A Miscarriage of Injustice
A look at the root cause of infertility in America
In an older post, we examined the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28, discussed the myth of neutrality, and talked about the reality of Christ's preeminence over all things in heaven and earth. If you haven’t read that post, consider reading it first. Blessings, Curses, and Obedience. There, I promised to put some flesh on the story by sharing an example of how the blessings and curses work in a real-world situation, namely the fruit of the womb.
Wrestling with Infertility
Infertility, miscarriage, and stillbirths are without a doubt a most difficult ordeal for Christians to bear. Our natural human desire is to snuggle babies, watch them grow into children, and teach them to be God-fearing adults. Next, we long to delight in our grandchildren — and if God’s grace allows, our great-grandchildren.
These desires are God-given and ordained. Yet, sometimes these dreams don't materialize in our time frame — or sometimes — at all.
I too have wrestled with infertility and understand what it's like to yearn for a child born of the flesh of my husband; to take multiple at-home pregnancy tests month after month; to weep before God time and time again when the results are negative; to dream up names of babies that never come to fruition.
Those struggling with infertility can identify with the pain of Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, and Elizabeth as they longed for children. In His timing, God did a marvelous work in these women, opening their wombs under special circumstances. Yet, He may not do the same for everyone.
God said NO to my prayers. However, I'm extremely grateful for the four children my husband and I share. One from my womb before marriage — the gift God gave to draw me to Himself and three from my husband’s previous marriage. What a broken world we live in! Yet, God is in the process of turning our baggage into blessings.
Infertility is a heart-wrenching topic; I probably should have used a different example, like sickness, to demonstrate the blessing and cursing cycle that God has written into law. Good health is a promise that accompanies obedience to God's Law.
Our current world is so broken, that most people can't even accept the possibility that God desires His children to live healthy lives, free of illness. Yet, that's what the Bible teaches (3 John 2). And to be sure there are exceptions. Job is the primary. The Apostle Paul a close second.
If you want to learn more about why Christians get sick, read: Why Am I Sick? 7 Biblical Reasons. The bottom line is that in a perfect world, no one would be sick. But Christ is still in the process of perfecting the world through His death, resurrection, and ascension. And until we see the obedience of the nations that Romans 1:5 and 16:28 talk about, sickness will be a major part of our society.
However, I do believe in a day when sickness will be mostly eradicated on earth (Deuteronomy 7:15), our lifespans will increase, and the person who dies at one hundred will be considered accursed (Isaiah 65:20,22). And I believe this all will happen before Christ returns to wrap up His Kingdom and bring heaven down to earth.
Is Heaven Our Final Destination?
Perhaps you’ve heard the song, “This World Is Not My Home.”
It talks about how transitory this life is on earth — "we are just a passing through.” And our “treasures are stored up somewhere beyond the blue.”
No doubt there will be treasure in Heaven. Jesus says so. But the end goal of the eschaton is for heaven to come down to earth.
We pray for it in the Lord's prayer; we work for it now in faith; and one day, it will become a reality.
"Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2). The final resting place for the New Jerusalem is on a renewed earth. At that time, the great hymn will be a reality, when "Heaven and Earth become one."
That's the Christian hope. Heaven is merely an intermediate state. It is NOT our final destination.
This reality ought to guide our time here on earth before we get to heaven. God wants to renew the earth so that it is fit for heaven, and He is in the process of doing that very thing. It’s what He paid for at the cross. God desires to reconcile ALL things to Himself through the blood of the cross (2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:20). All things include all things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, thrones and dominions (Colossians 1:16,18, 20; Romans 8:22).
The reconciliation of all things began at the cross. And it will culminate when Christ returns, resurrects the dead, throws death into the lake of fire, and brings the heavenly city down to earth.
How Is Jesus Reconciling All Things Now?
