Last Daze Letter to The Body of Christ

Chapter 6   Molech and our modern-day sacrifice

                                 

Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon.  1 Kings 11:7

"They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.  Jeremiah 32:35

Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, "Take there one of the priests whom you carried away into exile, and let him go and live there; and let him teach them the custom of the god of the land." So one of the priests whom they had carried away into exile from Samaria came and lived at Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the LORD. But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.  2 Kings 17:27-31

He (Josiah) also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech.  2 Kings 23:10

The offering of children to Molech seems so far from what we can understand, or imagine, in our society.  Offering up and giving their most treasured possessions to a voiceless idol is hard to comprehend. How could they do such abdominal exploits and think this was the right or an OK thing to do; how?! Can you imagine such an awful act happening today? Imagine going to a very special church service where there is a large bowel of fire and willfully throwing your baby, son or daughter in that blazing fire and watching them burn to death before your very eyes to appease another (additional) god! How about your son or daughter next to you throwing their son or daughter (your grandchild) into the fire to be burnt alive! Imagine this happening right now, in your own city, your town or your own home?!

Is such a ghastly act really that impossible and that rare in our culture or is it more common place and even more possible and convenient than it was during Israel’s idolatry? These detestable acts are happening all over America, in your city, in your town, in your own home and we are not even aware or conscious of it! How can this be? Every day, every hour, every minute, every second this is happening! Are we offering our children in such a subtle way that we are not even aware of it? How could we be comfortable, so spiritually blind? In our Christian homes, where we want to raise our children to be godly ones to carry on the faith, could this same detestable thing be going on?! If you knew that you were offering your precious, irreplaceable child or grandchild into the arms of Satan to be burned forever and ever would you not be appalled! Would you continue in this evil act?!  No, a thousand times, no!

The Baal Molech and our modern day sacrifice

The Baal gods were surrogates for the Lord Jehovah. In fact the word baal means lord, husband, master, to rule over. These Baal gods became substitutes for the true God,! Instead of being married just to Jehovah they intermingled and intermarried with the heathen around them they ended up serving their gods as well. These Baal lords eventually became their husband rather than Jehovah. They were not satisfied with Jehovah alone; they wanted to see Him, touch Him, hear Him, rather than trusting Him explicitly.

Why does the Lord constantly have to compete for our attention? Why are we so prone to wander? We might think; why was Israel so adulterous in her relationship with Jehovah? How could they do such ludicrous things as to worship and serve worthless substitute Baal gods and serve Jehovah God at the same time?! We are appalled at what they did and blind to what we do. We are no different today! We have our own Baals, our own substitute husband, master and lord. We serve Jesus and we serve our idols as we demand the constant entertainment of secular music, the poison of television, internet, movies, magazines, video games, secular books, all that the media the World has to offer. Now, with the advent of the cell phone we can serve these Baal gods day and night anywhere we are! Since we have Jesus, why can’t we enjoy these other things as well? After all my other Christian friends, leaders and pastors are doing the same, it must be ok. 

The god of entertainment has captured our souls. We have set up our own high places of worship with entertainment systems in our homes; some Christians spend tens of thousands of dollars on these altars. Hours of precious time is spent here! The average time spent in America before these idols is in excess of 40 hours a week! As much time as they spend at work making a living or the time it takes per week to get an education. We look at God’s chosen people in the Bible and think what blind and foolish people they were and yet we are no different; we do the same or even worse!!! Help us see our wicked ways, turn from these worthless idols, and return to the Living God!

But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.  2 Timothy 3:1-5

Silence evades us, our culture demands constant noise, and constant input from some form of media. Constant noise drowns out and desensitizes us to what is happening around us. We live in a culture where louder is better. We get a little of God in us on Sunday and maybe a little midweek. The rest of the time we are constantly and usually bombarded with most of what is the opposite of Christ Jesus, opposite of His Word and His principles. If we continue on this path, we will soon have a generation that knows not the true God. Some of my close Christian friends are now swearing and using cuss words and they don't even realize it or care! Some believers are even using God’s name in vain, this really scares me!

Do not be deceived: "Bad company corrupts good morals."  1 Corinthians 15:33

Does not God's word exhort us to guard our minds? Does not what goes through our thinker govern the very essence of what we do? Is not stinking thinking at the root of our lives and nations demise? The devil is very aware of the battle for your mind; he is doing everything he can to steal away any truth you have and replace it with his lies.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.  Proverbs 4:23

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,  2 Corinthians 10:3-5

God’s chosen people were usually surrounded by heathens, foreigners, godless idol worshipping people. They were not fully isolated unto themselves. Many were mixed in with those who were the opposite of what Jehovah was calling them to be. The reason for this was to test their hearts to reveal their true commitment to their God. As we see, even the strongest and wisest can be pulled away from their God by the influence that surrounds them. King Solomon fell prey to this (he built most of these altars); however it took a thousand (mostly foreign) women to cause him to greatly sin against his God, serving and worshipping a multitude of false gods and idols. If the wisest man who walked on the face of the Earth (other than Jesus) fell prey to this, how much easier for us, when all we have to do now is push buttons or swipe and touch a screen in our hand to make it happen!!!

