- Micah 6:7
We live in a time when few people believe that actions have consequences. Nothing happens to me because of what I do or the bad choices I make. Everything bad is the result of what someone else does to me. Think of the schoolboy who proudly announces, "I got an A!", in contrast to his classmate who complains, "My teacher gave me a D." In the same way, indiscriminate sexual activity has consequences, whether it is sexually-transmitted diseases or pregnancy. But, no problem! A little shot will take care of the first, and a simple abortion the second.
The ancient Israelites sacrificed bulls and sheep to satisfy God's wrath against their sin. Americans sacrifice our children.
In the Bible, Pagans and apostate Israelites also practiced child sacrifice. Referring to the people of Israel and Judah, Jeremiah said (Jeremiah 32:35), "They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination." See also II Kings 17:31. King Josiah cleansed Israel, in part, by abolishing Molech worship. II Kings 23:10 (in answer to Jeremiah 7:31), "And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or daughter as an offering to Molech." Child sacrifice was a ritual for prosperity. Do we not justify the sacrifice of our own children by claiming that "we just can't afford them," or in a more honest mood, "I would just have to give up too much"?
Moses declared the judgment of Jehovah against the child sacrifices. Jehovah, speaking in Leviticus 20:1-5, abominates child sacrifices, and in verse 2b gives this command, "The people of the land shall stone him [the father who performs the sacrifices] with stones." The people are forbidden to tolerate child sacrifice, and the FATHER is named the responsible party. The prophet Ezekiel (20:31) tells us that God will reject the prayers of a people that tolerates child sacrifice. "When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you."
The great American holocaust has been the millions of children that we have offered up in the fire of saline and chemical abortifacients. The toleration of these sacrifices has caused God to close His ears to us. No wonder we suffer these economic deprivations and the threat of terrorism. How long must we suffer, before we repent and return to our God?
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