That no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech." 2 Kings 23:10
A missionary couple in Japan prepared to celebrate their first Christmas on the field. They put up a Christmas tree in their living room and placed a small angel figurine at the top. Soon after they were finished there was a knock at the door. Two women from the village, eager to learn about the strange customs of these foreigners, asked if they could come in and see the tree. They gazed for several minutes in silence. Finally one of them pointed to the angel at the top and murmured, “Look, it is their god!”
Misunderstandings
It is easy for others to misunderstand the intentions of others. All of us have been in that boat a few times where we did or said something that somehow conveyed a different message. Being misunderstood happens to the best of us.
But there are some things in life that God does not want to be misunderstood about. The practice of infanticide in the ancient world was hideous. Think about it: Are you revolted by the thought of putting children in the fire to burn them to death as sacrifices to the god Molech? Well, you’re not alone, because God agrees too. He quite specifically forbids this ritual. You may think that He does so because He hates murder. You would be partially correct. But there is another reason behind this prohibition; a reason that we need to seriously consider even in our modern world.
Clarifying An Ancient Practice
The Hebrew word “burn” is better understood as, “to cause to pass through the fire of". The verb is avar (to pass through or over). These children were passing through the fire, a euphemism for the passage from life to death. It was this practice that God hated and detested.
Allow me to explain. Why would the worshippers of Molech sacrifice their children in such a horrible way? The answer reveals another side of sin. These people sacrificed their children because they believed that the death of innocent ones (children) would insure their own prosperity and livelihood. In other words, they sacrificed the life of their children in order to preserve themselves. They killed the innocent in order to appease Molech so that he would send rains and sunshine to fertilize the earth and make their own lives fulfilling and prosperous. And that is the other side of the story. This second sin is the sin of denying that God is the real provider. It is the sin of placing my personal needs and material well-being before the life of another.
It doesn't take much reflection to realize that our world practices the same sin today. Abortion is just a variation of saying, "My well-being comes before the well-being of another". Abortion has become a legal right to take care of myself at the expense of the innocent. It denies that God is the provider. It denies that God is the author of life. Abortion worships the god of self-concern. When you think about it, this is no different than what occurred back in 2 Kings.
Indeed history does repeat itself. There really is nothing new under the son, just the same old sinful practices repackaged.
Learning From The Past
But the good news is that we can learn a great deal from the error of the ancient world and get a true sense of the heart of God about it. When we look below the surface, we see some very familiar attitudes and actions that parallel our own world. Sins of the past are still the same sins of the present.
But it is also true that God never changes (Mal. 3:6). He forgave sins back then and He still forgives sins today, no matter what the nature of the sin may be.
I heard a story the other day that grieved my heart. It was about a father / husband who sexually abused his little daughter and soon the wife had found out. The revelation of such an evil practice tore the family apart and left scars in the life of the little girl as well as the other family members.
I went to bed last night thinking about that and how at times for the sake of our convenience and pleasure, some have no problem sacrificing the innocent. Whether it is infanticide, abortion or abuse, it really is the same – idolatry. We choose the worship the god of self-concern and along the way we willingly choose to offer an innocent child who gets in our way.
We Can Do Something
What can we do about this? For one thing, pray that God will intervene and spare the life of the innocent. Pray that those who have scars from having been abused will move on in forgiveness and restoration. Pray that the perpetrators will be brought to justice, either by throwing themselves at the feet of Jesus for forgiveness and salvation, or that God would deal with them according to His righteous justice. Pray that our leaders in government will do the right thing and not that which is popular to gain or secure votes. Finally, since we all have offended God by our own sins, let’s not be judgmental toward others who may have sinned in a different way that we have. We all deserved death and hell, but Jesus paid the price and rescued us from what we had coming.
In the end, it is not who sinned by doing what, rather it is about who reached out to God in brokenness and received His forgiveness.
