# 277 At What Cost!

The Book of Genesis

Day 277

Ge 30:14 Now Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes."  15 But she said to her, "Is it a small matter that you have taken away my husband? Would you take away my son's mandrakes also?" And Rachel said, "Therefore he will lie with you tonight for your son's mandrakes."  16 When Jacob came out of the field in the evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, "You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son's mandrakes." And he lay with her that night.

 The Bible goes into incredible detail here as we continue to read of the struggles involved in birthing the twelve tribes of Israel (Jacob). These twelve tribes (the Old Testament church,) have their beginnings rooted in jealousy, pride, enmity…..you name it.

Here, we read of Reuben bringing mandrakes to his mother Leah. The root of this plant was believed to have powers to aid in conception. It shouldn’t surprise us then, that Rachael, the desperate barren woman, would exchange a night with her husband for the mandrakes, just so she might increase her chances of conceiving. 

Well, we’ve come a long way from mandrakes, haven’t we? The modern day barren woman no longer has to rely on folklore medicine to aid in her conception. Fertility clinics are popping up everywhere.

Through science, we have learned much about reproduction, however, with that knowledge has come the temptation to go beyond guidelines found in the Word of God.  Human life is created in laboratory dishes under unnatural conditions. Fertility drugs are used to bring about multiple conceptions which are then implanted in wombs. Multiple lives are brought forth, with the weaker ones being selectively aborted, or placed in a freezer to be implanted later if necessary. 

Here’s the thing, no one knows exactly how many embryos are out there, in liquid nitrogen. The low end estimate is hundreds of thousands in the United States alone. (Some say as many as a million!) According to the Centers For Genetics and Society, 1.7 million of these frozen embryos have already been discarded.

Discarded is actually a mild term for what can happen to embryonic remains. In an  article dated April 21, 2014, the Canadian Publication B.C. Catholic published a story reporting that biomedical waste from health facilities in the Canadian province of British Columbia, (waste that included the remains of miscarried children and aborted fetuses)  was being shipped to a power plant in the state of Oregon for incineration. Think about that the next time you turn on a light switch, and maybe the light will go off in our heads and we’ll finally start to get what we are doing to unborn children! Maybe, we’ll start to see the monsters we have become.

The miracles of modern science often bring with them a myriad of moral dilemmas. Be prepared for them! Lutherans For Life and other Christian Right To Life organizations have some great materials to help you sort these things out in accordance with the Word of God! Know what God has to say about the origins of life. Then pray for the strength and courage to resist any action on your part that is contrary to His will. Quite frankly tossing thousands of aborted embryo’s into a furnace for the sake of fertility and a good reading light doesn’t seem like God’s style.

Finally, remember, even as we stray from God’s Word and commit these sins, there is no sin that we commit that Jesus hasn’t paid for. He offers forgiveness to all as we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.