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Monday, November 30, 2015

Edification; Weak Faith; Holy Day Observances; Builders

There are some people who would like to erase the difference between the old and new covenants. The problem we encounter is that Jesus’ blood changed everything. Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, and ascension changed all things. When one decides to erase those differences, that one minimizes Jesus’ sacrifice, and in turn that one must rely on rules and laws to appease a God that they actually don’t know. Paul tells us that the one who relies on rules and laws is weak in his faith, while the one who does not rely on rules and laws is strong in his faith. It seems the opposite is presented to the body of Christ; meaning that those who cling to rules and laws are somehow more spiritual than those who do not. That is exactly the opposite of what Paul wrote to us. In gaining a better perspective of this issue, we see that Paul was trying to help us to get along with other members of the body of Christ. He gives us some helpful ideas on the subject and suggests we edify one another. If one lives under the law, that one will always be critical and judgmental of others who do not live the way they do. Additionally, that person who lives under the law is weak in his faith.

Building up others is not a common practice in our society. Most people are torn down all day long. Edification means building, as in a building or edifice but also building people up or edifying one another. It is the practice of helping others to mature and not be weak. The mature strong believer should be someone who edifies others in the body of Christ. During the season we celebrate holidays with family and friends we sometimes struggle with other people. Some are weak in faith and some are strong in faith. Paul gives us some good ideas for not only getting along with others but living with a standard of love. Jesus gave us a new commandment, to love one another, and it is this idea that we see so little of when people who put themselves under the law encounter those who are free in Christ. Those who are mature and strong in faith will have to allow those who are weak to step on their toes so to speak. The people strong in faith will have to “bend” a little to accommodate the weak. Remember, this is the opposite of what is regularly promoted in the church today.

We have looked at all the insane religious practices that entered into Israel and how these ritual observances caused them to fall away from Yahweh. Even when Jesus came to show us the simplicity of love and relationship with Him, people had a hard time not performing religious rituals to make them look and feel close to Yahweh. From the time Jesus was crucified and then ascended, there was never any need for humans to practice ritual services. There is no temple and there is no temple observances required to be righteous. Instead, we have the perfect solution, a personal relationship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit within us. That stated, there are many who want to push others into observing laws and rituals regardless of the age we live in. Some people gain a lot of money by telling others all the special secret observances they are missing and how their lives would be better if they practiced these special secret observances. Those are the corrupt hirelings. But we have to look at the people who actually fall into this trap and understand they are weak because they do not have the proper personal relationship with Christ that they should. Paul enlightens us.   

Rom 14:1 AS FOR the man who is a weak believer, welcome him [into your fellowship], but not to criticize his opinions or pass judgment on his scruples or perplex him with discussions. 2 One [man's faith permits him to] believe he may eat anything, while a weaker one [limits his] eating to vegetables. 3 Let not him who eats look down on or despise him who abstains, and let not him who abstains criticize and pass judgment on him who eats; for God has accepted and welcomed him.

What we see here is Paul pointing out that there are people in many different stages of their faith. The weaker one’s faith is, the more rules and laws he lives by. The stronger one’s faith is, the less rules and laws he lives by. It is easy to see how we can have a wide range of people in different stages of their faith. We have to remember not to expect everyone to be in the same place spiritually. And we also have to remember that it is not up to us to force others to grow up.

Some people become perplexed by deep discussions, just as some people can not handle reading some of the intense subjects we have covered in this blog. Wisdom tells us who to discuss our Christian faith with and who not to. For example I probably would not explain to an octogenarian the ritual sexual practices of male and female prostitution that occurred in the inner courts of the temple because their Pollyanna belief system would be challenged. We would not want them to lose their faith over that. I could however, have that conversation with a Bible College Student, as it would give the student something to study that he/she probably won’t learn in school.

Paul then goes on to mention that we are not to criticize someone else’s’ servant. Some servants do things differently than others, again, speaking to the Roman church, Paul mentions that it is the Lord who will make one stand.      

Rom 14:4 Who are you to pass judgment on and censure another's household servant? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he shall stand and be upheld, for the Master (the Lord) is mighty to support him and make him stand.

Paul goes on to discuss other religious observances such as holidays. Observe the day in honor of the Lord, whether one eats or not. Some religious groups fast on holy days and some do not, either way do it unto the Lord.

