Genesis 1:26-31 Genesis 2:7, 15-24 Psalm 139:13-17
Jeremiah 1:4, 5 Galatians 1:15
God’s knowledge of, and involvement with, human life begins long before physical conception occurs. God told the prophet that He “knew” him long before he was conceived in his mother. The Hebrew verb used in this verse for “to know” is yada, which conveys great meaning in the Old Testament, going far deeper than mere intellectual knowledge or awareness. Yada means personal commitment and intimate experience with the person known. Yada is used for the sexual union between husband and wife (Gen. 4:1). God not only knew “about” Jeremiah, he “knew” him and was involved in a personal way with him before he was conceived.
This personal and intimate involvement by God in individual lives extends to this personalized involvement in their conception and development. God says that each life is “woven” (Hebrew, sakak “to weave”) by Him (Gen. 2:7, Ps. 139:13) and that He knits together (Hebrew, raqam “to embroider”) each human frame (Hebrew, estem “skeleton”) in the womb (Ps. 139:15).
God’s personal, detailed, intimate, divine involvement with each human life is what imparts to each life its sacred value and unique worth. It is God’s personal interest in, and involvement with, each human life which reveals that He has a “personalized” plan for each human being even prior to actual conception (Ps. 119:16; 127:3; Is. 43:7-8; Eph. 2:10).
Thus, abortion (the killing of an unborn human being), infanticide (the killing of the ill and the infirm), and homicide (the murder of human beings at any stage in life) are all a revolt against God and an attempt to usurp the prerogatives and plans of the Creator. God loathes such bloodshed and rebellion and has made it clear that He will judge those who perpetrate or condone such bloodshed (Gen. 9:5-6; Ex. 20:13).