Daniel prophesied that Christ would come up to the Ancient of Days, to receive dominion, glory, and an everlasting kingdom so that all men might serve Him (Daniel 7:14). Daniel was speaking of Christ’s ascension. 1 2 3
God gave Jesus all power and authority in heaven and earth to assure that it would happen (Matthew 28:18-20). And Jesus is sitting NOW on His majestic throne (Hebrews 1:3; 8:1).
Guess what He is doing on the throne?
Christ is in Heaven ruling, subduing His enemies, and causing His Kingdom to come more and more on earth as it is in Heaven. For Christ must reign from Heaven until all His enemies are a footstool for his feet. Then comes the end. 4
As Christians, it is our job to help Christ subdue all His enemies. Sickness, infertility, and death are included as Christ's enemies. Death, however, is the very last enemy to be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26). That won't happen until the final resurrection — when Death itself is thrown into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:14). Still, we are commanded to fight the death enemy by treating our bodies as temples of God, preserving the life of others, and teaching people to trust and obey. This truth is taught in the Sixth Commandment and the Great Commission.
What is required in the Sixth Commandment? Thou shall not murder (Exodus 20:13). The church fathers understood this to have both positive and negative implications. To not murder also includes preserving life.
What is the Great Commission? Baptism is only a small portion of Christ’s commission. After we baptize the nations, we are called to teach them to obey everything that Christ commanded (Matthew 28:20). Obedience is where the blessings come from. Disobedience is where the curses come from.
We could use any one of the blessings and curses listed in Deuteronomy 28 as an example to demonstrate how critical it is that we obey God's Law at the personal, church, and state levels if we want to escape the curses and receive the blessings. But I've chosen the fruit of the womb — so let's get back to it.
The State of Miscarriage
It is estimated that today in America 26% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. However, I know Christians who have had a rate much higher than that, even 50-75% of their pregnancies ending without a child to raise on earth.
This is tough to accept, especially when God says that the blessing of the fruit of the womb is one of the blessings we should have because of obedience. When I share with other Christians that miscarriage is a curse from God, they struggle to accept it. However, I'm not the one saying it. I'm merely repeating the words of the Creator.
As Christians, we are supposed to be blessed, right? So why would God allow so much miscarriage, infertility, and even fetal demise?
The answer is easy to say, but it is not easy to hear: We have turned away from God’s Law. Let me say for certainty — THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS. Yet, for Christian people, miscarriage and infertility should be the exception, not the norm.
Today, miscarriage is so normal, that we have statistics to prove it: 26% to be precise. That means more than 1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage. If we were to include abortion in that statistic, the number of pregnancies ending in death would be astronomical.
What I'm Not Saying
I have no doubt a few people reading this have red-hot faces right now — unless they've already unsubscribed, closed the browser, and called me a bad name. If you're still reading this, I want you to know that I'm not saying that God is evil and trying to hurt His children by causing miscarriage and infertility.
On the contrary! God is loving and good. Always. And He wants us to multiply upon the earth. He wants to bless the fruit of our womb. He wants to increase godly offspring so they too can work with Christ to subdue His enemies. The bigger the army of warriors, the better, right?
Sadly, most Christians don't realize why they are placed on Earth or why they should raise children. Perhaps they want to raise a doctor, lawyer, or football star. Those things aren't necessarily bad — if they are performed lawfully. But God doesn’t make Christians so they can be successful doctors, lawyers, and football stars in the eyes of the world. Rather, He wants Christian doctors who are willing to submit their work to Christ's Law and reject the evil, statist system, integrating prayer, nutrition, and biblical principles in the healing practice. That's how doctors could truly heal their patients and bring God's Word to bear on all of life. "Christian" doctors who follow wicked protocols that kill are useless to the kingdom. God wants lawyers who are more concerned about Bible-based justice than they are about money and prestige. Lawyers who profess to be Christians but do not love, honor, and cherish God's Law will not bring about the justice and righteousness that God desires. God wants Football Players who refuse to break the Christian Sabbath in honor of Him. Christian Athletes who refuse to honor God’s Law cannot shine God’s light in a way that will bring God’s blessing to the Earth.