Rom 14:5 One man esteems one day as better than another, while another man esteems all days alike [sacred]. Let everyone be fully convinced (satisfied) in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. He also who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while he who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. AMP

Most holidays are social and cultural observances. Under the new covenant we are not required to observe them, but we can if we would like. Let us be convinced in our own minds. Paul also tells the Colossians not to let anyone judge you on account of what he accomplished for you, freeing you from the law. 

Col 2:16-17 Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath. 17 Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ. AMP

There are many schools of thought on what Christians should do on holidays, the extreme view on each side and everything in between. Should we celebrate, should we not celebrate, really it is about what we are doing. Are we bowing in worship to someone or something else? Do we pray to Santa or Jesus? Are we enjoying a feast with family and friends? We all know that Jesus was not born on December 25th, and we recognize that the Romans combined many pagan holy days with Christian holy days to bring both religions together forming one new one. Therefore we have to think through the observance and who we are observing. There is no “right” answer. The weak in faith will be legalistic and not celebrate Christmas and not put up a tree or lights, and may even condemn others for doing so. The strong in faith will recognize Christmas as a time we can love others centered around Jesus (even if it isn’t his birthday) and spend time reconnecting with distant family and friends while enjoying the month of decorations. Back to Romans.

Rom 14:7 None of us lives to himself [but to the Lord], and none of us dies to himself [but to the Lord, for] 8 If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or we die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For Christ died and lived again for this very purpose, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Jesus is Lord of the living and the dead; remember he now has the keys to hell and death. No one gets past him. That was the first part of his plan to redeem humans, he set the dead captives free. His second part of the plan to redeem humans is to buy back all the people who believe on him on the day of redemption. Therefore, Paul warns us not to judge our brothers as to their weak faith or strong faith.

Rom 14:10 Why do you criticize and pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you look down upon or despise your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God [acknowledge Him to His honor and to His praise]. [Isa 45:23.] 12 And so each of us shall give an account of himself [give an answer in reference to judgment] to God. 13 Then let us no more criticize and blame and pass judgment on one another, but rather decide and endeavor never to put a stumbling block or an obstacle or a hindrance in the way of a brother.

Paul tells us not to criticize one another. We will stand before Jesus, not for how we criticized one another but for how we ourselves lived. Remember mercy, forgiveness, and judgment are weighed and balanced. The amount of mercy, forgiveness, or judgment we extend to others is the amount we receive. We have to decide not to put a stumbling block in front of anyone.

Rom 14:14 I know and am convinced (persuaded) as one in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is [forbidden as] essentially unclean (defiled and unholy in itself). But [none the less] it is unclean (defiled and unholy) to anyone who thinks it is unclean. 15 But if your brother is being pained or his feelings hurt or if he is being injured by what you eat, [then] you are no longer walking in love. [You have ceased to be living and conducting yourself by the standard of love toward him.] Do not let what you eat hurt or cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died!

If it is within our power to not hurt someone weak in their faith, we should take the opportunity to live a standard of love. If we are truly walking in love we will not pressure those who are weak in their faith to live the way we do. Consequently, a person weak in their faith may criticize us for seeming to live without many rules and laws, but being more mature, we are to simply love the weak believer.

Rom 14:16 Do not therefore let what seems good to you be considered an evil thing [by someone else]. [In other words, do not give occasion for others to criticize that which is justifiable for you.] 17 [After all] the kingdom of God is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes], but instead it is righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 He who serves Christ in this way is acceptable and pleasing to God and is approved by men. 19 So let us then definitely aim for and eagerly pursue what makes for harmony and for mutual upbuilding (edification and development) of one another. AMP

Let us aim for and eagerly pursue things that make for harmony and edification of one another. Those who are strong in their faith should be doing this every day. Tearing down others due to differences in lifestyle destroys the work of God and what God is doing in each individual person. 

Rom 14:20 You must not, for the sake of food, undo and break down and destroy the work of God! Everything is indeed [ceremonially] clean and pure, but it is wrong for anyone to hurt the conscience of others or to make them fall by what he eats. 21 The right thing is to eat no meat or drink no wine [at all], or [do anything else] if it makes your brother stumble or hurts his conscience or offends or weakens him. 22 Your personal convictions [on such matters] — exercise [them] as in God's presence, keeping them to yourself [striving only to know the truth and obey His will]. Blessed (happy, to be envied) is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves [who does not convict himself by what he chooses to do]. 23 But the man who has doubts (misgivings, an uneasy conscience) about eating, and then eats [perhaps because of you], stands condemned [before God], because he is not true to his convictions and he does not act from faith. For whatever does not originate and proceed from faith is sin [whatever is done without a conviction of its approval by God is sinful]. AMP

We have come full circle here. If one is mature in faith, that one can allow the weak to have their rules and laws. As they grow up in Christ by way of their individual relationship with Him, they will recognize the freedom they have in Christ. Since chapters and verses were not part of the original Greek text, Paul’s thoughts keep going into chapter 15 of Romans.

