Oak Hill Baptist Church © 2008-
The prophet Isaiah pondered the strength of a mother’s love for her nursing child. “Can a woman forget?” he asked. “Yes,” was the answer, “these may forget,” but God will not forget his people (49:15). Isaiah is not referring to a child in the womb but a child in the arms, one’s cooing flesh and blood. To most of us this thinking of forgetful mothers is very strange.
We look forward to the birth of a child, spending time and money decorating a nursery. We stock it with a crib and onesies and mobiles and shower keepsakes. We welcome the first heartbeat, uncomfortable kick, and ultrasound picture. A colicky newborn can drive Mom and Dad to distraction, but most can manage an almost infinite amount of patience with the help of modern medicine and Grandma.
Yet we also are aware of the occasional news story reporting mothers or fathers who do not care to nurture. A woman deliberately drowns three young boys in a car, fearful of loosing her latest lover. A baby is discovered in a dumpster or placed on the doorstep of a fire station or hospital, the decision of a panicked new mom. Children are left alone in an apartment or house for days with little food while their parents pursue drugs or some other selfish delight.
Our society is shocked by these aberrations. We do not expect them, although they have become all too familiar. We project our own feelings for our children on all parents. We assume only dire circumstances could force a mother to forget the child at her breast. Perhaps it is a case of temporary insanity. Her drug cravings were just too strong. She was severely abused as a child, losing her maternal instincts.
But are we right? Should we assume in this dark, dark world that “nature’s instincts” are universal? Or is it possible for people, both men and women, to choose quite willingly a different set of values? In the early days of Israel’s life in the land of Canaan, the people encountered cultures that encouraged child sacrifice. They were warned about those “who make son or daughter pass through the fire” (Deuteronomy 18:10). Archeologists confirm the practice by the Canaanites on a large scale. History teaches us of many other cultures in modern times where infanticide has been practiced.
We see such things on the news regularly these days. Remember the Iran/Iraq war?
Iran sent waves of boys into battle in front of the regular army. Each was equipped
with a plastic key to heaven, the reward for dying in jihad. Infanticide is practiced
in many cultures today. Lives are discarded because of deformities, sex (a girl and
not a boy) or any number of personal reasons. We hesitate, rightly, to question the
love of all these parents. Our Lord’s name is better served by giving them the benefit
of the doubt. Yet our Judeo-
On Sunday, January 24th in the morning service and a fellowship dinner, we will celebrate the births of several babies in our congregation: William Block, Jay’Shawn Friedl, Adelynn Goodell, Chase Hamilton, Ellie Lemmenes, Caleb Vinsand, and Lincoln Zinnel. We rejoice in God’s gifts to us, children from his hand and parents who want those children to know God’s grace. We rejoice in the gift of God’s testing that we might stand firm in our Lord throughout their growing years. May Oak Hill “teach [God’s testimony] to our children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that the should put their confidence in God” (Psalm 78:5,6).