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the sons of Israel, "You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods." Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not follow the LORD fully, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. Thus also he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.  1 Kings 11:1-8

'You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you.  Leviticus 18:26 (NKJV)

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"?  But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.   James 4:4-10

"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the Lord. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  Jer 31:31-33

Finally, I exhort you brethren by the mercies of our Living God, REPENT! Do not offer your children into the merciless hands and arms of the evil one Satan anymore, by allowing their minds to be altered, deceived, stolen and destroyed by the media of television, internet, cell phones, video games, movies, music, radio, advertising etc.! Those who are entertained by them will become like them even to the point of imitating them, repeating their powerful words, memorizing, engrafting words and lyrics. The result, taking their souls to Hell to be burned, not just for one day but burned every day forever and ever in Hell! Do not let the media undo and destroy all that you and God are trying to do for them! This means also that you must stop serving these worthless idols yourself or suffer the same. The god of entertainment is a powerful stronghold that must be broken before it breaks you, your family, your loved ones! Are we not role models to our children for good or bad? Will we not be held accountable for their souls, as we are for our own? This is serious and cannot be ignored!

"And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'  Mark 9:42-48a (NIV)

Below you can see / study in much more depth (if you choose) about these surrogate, substitute gods that the Jews worshiped and served in conjunction with The true, Jehovah God.  Again these surrogate gods were counterfeit substitutes in character for the divine attributes of God!

This is currently the last chapter.

Further study on the Baals

BAAL:

Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim, or "lords." Each Baal had a wife, who was a colorless reflection of himself  (Eastons Bible Dictionary)

Hebrew Word: ba'al

Strong's Cross Reference: 1166

Definition: possess, own, rule over, marry. (ASV and RSV usually similar, though RSV prefers rule to ASV have dominion e.g. Isa 26:13

Derivative Definition: owner, husband, Baal. The verb with its derivatives, not counting its usage in compounds or as proper names, occurs more than one hundred times. A focus on the verb ba'al from the theological standpoint leads to a consideration of marriage terminology employed by God in defining his relationship to his people. "For your Maker is your husband (ba'al - hebrew), the Lord of hosts is his name" (Isa 54:5ff). In Jer the existing marriage relationship becomes a motivation for repentance: "For I am a husband unto you" (Jer 3:14, ASV; RSV renders "I am your master"). In the justly famous new covenant passage the former covenant is described as a broken covenant, a situation which is the more sobering and shocking because "I was a husband (ba'al) to them, says Jehovah" (Jer 31:32, ASV; RSV similar; cf. Mal 2:11).  (Strong’s / Vines)

MOLECH (moh’ lehk; king) Transliteration of Hebrew word related to word for “king” but describing a foreign god or a practice related to foreign worship. The meaning of “Molech” is debated. Two views generally are proposed. One suggestion is that “Molech” denotes a particular type of offering—a votive sacrifice made to confirm or fulfill a vow. This viewpoint is supported by the fact that some Carthaginian-Phoenician (Punic) inscriptions from the period 400-150 B.C. imply that the word mlk is a general form for “sacrifice” or “offering.” Such a meaning is possible in some passages (Lev. 18:21; 20:3-5; 2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 32:35).

A second suggestion is that “Molech” is the name of a pagan deity to whom human sacrifices were made. This deity often is associated with Ammon (compare 1 Kings 11:7—) “the abomination of the children of Ammon.” Leviticus 20:5 condemns those who “commit whoredom with Molech” (see also Lev. 18:21; 20:3-5; 2 Kings 23:10; Jer. 32:35). Some recent archaeological evidence points to child sacrifice in ancient Ammon. Many scholars contend that all the biblical texts referring to Molech can be understood by interpreting it as a divine name.  (Holman Bible Dictionary)

For Reference:

In times of apostasy some Israelites, apparently in desperation, made their children “go through the fire to Molech” (Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; 2 Kings 23:10; compare 2 Kings 17:31; Jer. 7:31; 19:5; 32:35). It generally is assumed that references like these are to the sacrifices of children in the Valley of Hinnom at a site known as Topheth (“Topheth” probably means “firepit” in Syriac). See Hinnom; Tepheth. Precisely how this was done is unknown. Some contend that the children were thrown into a raging fire. Certain rabbinic writers describe a hollow bronze statute in the form of a human but with the head of an ox. According to the rabbis, children were placed in the structure which was then heated from below. Drums were pounded to drown out the cries of the children.

An alternate view contends that the expression “passed through Molech” refers not to human sacrifices but that parents gave up their children to grow up as temple prostitutes. Such a view appeals to Leviticus 18 where throughout the chapter the writer is concerned with sexual intercourse (especially vv. 19-23). Another view sees an original fire ceremony dedicating, but not harming children, that later was transformed into a burnt-offering ceremony.