Rom 15:1-2 WE WHO are strong [in our convictions and of robust faith] ought to bear with the failings and the frailties and the tender scruples of the weak; [we ought to help carry the doubts and qualms of others] and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each one of us make it a practice to please (make happy) his neighbor for his good and for his true welfare, to edify him [to strengthen him and build him up spiritually]. AMP

The strong bear with the failings, frailties, and tender scruples of the weak. If we label this correctly as Paul has, then we will see more people set free. Weak faith has failings, frailties, and tender scruples. Meanwhile, the strong in faith have to allow the weak to have their laws. So the strong take the high road because of Jesus’ sacrifice. We can now make it a practice to edify one another.

Rom 15:3 For Christ did not please Himself [gave no thought to His own interests]; but, as it is written, The reproaches and abuses of those who reproached and abused you fell on Me. [Ps 69:9.] AMP

Therefore we have to understand that everything written before the days Christ came to earth were written for instruction to help people endure until he came. It was the hope of the Messiah they were looking toward.

Rom 15:4 For whatever was thus written in former days was written for our instruction, that by [our steadfast and patient] endurance and the encouragement [drawn] from the Scriptures we might hold fast to and cherish hope.

Now that Jesus came and ascended, we live with encouragement from the New Covenant Scriptures. The ideas and instructions that Jesus gave us, as well as the Apostles who wrote for us to learn from are what we use to learn and grow. Think about that, the former scriptures were for instructions to keep people steadfast and patient in the hope of the coming Messiah. Once the Messiah came the “rules and laws” changed.

Rom 15:5 Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 That together you may [unanimously] with united hearts and one voice, praise and glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah). 7 Welcome and receive [to your hearts] one another, then, even as Christ has welcomed and received you, for the glory of God. AMP

Here are some thoughts on building others up. Love edifies.

1 Cor 8:1-2 NOW ABOUT food offered to idols: of course we know that all of us possess knowledge [concerning these matters. Yet mere] knowledge causes people to be puffed up (to bear themselves loftily and be proud), but love (affection and goodwill and benevolence) edifies and builds up and encourages one to grow [to his full stature]. 2 If anyone imagines that he has come to know and understand much [of divine things, without love], he does not yet perceive and recognize and understand as strongly and clearly, nor has he become as intimately acquainted with anything as he ought or as is necessary. AMP

Not all things are constructive to our character or edifying to our spiritual life.

1 Cor 10:23-24 All things are legitimate [permissible — and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. 24 Let no one then seek his own good and advantage and profit, but [rather] each one of the other [let him seek the welfare of his neighbor]. AMP

Those who speak in tongues edify themselves and those who prophesy edify the church.

1 Cor 14:4 He who speaks in a [strange] tongue edifies and improves himself, but he who prophesies [interpreting the divine will and purpose and teaching with inspiration] edifies and improves the church and promotes growth [in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, and happiness]. AMP

Since we are ambitious for the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are to strive to find ways to build up the church.

1 Cor 14:12 So it is with yourselves; since you are so eager and ambitious to possess spiritual endowments and manifestations of the [Holy] Spirit, [concentrate on] striving to excel and to abound [in them] in ways that will build up the church. AMP

The gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelist’s, pastors, and teachers are given to edify the body of Christ.

Eph 4:11-13 And His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers. 12 His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church), 13 [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. AMP

The body of Christ builds itself up in love.

Eph 4:15-16 Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 16 For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love. AMP

We speak what is good and beneficial to the spiritual growth of others. 

Eph 4:29-30 Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God's favor) to those who hear it. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God's own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin). AMP

We are to encourage each other with the knowledge that we are not appointed to wrath because we have obtained salvation.