When Christians are not seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness in all areas of life, they are not pleasing their Master. They are living for themselves or the world. God wants us to conform to His image, not the image of the world.
What Happens When Christians Fail?
Each Christian has a unique journey to become more and more obedient to Christ. God will use the natural courses of this world to bring about our obedience. And when we turn away from His Law, one of the NATURAL consequences is infertility and miscarriage.
It is written into His very justice system.
“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…Cursed shall be the fruit of your body” (Deuteronomy 28:15,18). 5
When a society fails to obey God’s legal code, God promises that many curses will come upon that society. One of those promised curses is miscarriage. Said another way, God has decreed there will be an increase in miscarriages (a curse on the fruit of the womb) because of the injustices done by nations that do not obey His Law: A miscarriage of injustice.
If you are struggling to get pregnant, have suffered through multiple miscarriages, or have lost a child at birth — it's not because God is mad at you. This can be hard to accept, but God is truly working for your good and His glory. However, that does not mean that the situation is good. Infertility, miscarriage, and fetal demise are part of the curse that Christ is in the process of reversing. But the only way to reverse these kinds of curses — or any curse for that matter — is by obedience to His Law from a heart of faith.
A Matter of the Heart
Outward obedience is not the answer. We must have an inward desire to obey God's Law. Jesus calls it hungering and thirsting for righteousness. If we love God, His Spirit moves within us to love His Law and desire to obey it. This is what Christ is looking for: A people who love His Law and seek to conform their life to it.
Here is the rub: It is impossible to obey God in our own strength. God's Spirit must do the work in us.
How about you: Do you love God's Law? Do you even KNOW what God’s Law says?
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
Which commandments must we keep?
If we want to be saved, we must obey ALL of God's Law — perfectly — an impossible task. This is why Christ had to die. He was the only One who could keep the Law perfectly.
Which laws did Christ obey?
ALL of them. He did what we could not do. And that’s why it is even possible to have fellowship with God. By faith, we must trust in the finished work of the cross of Christ for the remission of our sins. The sinless Savior died on our behalf so we could live.
Hallelujah!
But that's just the beginning of the process. We must also hunger and thirst for righteousness. This means we will seek earnestly, in the power of the Spirit, to be more and more like Christ, i.e. Law Keepers, each day. And the desire will not be a burden. Why? Because we know that God blesses obedience.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3).
Let’s look at a few reasons that ought to motivate us to love God’s Law and obey it from a sincere heart.
Five Biblical Motives to Obey
Please God (2 Corinthians 5:9)
Store up Treasure in Heaven (Matthew 6:20)
Receive Blessings on Earth (Hebrews 11:6; Proverbs 11:31)
Avoid the Curses of Deuteronomy 28 (Deuteronomy 28:15)
Enjoy the Blessings of Deuteronomy 28 (Deuteronomy 28:1)
Will we obey perfectly? Of course not. But God has a remedy for that, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9) In fact, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).
Walking in the light is the key to receiving the blessings of God. People who walk in God’s light hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Consider this essay an introduction to the blessing and cursing cycles. In the next post in this series, we will share exactly how it plays out, continuing with the theme of fertility.
https://biblicalblueprints.com/Sermons/New%20Testament/Revelation/Revelation%201_1-11/Revelation%201_9b?utm_source=kaysercommentary.com
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2022/may-web-only/christ-ascension-day-heaven-atonement-gospel-redemption.html
See also commentaries by Matthew Poole and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown: https://biblehub.com/commentaries/daniel/7-13.htm; And Matthew Henry: https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Dan/Dan_007.cfm?a=857013
See 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 and all the New Testament passages that cite or allude to Psalm 110:1, including Acts 3:21; Ephesians 1:22; Hebrews 2:8, 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22.
While the blessings and cursings were originally for the nation of Israel — God applies these to all societies, which is why He kicked the Canaanites out of the land and rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah.