Conception and Abortion As Seen From Jeremiah Chapter One, and Some Words About Contraception

We are told what God said to Jeremiah when God called Jeremiah to be a prophet. The Bible says in Jeremiah 1:4-5, “Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” What the Lord said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 tells us many truths. It tells us that God is the creator. God is the life-giver. When conception occurs, that is the creative work of God, forming a human being and creating one more life. How much God loves life. It says in Genesis 1:31, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” When God makes a life a good thing has happened, no matter what are the human circumstances surrounding the development of that life. God loves life so much that He made it very easy for a woman of child-bearing age to conceive. That is one of the reasons that men and women should wait until marriage to have sex: so that children will be conceived having both a loving father and a loving mother to help take care of them.

Even before God allows conception to take place, God has a plan for that life. That is how great the mind of God is, and that is how well He plans everything that happens. When it comes to life and death, there are no accidents. It says in Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” There is an appointed place and time for each of us to die. God makes that appointment. What is revealed here in Jeremiah chapter one makes it clear also that it is appointed unto men once to be born. In other words God makes that appointment also. If God makes the birth appointment, then He also makes the conception appointment. Conceptions are not accidents. Conceptions are permitted and used of God to bring a new life into the world. Just as God had a purpose for Jeremiah’s life, God has a purpose for every life. One of the benefits of becoming a believer in Jesus is that you start learning what that purpose is.

There have been approximately 54 million abortions in the USA since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. Let’s assume for a moment that all 54 million of these boys and girls would have lived. God would have loved each one of them. God had a purpose for each one of them also, just like God has a purpose for your life and just like God had a purpose for the life of Jeremiah. Do you even wonder what God’s purpose might have been for them? Maybe one of them would have discovered a cure for cancer. Maybe one of them would have become a great national leader who leads our country to a period of peace and prosperity and opportunity such as has never before been known. Maybe one of them would become a great soul-winner and preacher who would have introduced countless numbers to faith in Christ, and who would have helped to lead our nation to a national revival. Undoubtedly, at the judgment we will find out what God’s plan was for each of these souls who were aborted. But then again the same question will also be asked about all of us who were not aborted. At the judgment what will be said of you that you did not fulfill God’s purpose for your life? Will it be said of your soul that you accomplished no more than these souls who had been aborted and who had no chance at the opportunity and challenge of life?

When conception occurs, God concurs with the actions of human beings, and starts a new life. What about when conception does not occur? We must conclude that God concurs with the human actions that prevented conception from occurring. We do know that God does prevent conception in some individuals, sometimes for a long period of time, and sometimes for life. That happened in the lives of Abraham and Sarah. In spite of the times that Abraham and Sarah came together as husband and wife, God prevented the conception, until finally years later God chose to have Sarah conceive with Isaac growing in her womb. God has given a tremendous amount of choice to human beings who live on this earth. There is every reason to believe that God extends this choice to couples concerning when to have children, how many children to have, and even if to have any children whatsoever.

Jesus said in Matthew 18:18-19, “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” There is no reason not to conclude that this choice also includes the decision concerning when it is time to allow conception. We call that the decision to use contraception or not. Perhaps a young wife and husband have concluded that the situation they are in is not the right situation at the right time to allow conception. Perhaps they are concerned about being able to properly raise the child, or being able to save for the child’s needs. Perhaps they know that they do not currently have the opportunity to take care of their own child in their own home without the involvement of the world around them. Whatever the reason, it is their choice to use contraception and prevent a pregnancy from beginning. If a couple knows that they are not ready to bring a child into the world, the time to make that decision is before conception occurs, and the way to keep conception from occurring is with contraception. There are great benefits and blessings to having a child. It says in Psalms 127:3-5, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.” Of course, like all verses of the Bible this verse is partly understood in regards to the time-frame in which it was written. Up until recent times, many families operated like a family business with a tremendous amount of manual labor required for all tasks from housework and food preparation to working in the fields. Every pair of hands that were able to help out were needed. Therefore, every child would eventually become old enough to contribute to the family’s needs. That would have been a great blessing. Of course, there are the joys of receiving the love of a child, and watching the child grow and mature over the years, and hopefully grow up to serve God and fulfill their own purpose on this earth.

But there are also some considerations that might keep some couples from allowing conception. There are some good Christian parents who brought children into the world, and the children ended up not knowing or serving the Lord. After all, the odds are against anyone born into this world of sin. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Adam and Eve had two sons. The first child born into the world, Cain, became a murderer. There are no guarantees. You do not know what your child will eventually become. Human nature is so selfish, and the world is so wicked and its pull is so great that most children will not make it. The world will get to them somehow and somewhere. How great are the sufferings of Christian parents when a child goes bad! And even when some disaster happens to a child, how much the parents can suffer if they are loving parents. We live in wicked times. It says in Second Timothy 3:1, “This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.” It says in First John 2:18, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.” Jesus spoke of a time that would come when it would be better to not be pregnant or to have little children. Jesus said in Matthew 24:19, “And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.” It seems to me only reasonable that if Jesus gave this warning, He gave if for a good reason. It seems to me only reasonable that if a couple should decide to prevent conception by means of contraception, then they are giving heed to these warnings or giving heed to definite practical considerations, and it is their God-given right of decision to prevent conception.

The most effective contraception of all is abstinence. What is abstinence, but a free-will decision of a couple to avoid sexual intercourse in order to prevent pregnancy. There is a passage in First Corinthians chapter seven where couples are told to abstain from sex under a certain circumstance. In this case, it is not to prevent pregnancy, but it is abstinence just the same. It says in First Corinthians 7:4-5, “The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” If a couple abstains from sex, then that decision will certainly prevent conception. If a couple can prevent conception based upon the recommendation from the Apostle Paul in First Corinthians chapter 7, then certainly a couple is permitted to prevent conception by other means also when they so choose.

There is a practical implication of not using any contraception. Without contraception, many women will give birth to a large number of children. There is nothing wrong with having a large number of children, if you believe that is God’s will for your life and for your household. But there is also nothing wrong with using contraception to limit the number of souls that you bring into this world. Some women are very frail, and may not survive the physical difficulty of many child births. God gave a warning about the difficulty of childbirth in Genesis 3:16. It says, “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children…”

There is one thing that should already be perfectly clear. When we talk about contraception, we are talking about preventing pregnancy from occurring. We are not talking about ending a pregnancy after God and a husband and wife have allowed the conception to take place. If you conceive and do not want the child, then give it up for adoption. The child will then have the loving parents that he or she deserves, and the chance to fulfill the life that God intended for him or for her. We must conclude with the words that God said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.”

$Description: C:\BibleGemsDoc\Image37.gif$

___________________________________________________