1 Thess 5:9-11 For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) 10 Who died for us so that whether we are still alive or are dead [at Christ's appearing], we might live together with Him and share His life. 11 Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing. AMP


The mature in faith should continue to build people up no matter their weakness and legal religious observances. This is a principal we are to live by without making it a law. We are to allow others to be where they are in the spectrum of maturity, while encouraging them. If someone we are socializing with starts to become a hammer for the law, beating everyone who doesn’t do what they do, we now have the correct perspective that that legalist is immature and weak in faith. Instead of being sucked into their behavior of beating others down, we can step out, above it and not partake in the tirade. Likewise, we must be wise in who we share deep knowledge and information with so as not to destroy their faith. In all things however we are to be builders and edifiers of the Body of Christ.

Monday, November 23, 2015

The Mixed Nation; Widows, Orphans, Strangers; Pure Religion

We live in such a confusing time and it seems as if there is no intelligence in senseless murderous acts.   We are burdened with the knowledge that there is a religious group that intentionally wishes to inflict harm on people who do not share in their own beliefs. While it is unfortunate that innocent people are murdered and many are left in distress, we recognize that we should not respond out of fear or intimidation. Technically, the free world is at war with a group of people who believe that their way of life is to be forced on everyone else. There are causalities due to this war. We bury our dead, but there are other losses too. The living causalities are orphans and widows. What do we do? How do we respond to their need?

The Bible tells us to take care of widows, orphans, and strangers. Widows are “older females” only; men are not considered widows even if a man’s wife dies. Orphans are “young children that lose their father”. Another word for orphan is fatherless. Because women and children held such a low position in ancient cultures, these two groups needed the community to care for them. Another group of people that needed community care were known as strangers. These people are also known as “travelers or sojourners in a foreign land”. In the Bible we see many people who traveled and were welcomed into someone’s house. This should have been a cultural norm, but the culture became corrupt regarding travelers. This is easy to understand if we remember the sins of Sodom. Their inhospitality to people traveling was noted by Yahweh, as well as their backward judgments and harsh treatment of the poor.     

As we look at these groups and our obligations to each, we have to recognize that Israel lost its pure ancestry after they entered the Promised Land. This is not what we are told in our modern church groups, but we can certainly trace the mixing of the people from the Bible. Shortly after Joshua’s death, the Israelites started mixing in marriages with the people that were left in the Promised Land. This tells us that there are no uncontaminated descendants of the twelve tribes even though after the captivity people tried to restore Jacob’s lineage. With that in mind, we will look at the mixing of the Israeli’s and then consider the widows and orphans.

Judg 3:5-8 And the Israelites dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites; 6 And they married their daughters and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. [Ex 34:12-16.] 7 And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. [Judg 2:13.] 8 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Chushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the Israelites served Chushan-rishathaim eight years. AMP

We may have been told that there are some pure Israelites from Jacob’s line, and also some lost tribes, but neither of those ideas appear to be true according to the Bible. All the tribes were mixed and all the tribes were scattered numerous times. The evil part however was not the mixing among the other nations but the serving of other gods. The Israelites should have stayed true to Yahweh who delivered them out of Egypt.

Judg 12:8-9 And after him Ibzan of Bethlehem judged Israel. 9 And he had thirty sons and thirty daughters whom he gave [to husbands] outside his tribe, and thirty daughters [daughters-in-law] whom he brought in from outside his tribe for his sons. And he judged Israel seven years. AMP

Again the leaders of Israel, in this case one of Israel’s judges, did not mind mixing his children among the other nations. The word tribe here is incorrect as the word actually means “from outside” Israel or “from abroad”. How many wives do you suppose this judge had? If he had 60 children, he must have had at least 6 wives. If both polygamy and mixing with other nations was culturally acceptable at this point in time we have to adjust our mindset accordingly, recognizing that the kindergarten version of Israel’s history we have been fed is not quite right.   

Remember the story of the Benjamites who wanted to rape a Levite who was passing through their land? Instead, the Levite threw his wife out to the Benjamites who raped her all night long and left her for dead on the porch of the home the Levite was staying for the night. Obviously, the Benjamites were not practicing hospitality to strangers. The Levite chopped up her body and sent pieces out to the other tribes to gather them against the Benjamites. Once they fought the Benjamites there weren’t enough women to sustain the tribe. Here is the solution.

