Babies have value before they are born (3)

In Psalm 139, there are 7 Hebrew words that teach us that babies have value before they are born. Here are the second and third words.

Before we are born, God knits us.

… you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
Psalm 139:13b

The Hebrew word for “knitted” is cakak. Here, it means “to weave.” Other times, the word is translated “to cover,” “to screen,” “to protect.” So, the idea seems to be that in the process of weaving us (knitting us), God is seeking to protect us. (TWOT - #1492) This word is used in Job 10.

You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit (cakak) me together with bones and sinews.
Job 10:11 (ESV)

God seeks to protect what He knits. And centuries before Psalm 139 was written, God showed that He placed a high protective value on an unborn child.

When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her… he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life.
Exodus 21:22-23 (ESV)

The scenario? There’s a brawl between men. A pregnant woman nearby is accidentally hit. The result is either a premature live birth or a miscarriage where the child dies. If “harm” is suffered by either the woman or her baby, the man who caused the injury is held accountable. If the unborn baby dies, it’s life for life.

In Psalm 139:14 God is saying, “Protect what I’m knitting – the lives of the unborn!”

Some abortion advocates say, “The unborn is part of the mother’s body. She should have the freedom to do what she wants to do with her own body.”

But look at the verse: “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” There are three persons being talked about here. 1) God. 2) A baby. 3) A mom. The unborn person is separate from the mother. Every cell of the baby’s body is unique, each different from every cell of the mother. The blood type is often different. Half the time, the gender is different. There are 2 noses, not one. Four legs, not two. There are 2 skeletal systems, 2 circulatory systems.

The unborn is not part of a woman’s body. The unborn is in the woman’s body, but is a separate person in the woman’s body.

Alcohol-serving establishments in Oregon are required to post a sign that warns pregnant women not to drink because it might harm the baby. Why? Alcohol harms unborn babies. And mothers should not have the right to do whatever they want if it harms the baby. Question: If alcohol harms unborn babies, what does abortion do? (Randy Alcorn, A Sanctity of Life Message, www.epm.org.)

I am a strong believer in women’s rights. I have the deepest respect for my wife, for my mother, and for the women of this church. I don’t want to underestimate the trauma that women have gone through in making abortion-related decisions. But women (and men) have a God-given responsibility to help protect what God designed the womb to protect, the lives of those unborn babies He is knitting together.

Before we are born, God makes us.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…
Psalm 139:14a

The Hebrew word for “made” is palah. Sometimes, the word is translated “to separate,” “to distinguish.” So, the idea seems to be that in the process of making us, God separates and distinguishes us. (TWOT - #1772a)

We say, “Lord, I praise you! You made me in an amazingly distinct way. Thank you for making me so wonderfully unique!” How does He make/separate/distinguish us?

There is a point of creation, where one moment there is only an egg with twenty-three chromosomes and a sperm with twenty-three chromosomes, neither of which has a life of its own. But when they are joined, there is a new human being with absolutely unique DNA, a distinct identity, with the equivalent of hundreds of volumes of detailed information down to hair thickness, eye color, height and thousands of other markers. We are “made” – separated, distinguished by unique DNA. When did that creation come about? Conception.

This has tremendous implications, because no matter how soon after DNA is formed, after conception happens an abortion causes the death of a human being – of someone God has fearfully and wonderfully made. Think about it. The abortion pill the morning after pill) or an IUD destroy a fertilized egg – the DNA, the distinguishing marks of a special human being God has made.