"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." (Gen. 4:10)
The story of Cain and Abel is the first instance in history of the shedding of innocent blood. God is not beyond using figurative language to drive a point home. Of course shed blood doesn't have a literal voice, but what this verse means is that the shed blood of the innocent gives loud testimony to God that He will not leave unpunished. And this is not just an ancient "Jewish" judgment confined to how God dealt with Old Testament Israel. For this same sin He punished Gentile nations too. Notice Leviticus 18, where He warns Israel to refrain from certain sins, including the slaying of the innocent:
" ... for all these abominations the men of the land have done who were before you, and thus the land is defiled, lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations which were before you." (Lev. 18:28)
Nor is this vengeance confined to Old Testament judgments from a bygone era, having nothing to do with nations today. It's relevant to our own New Testament times: Consider Rev. 6:10:
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Who's doing the speaking? The martyred saints in heaven. If you thought it was wrong for Christians to ask for revenge, or that this kind of language is inappropriate for saints today, then explain this verse. The point? God avenges the shedding of innocent blood in all ages and with all nations. He punishes entire countries for slaying the innocent, the unborn, and those in "partial birth" status.
This past election, we had two viable candidates running for office: one who was in favor of this and one who was against it. One presidential candidate vowed to continue the abominations of Planned Parenthood and its "harvesting" of living tissue from persons in the womb, and to continue partial-birth abortions. The other candidate vowed to oppose it.
According to Numbers 35:33, the shed blood of the innocents defiles a land in a way unique from other sins:
"So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it."
Repeatedly in Scripture God calls Himself the defender of the orphan and widow, the avenger of the poor and helpless and those who have none to speak for them. (Prov. 24:11,12) Among these victims are the aborted. Few political campaigns are decided by a single isse. But this "single issue" is among the most important. According to Scripture, a nation's punishment for innocent blood is war or famine or exile; or all three. What form that wold take in our modern America I shudder to think.
But "doom and gloom" is not inevitable in our lifetimes. God's wrath has been known to skip a generation, or several, if a country shows repentance, and "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." (II Chron. 7:14) He did exactly this in the days of good King Josiah and reserved his wrath for a future time. (II Kings 22).
When St. Paul penned his famous words in Romans 13:1-7 and I Tim. 2:1-3, roughly 10% of the populace were Roman citizens. Paul himself was a citizen (Acts 22:28). This was a rare privilege, and a citizen of Rome had certain rights that the other 90% didn't have. For example, he could appeal directly to Caesar for redress of grievances. Make no mistake, Paul used those rights. But what a Roman citizen could not do was vote for the election of his leaders. You, on the other hand, can.
Americans have that privilege as a gift of God. As St. Paul did in his time, we're to use that privilege for all it's worth this next election season.
The story of Cain and Abel is the first instance in history of the shedding of innocent blood. God is not beyond using figurative language to drive a point home. Of course shed blood doesn't have a literal voice, but what this verse means is that the shed blood of the innocent gives loud testimony to God that He will not leave unpunished. And this is not just an ancient "Jewish" judgment confined to how God dealt with Old Testament Israel. For this same sin He punished Gentile nations too. Notice Leviticus 18, where He warns Israel to refrain from certain sins, including the slaying of the innocent:
" ... for all these abominations the men of the land have done who were before you, and thus the land is defiled, lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations which were before you." (Lev. 18:28)
Nor is this vengeance confined to Old Testament judgments from a bygone era, having nothing to do with nations today. It's relevant to our own New Testament times: Consider Rev. 6:10:
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Who's doing the speaking? The martyred saints in heaven. If you thought it was wrong for Christians to ask for revenge, or that this kind of language is inappropriate for saints today, then explain this verse. The point? God avenges the shedding of innocent blood in all ages and with all nations. He punishes entire countries for slaying the innocent, the unborn, and those in "partial birth" status.
This past election, we had two viable candidates running for office: one who was in favor of this and one who was against it. One presidential candidate vowed to continue the abominations of Planned Parenthood and its "harvesting" of living tissue from persons in the womb, and to continue partial-birth abortions. The other candidate vowed to oppose it.
According to Numbers 35:33, the shed blood of the innocents defiles a land in a way unique from other sins:
"So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it."
Repeatedly in Scripture God calls Himself the defender of the orphan and widow, the avenger of the poor and helpless and those who have none to speak for them. (Prov. 24:11,12) Among these victims are the aborted. Few political campaigns are decided by a single isse. But this "single issue" is among the most important. According to Scripture, a nation's punishment for innocent blood is war or famine or exile; or all three. What form that wold take in our modern America I shudder to think.
But "doom and gloom" is not inevitable in our lifetimes. God's wrath has been known to skip a generation, or several, if a country shows repentance, and "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." (II Chron. 7:14) He did exactly this in the days of good King Josiah and reserved his wrath for a future time. (II Kings 22).
When St. Paul penned his famous words in Romans 13:1-7 and I Tim. 2:1-3, roughly 10% of the populace were Roman citizens. Paul himself was a citizen (Acts 22:28). This was a rare privilege, and a citizen of Rome had certain rights that the other 90% didn't have. For example, he could appeal directly to Caesar for redress of grievances. Make no mistake, Paul used those rights. But what a Roman citizen could not do was vote for the election of his leaders. You, on the other hand, can.
Americans have that privilege as a gift of God. As St. Paul did in his time, we're to use that privilege for all it's worth this next election season.