Judg 21:12-25 And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins, who had known no man by lying with him; and they brought them to the camp at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan. 13 And the whole congregation sent word to the Benjamites who were at the rock of Rimmon and invited them to be friendly with them. 14 And Benjamin returned at that time, and they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead; and yet there were not enough for them. 15 And the people had compassion on Benjamin, because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel. 16 Then the elders of the congregation said, What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women of Benjamin are destroyed? 17 And they said, There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe shall not be wiped out of Israel. 18 But we cannot give them wives of our daughters, for the Israelites have sworn, Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin. 19 So they said, Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem and south of Lebonah. 20 So they commanded the Benjamites, Go and lie in wait in the vineyards, 21 And watch; if the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and catch every man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh and go to the land of Benjamin. 22 And when their fathers or their brothers come to us to complain, we will say to them, Grant them graciously unto us, because we did not reserve a wife for each of them in battle, neither did you give wives to them, for that would have made you guilty [of breaking your oath]. 23 And the Benjamites did so and took wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off; then they went and returned to their inheritance and repaired the towns and dwelt in them. 24 And the Israelites left there then, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance. 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. AMP

By this time in history the tribe of Benjamin became well mixed. King Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin, as well as the Apostle Paul. It is important to recognize that the Israelites didn’t all simply live in one place. As we see from the Book of Ruth the people moved around and when they were in other places they married the people of that land. That is normal as we do the same things today.

Ruth 1:1-4 IN THE days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem of Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, his wife, and his two sons. 2 The man's name was Elimelech and his wife's name was Naomi and his two sons were named Mahlon [invalid] and Chilion [pining]; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. They went to the country of Moab and continued there. 3 But Elimelech, who Naomi's husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 And they took wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They dwelt there about ten years; AMP

The Northern Kingdom people had been mixed and resettled throughout Assyria. Some came back into the land mixed, and they resettled in the northern territories and Samaria. But when the people of the Southern Kingdom came back into the land after Cyrus conquered Babylon, Ezra attempted to weed out all the foreign wives.

Ezra 9:1-2 AFTERWARD, THE officials came to me and said, The Israelites and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, but have committed the abominations of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. 2 For they have taken as wives some of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy offspring have mixed themselves with the peoples of the lands. Indeed, the officials and chief men have been foremost in this wicked act and direct violation [of God's will]. [Deut 7:3,4.] AMP

Ezra 10:3 Therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God; and let it be done according to the Law. AMP

It seems that all of a sudden the Israelites were concerned about being mixed with the other nations. The leaders and Levites had foreign wives. Since the captivity lasted seventy years it again is normal to have simply lived and married where they were. About six hundred thousand people went into captivity, but only one hundred and fifty thousand went back to Judah. That means there were a lot of people left behind who stayed and mixed in with the Babylonians and Assyrians. But at this time period, one could become a Jew by conversion, not only by birth. Therefore, we have to understand that in this context. Yet even so, Ezra and Nehemiah were attempting to re-establish the nation and build the temple and they truly wanted to do everything as they had been told. The problem by this time is that there had already been so much mixing, moving around, and bringing in people from other nations, that starting from the time of the second temple establishing a “pure” line is already an impossibility.

The curious thing about telling the Israelite men to put away their foreign wives is that Ezra made divorcees out of all of them. And one’s lineage is traced from the mother’s line not the father’s line, so what can they do regarding all the previous mixed marriages? Additionally, Moses himself had married a Midianite woman and their son Gershom was a Levite. Gershom’s son Jonathan was also a Levite as we saw a few weeks ago. Yet the Midianites were descendants of Abraham. Abraham had eight sons, Ishmael and his family populated the Assyrian region, and Abraham’s other six sons by the Canaanite women Keturah populated the Arabian Peninsula and Ethiopia. If the Israelites were marrying people other than Jacob’s heirs, they may very well have been marrying people of Abraham’s ancestry. We could go back even further to Shem’s descendants as well if we wanted to make a case for further mixing.

We see the problem of people who attempt to keep a purist idea of a clean pedigree; and this then poses another problem. When people end up poor, or widows, or orphans, from regions in the Middle East we may very well be dealing with people who are descendants of Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. We are encouraged by James to care for widows and orphans so we need to explore what our obligations are regardless of heredity.

James 1:27 External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world. AMP

The word religion here is ceremonial worship. Think that through, ceremonial worship isn’t singing songs, lighting candles, going to church, or even tending to the stations in the temple. Ceremonial worship that is pure, unstained, and uncontaminated is to relieve orphans and widows in their tribulations and distress. Many times religion tells us we have to follow certain rituals, but true religion is tending to orphans and widows.

