16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ------Matthew 2:16
Every year at Christmas, I read the story of the nativity of Jesus aloud with my family. This year, I read a little further, for historical interest, and I realized something. If you read the quote from the book of Matthew above, you already see an early example of government stepping in and slaughtering the innocent - in direct challenge to the authority of God. This was after he deceived the wise men, by requesting that they hurry and return with the location of the prophesied baby boy so that he, too, could worship the newborn king; when in reality, King Herod immediately felt threatened by the announcement of this newborn king.
As it turns out, we've seen this kind of thing before, when the Pharaoh of ancient Egypt (it is sometimes debated exactly which one) decreed that all the first born Hebrew boys be thrown into the Nile (which just so happens to be inhabited by Nile crocodiles). Observe: the opening chapter of Exodus -
16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” 17 The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. 18 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live?”
19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.”
20 So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.”-------Exodus 1: 16-22
It also turns out, there is an entire institution dedicated to the slaughter of innocents in modern times, really taking a strong foothold 'in the name of birth control', in the first half of the twentieth century; we know it now as ABORTION. A certain abominable character by the name of Margaret Sanger, had some lovely things to say about abortion. Of course, she would have told you that it was in the name of science and women's rights. As I always like to pose to ignorant left wingers who pose such evil stances - what about the rights of the child? How much 'control' did they have in the matter? Just to prove some of the abominable qualities of such a staunch supporter of child sacrifice, er, ugh, I mean abortion, take a look at some quotes from the infamous women's rights champion. I don't care what the context of the quotes are - this is just really insane to hear or read. I will close with a certain story at the end, and perhaps one can relate to my shock, but I digress:
"But for my view, I believe that there should be no more babies." -- Interview with John Parsons, 1947
"The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it." -- Woman and the New Race, Chapter 5, "The Wickedness of Creating Large Families." (1920)
"We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population..." -- Letter to Dr. Clarence J. Gamble, December 10, 1939, p. 2
“I think the greatest sin in the world is bringing children into the world, that have disease from their parents, that have no chance in the world to be a human being practically... Delinquents, prisoners, all sorts of things just marked when they’re born. That to me is the greatest sin—that people can—can commit.” -- Interview with journalist Mike Wallace, 1957
“The most serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families. The most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children..." -- Sanger, Margaret. Woman and the New Race (1920). Chapter 5: The Wickedness of Creating Large Families
I will stop right there...there are plenty more where those came from (https://tfpstudentaction.org/blog/margaret-sanger-quotes). But read those; let them really sink in. Add that to the actual court room footage of crowds...CROWDS of Americans, CHEERING to the announcement of the allowance of late term abortions. Think about the sheer audacity of some, to think that any one of us can play God, and decide whether or not a human should be born or not. Should they be allowed to get a chance at life, or not? Should they be allowed to experience the hardships and trials and sufferings of this world, with a chance to maybe come through much of it, stronger because of it - or not? It's really not up to us, is it? Oh, but wait - that's just it, isn't it?
Ever since the Garden of Eden, Satan has been playing a little game of deception, tricking all of us into thinking we can decide WHAT GOD DECIDES.
Cheering and screaming in a courtroom, for laws that allow children, right before their first breath of air, to be snuffed out like a candle, just like that! Don't believe me - take a look at these sobering numbers. According to the CDC, in 2016, there were 623,471 (just from the reporting areas) abortions across the United States. That is one year, folks...ONE. The year before, in 2015, the number was 636,902. These are just reported abortions for women from age 15 to 44. So in just two years, one million-two hundred sixty thousand three hundred seventy-three children's lives - were extinguished. Two years, ladies and gentlemen. Now I am no math whiz, but if you are doing your math, go ahead and just calculate a few hundred thousand lives per year, that never happened, because we said so, going back to...say, Margaret Sanger's hayday in 1920 or so.
Are you getting what I am saying yet? We are talking about a movement that makes Mao and Hitler and Stalin - look like amateurs! And the children who never got to live? They never even had a chance to fight for their lives, did they?
Sure, we can talk down about the un-civilized and ancient peoples, like Ancient Egypt, and Aztecs, and Mayans, and Celtics, and Saxons, and any old tribe of people that performed human sacrifice, and child sacrifice.
BUT LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS!
I've told my story before, of our little son, Jay's twin, who never got to join us in this world
( https://www.jason-e-fort.com/post/2019/01/24/opportunity-what-if ). I will never forget the horror; the fear and heart break and sadness, all at once in my wife's eyes when we realized little John Robert was gone in that ultrasound image. But we still had one little fella, holding on, heart beating fast and under stress. But the specialist told us that my wife would be at incredible risk. They said she would have to be at bed rest and not do anything for the rest of the pregnancy. What were we supposed to do? Snuff out the other child's life that still lived inside her?
Don't you see? This is what makes me so angry about these people, who want to sacrifice the children by the millions - mostly because the continued existence according to folks like Sanger, would be inconvenient and cruel to the human race! They want to snuff out life, because they think they have the authority to do so!
If knowing these recent stats upsets you like it does me, and if being re-acquainted with or reminded of the atrocities of the sinful nature of man-made governments, both in ancient history, and even today, makes you angry... I have some good news.
It's the same good news that is presented in the Gospel of Matthew (gospel just happens to mean good news).
Despite the sacrifice of many children in Ancient Egypt, we still got Moses.
Despite the sacrifice and slaughter of the innocents in Bethlehem, we still got Jesus.
Despite the enabling of abortions and the prevalence of the practice, I still have a seventeen year old son.
Despite the fact that Satan has convinced large portions of our society that it is okay to play God...it turns out there is a book. That book tells us the ending, and in the end of times here on THIS Earth - God wins. Life wins. God's people - win.
And the murderers and sadists and blasphemers and self-gods? They'll get theirs.
I am not boasting in anything I have done; just boasting on my God - because HE is bigger than anything man could ever decide to do.