\00:25:00.53 to me logically and biblically and we'll look in the next 00:25:00.56\00:25:04.50 program, scientifically, that a person is a person 00:25:04.53\00:25:08.24 when they're inside and then when they come out, 00:25:08.27\00:25:11.51 they're just developing more. 00:25:11.54\00:25:13.98 Yes, yes, yes - from conception. 00:25:14.01\00:25:17.01 As we've seen in Scripture, it was the Lord who 00:25:17.05\00:25:19.85 established our value, made in His image 00:25:19.88\00:25:21.68 and, hopefully, we'll begin to accept that as a people. 00:25:21.72\00:25:25.69 Right, all Christians need to really understand that. 00:25:25.72\00:25:28.72 We need to look and see what the Bible says and 00:25:28.76\00:25:30.46 we need to be aware of different interpretations, 00:25:30.49\00:25:34.20 but we need to look to the Bible ourselves 00:25:34.23\00:25:36.70 to see what saith the Lord. Yes 00:25:36.73\00:25:38.43 And, to me, it's just so clear this passage again in Psalm 139. 00:25:38.47\00:25:44.64 As I mentioned, I have a friend of mine that we were 00:25:44.67\00:25:46.91 dialoging about this and I showed him this text, 00:25:46.94\00:25:50.38 and he didn't have a good answer that this was not David 00:25:50.41\00:25:55.72 when he was there growing inside of his mother. 00:25:55.75\00:26:00.02 And so, may God help us to stick with His Word, 00:26:00.06\00:26:06.49 and as we wrap up this program, again just want to zero in 00:26:06.53\00:26:10.03 on Psalm 139:13-14; we started with these verses 00:26:10.07\00:26:14.47 and these are just so clear. 00:26:14.50\00:26:17.44 David said about God, he said, "You formed my inward parts. 00:26:17.47\00:26:24.48 You covered or wove me in my mother's womb. 00:26:24.51\00:26:31.02 I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 00:26:31.05\00:26:37.46 Marvelous are your works, 00:26:37.49\00:26:40.93 and that my soul knows very well." 00:26:40.96\00:26:45.70 God wants us to know this. 00:26:45.73\00:26:47.37 He wants us to know His Word. 00:26:47.40\00:26:49.44 He wants us to know that He formed you, He formed me, 00:26:49.47\00:26:52.97 He formed us all way back inside the womb. 00:26:53.01\00:26:56.08 It's a miracle of life. It's a miracle of procreation. 00:26:56.11\00:26:59.41 There's no comparison, really, in anything in the world to 00:26:59.45\00:27:05.22 the formation of a human being inside the body. 00:27:05.25\00:27:10.13 And, God values us, He loves us. 00:27:10.16\00:27:11.99 He created us. He formed us. 00:27:12.03\00:27:13.36 He has an eternal plan for our lives. 00:27:13.40\00:27:15.70 He has an eternal plan for YOU! 00:27:15.73\00:27:17.60 And we want you to know that God and to find happiness 00:27:17.63\00:27:21.10 in the fact that He loves you 00:27:21.14\00:27:22.97 and He has an eternal plan for your life. 00:27:23.00\00:27:25.64 Dianne Wagner and Antoinette Duck 00:27:25.67\00:27:27.88 share powerful life-changing information in this 00:27:27.91\00:27:30.51 13-part series, "The Abortion Controversy" 00:27:30.55\00:27:34.08 To order this 6-1/2 hour DVD set for only $34.95, 00:27:34.12\00:27:38.15 call the following: 00:27:38.19\00:27:45.69 Or you can write to the following: 00:27:45.73\00:27:51.70 Or order online at www.whitehorsemedia.com 00:27:51.73\00:27:56.44 If you have been blessed by today's program, 00:27:56.47\00:27:58.71 and would like to help "White Horse Media" with 00:27:58.74\00:28:00.51 your financial support, you can call our toll free number 00:28:00.54\00:28:04.18 listed on the screen or donate online at whitehorsemedia.com 00:28:04.21\00:28:07.78