Life Verses 1: Proverbs 31:8-9

Welcome to the first post in a new weekly series, Life Verses.  The purpose of this series is simple: to ensure that our statements as pro-life people stand on firm, biblical ground.  Our emotions may make us empathetic towards the unborn, but our efforts are futile unless God is the final authority and director of the pro-life cause.  Especially when conversing with Christians, we must know the Scriptures and what they have to say concerning abortion.

So then, what does the Bible have to say about defending the unborn?  Interestingly, the Bible never explicitly talks about abortion.  Perhaps there was no term for it, or it simply did not occur to any notable degree.  (Civilizations in those times that did not want a newborn child would simply leave it out to die)  Regardless though, the Bible in no uncertain terms commands us to defend the defenseless. One instance of this is found in the following passage from Proverbs:

Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are appointed to die
Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9

These verses have more or less been the motto for Voices for the Voiceless, mainly because of their direct relation to the core tenets of the pro-life movement.  The unborn clearly fall into the broad category of the speechless and the appointed to die.  And what are we to do?  In order to emphasize the importance of speaking out and being involved in the defense of the defenseless, the Bible mandates twice in this one passage that we should not be silent.  We are to plead the cause of the appointed to die.

God leaves no room for apathy towards the issue of abortion.  America’s unborn are currently being aborted at an astonishing rate of 1.3 million per year, and we, as Christians, should be continually seeking God’s purpose and asking Him to instill in us and in our peers a passion to protect the innocent.

Come back next Saturday for another verse and brief commentary.