Dobbs as a small cloud

Storms can bring life-giving water.

And it happened after many days…” Thus begins the triumph of Elijah over the priests of Baal and the return of rain to a desert land. Many days here are a matter of years, and the kingdom of Israel has suffered from a famine.

In the nearly 50 years since Roe v. calf As recorded in 1973, more than 62 million human babies, each created in the image of God, were slaughtered on the altar of convenience.

“I have not troubled Israel; but you and your father’s house, having forsaken the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baalim.‘ Thus answered Elijah when the king, Ahab, Jezebel’s husband, blamed the aridity of the land on the prophet of God. And he called upon Ahab and the Baalites and the people of Israel to come to Mount Carmel and there to see what the Lord could do.

Now the nation is awaiting a decision from the United States Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organizationone that can tip over roe. In doing so, it would reveal a nation that is not just divided de facto but de jure about human nature.

“How long do you keep between two opinions?‘ So Elijah asked the assembled people whether they would choose to serve the Lord or Baal. And Baal’s prophets were 450, and Elijah was only one. The challenge was simple: the prophets made an altar and the prophet made an altar; and the prophets took a bull, and the prophet took a bull; and the prophets sacrificed the bull, but did not burn it, and called upon the name of their god to consume their offering. And nothing happened.

We got a taste of all of this last September, when Texas’ effective ban on murdering babies after six weeks of pregnancy elicited the shrieking anger and despair of believers who watched the desecration of their temple.

“Cry aloud: for he is a god; he’s either talking, or relieving himself, or he’s on a trip, or maybe he’s asleep and needs to be woken up.” So taunted Elijah. And when the Baal prophets failed to summon an answer from their Master, we read that they cried out loudly and cut themselves with knives, blood spurting out. And though they were many and endured until evening, there was neither voice nor answer nor any attention from Baal.

Since the leak of the draft report on Dobbs, there was an encore to last fall’s blackout tantrums. In a bizarre exhibit outside Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s home, women belonging to a group called “Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights” were processed in pants made to look blood-soaked while carrying baby dolls. Supposedly an illustration of the aftermath of “forced births,” the performance felt more like a reminder of the underlying violence associated with tearing babies apart in the womb.

“come close to me‘ Thus spoke Elijah to the Israelites, and he repaired the altar of the Lord which had collapsed. And he prepared the sacrifice and commanded that the congregation should pour it in water, the most precious thing in their dry land. And he prayed.

“Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God and that you have turned their heart back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and lapped up the water in the ditch. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces and said: The Lord is the God; the Lord, he is the God.”

Not every tantrum retains its damage for the flailing child. We know that now, whatever the final verdict Dobbs, no matter how limited, a national storm is coming. A pro-abortion domestic terrorist group called Jane’s Revenge is already conducting a firebomb campaign against pregnancy crisis centers across the country. Activists can and are called into the streets to sow chaos and destruction in retaliation for even the slightest protection of life. Even the long-awaited, long-prayed overthrow roe will only be the beginning of a new chapter in a spiritual war. But let the workers hope for any victory.

“Go up now, look at the sea.Elijah said this to his servant, for he had promised rain to Ahab and the people of Israel. And while Elijah was praying, the servant went up and looked, and seeing nothing, he returned, and Elijah sent him out again seven times. “And it came to pass the seventh time that he said, ‘Behold, there rises up out of the sea a little cloud, like a man’s hand.’”