The practice of offering children as human sacrifice was condemned in ancient Israel, but the implication is clear in the Old Testament that child—sacrifice was practiced by some in Israel (2 Kings 21:6; 23:10; 2 Chron. 28:3; Ps. 106:38; Jer. 7:31; 19:4-5; Ezek. 16:21; 23:37,39). The Exile seems to have put an end to this type of worship in Israel. However, it lingered on in North Africa and among the Carthaginian Phoenicians into the Christian era. See Gods, False; Ashtoreth; Molech; Sacrifice, Child.  (Holman Bible Dictionary)

More about Molech and other Baal gods

The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM (Jdg 2:11; Jdg 10:10; 1Ki 18:18; Jer 2:23; Hos 2:17). Baal is identified with Molech (Jer 19:5). It was known to the Israelites as Baal-peor (Num 25:3; Deut 4:3), was worshipped till the time of Samuel (1Sa 7:4), and was afterwards the religion of the ten tribes in the time of Ahab (1Ki 16:31-33; 1Ki 18:19, 22). It prevailed also for a time in the kingdom of Judah (2Ki 8:27; Compare 2Ki 11:18; 2Ki 16:3; 2Ch 28:2), till finally put an end to by the severe discipline of the Captivity (Zep 1:4-6). The priests of Baal were in great numbers (1Ki 18:19), and of various classes (2Ki 10:19). Their mode of offering sacrifices is described in 1Ki 18:25-29. The sun-god, under the general title of Baal, or "lord," was the chief object of worship of the Canaanites. Each locality had its special Baal, and the various local Baals were summed up under the name of Baalim, or "lords." Each Baal had a wife, who was a colorless reflection of himself.

Definitions from Holman Bible Dictionary:

BAALIM (bay’ uh lim) Hebrew plural of Baal.

BAALAH (bay’ uh lah) Place name meaning, “wife, lady,”.” 1. City on northern border of tribe of Judah equated with Kirjath-jearim (Josh. 15:9-11). 

BAALATH (bay’ uh lath) Place name meaning, “feminine Baal.” City in original inheritance of tribe of Dan (Josh. 19:44). Same or different town which Solomon rebuilt (1 Kings 9:18).

BAALATH-BEER (bay’ uh lath-bee’ uhr) Place name meaning, “the baal of the well” or the “lady of the well.”

BAAL-BERITH (bay’ uhl-beerihth) In Judges 8:33, a Canaanite deity whom the Israelites began to worship following the death of Gideon. The name means “lord of covenant,” and the god’s temple was located at Shechem…The designation, “lord of covenant,” may mean that a covenant between the Israelites and the Shechemites was agreed to and annually renewed in his shrine. See Shechem.

BAALE (KJV), BAALE-JUDAH (NAS, NRSV) (Bale-judah) Place name meaning, “Baals of Judah” or “lords of Judah.” 2 Samuel 6:  (Holman Bible Dictionary)

BAAL-GAD (bay’ uhl-gad) Lord of fortune, or troop of Baal, a Canaanite city in the valley of Lebanon at the foot of Hermon, hence called Baal-hermon (Jdg 3:3; 1Ch 5:23) .

BAAL-HAMON (bay’ uhl-hay’ mohn) Place name meaning, “lord of abundance.” Location of Solomon’s vineyard according to Song of Solomon 8:11.

BAAL-HANAN (bay’ uhl-hay’ nan) Personal name meaning, “Baal was gracious.” 1. King of Edom prior to any king ruling in Israel (Gen. 36:38). 2.

BAAL-HERMON (bay’ uhl-huhr mahn) Place name meaning, “Baal of Hermon” or “lord of Hermon.” A mountain and village (Judg. 3:3).

BAAL-MEON (bay’ uhl-mee’ uhn) Place name meaning, “lord of the residence” or “Baal of the residence.” City tribe of Reuben built east of Jordan (Num. 32:36)

BAAL-PEOR (bay’ uhl-pee’ ohr) In Numbers 25:3, a Moabite deity that the Israelites worshiped when they had illicit sexual relations with Moabite women.

BAAL-PERAZIM (bay’ uhl-pehr’ uh zim) Place name meaning, “Lord of the breakthroughs” or “Baal of the breaches.”

BAAL-SHALISHAH (bay’ uhl-sshal’ ih’ sshah) Place name meaning, “Baal of Shalishah” or “lord of Shalishah.” Home of unnamed man who brought first fruits to Elisha, who used them to feed a hundred men (2 Kings 4:42-44).  (Holman Bible Dictionary) BAAL-TAMAR (bay’ uhl-tay’ mahr) Place name meaning, “Baal of the palm tree” or “lord of the palm tree.”  (Judg. 20:33).

Last daze Letter to the Body of Christ

Joseph G. Wellhoff / jgw / 1999 - 2016