This is not a small matter as the Bible repeatedly tells us to care for widows and orphans as well as the poor and the stranger because, as Moses wrote, the Israelites were strangers in Egypt.

Ex 22:21-24 You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.  22 You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.  23 If you afflict them in any way and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry;  24 And My wrath shall burn; I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows and your children fatherless.  AMP

Deut 10:17-19 For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, the terrible God, Who is not partial and takes no bribe. 18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger or temporary resident and gives him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the stranger and sojourner, for you were strangers and sojourners in the land of Egypt. AMP

These are some important ideas as Yahweh is compassionate towards the orphans, widows, and strangers. A sojourner could come to know Yahweh passing through the land of Israel, and that traveler’s heart would be warmed by the kindness and hospitality of the Israeli’s. There was even a provision in the tithe for the sojourner, the orphan and widow, along with the Levite. 

Deut 14:28-29 At the end of every three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite [because he has no part or inheritance with you] and the stranger or temporary resident, and the fatherless and the widow who are in your towns shall come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. AMP

Deut 26:12-15 When you have finished paying all the tithe of your produce the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger and the sojourner, the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your towns and be filled, 13 Then you shall say before the Lord your God, I have brought the hallowed things (the tithe) out of my house and moreover have given them to the Levite, to the stranger and the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I have not transgressed any of Your commandments, neither have I forgotten them. 14 I have not eaten of the tithe in my mourning [making the tithe unclean], nor have I handled any of it when I was unclean, nor given any of it to the dead. I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15 Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us as You swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. AMP

By the time of the Judges, we see that Levites had to work in other places to survive. Therefore we have to recognize that this part of the law was not working properly once Joshua died. In practice today a portion of our tithes and offerings to our churches should go to the stranger, widow, and orphan. But so often in our churches the people who give do not have control over where their offerings go once the church receives the money. Yahweh pronounces a curse on those who try to pervert justice regarding the orphan, widow, and stranger.

Deut 27:19 Cursed is he who perverts the justice due to the sojourner or the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. All the people shall say, Amen. AMP

Yahweh is a father to the fatherless and a judge and protector of widows.

Ps 68:4-6 Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him Who rides through the deserts — His name is the Lord — be in high spirits and glory before Him! 5 A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation. 6 God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land AMP

Ps 146:9 The Lord protects and preserves the strangers and temporary residents, He upholds the fatherless and the widow and sets them upright, but the way of the wicked He makes crooked (turns upside down and brings to ruin). AMP

David, in Psalm 94, targets the bad behavior of the wicked towards the orphan and widow.

Ps 94:3-8 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph and exult? 4 They pour out arrogant words, speaking hard things; all the evildoers boast loftily. [Jude; 15.] 5 They crush Your people, O Lord, and afflict Your heritage. 6 They slay the widow and the transient stranger and murder the unprotected orphan. 7 Yet they say, The Lord does not see, neither does the God of Jacob notice it. 8 Consider and understand, you stupid ones among the people! And you [self-confident] fools, when will you become wise? AMP

During the time of the captivity in Babylon, Ezekiel writes regarding the princes of Israel and their wrong treatment of the orphans and widows.

Ezek 22:6-7 Behold, the princes of Israel in you, every one according to his power, have been intending to shed blood. 7 In you have they treated father and mother lightly; in the midst of you they have dealt unjustly and by oppression in relation to the stranger; in you they have wronged the fatherless and the widow. AMP

Clearly, Moses wrote that the widow, orphan, and sojourner should be cared for; but David and Ezekiel write that the widows and orphans were being oppressed. It seems that by the time of David, the community aspect of helping the widows and orphans had been lost. And this breakdown continued through to the captivity. Again, 2 Ezra gives us more instruction. 

2 Esd 2:20-24 Do right to the widow, judge for the fatherless, give to the poor, defend the orphan, clothe the naked,21 Heal the broken and the weak, laugh not a lame man to scorn, defend the maimed, and let the blind man come into the sight of my clearness.22 Keep the old and young within thy walls.23 Wheresoever thou findest the dead, take them and bury them, and I will give thee the first place in my resurrection.24 Abide still, O my people, and take thy rest, for thy quietness still come. KJV

Even with the reminders of how to treat the orphan, widows, and strangers, by the time of the first century, the Scribes and Pharisees were treating widows poorly.

Matt 23:13-14 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces; for you neither enter yourselves, nor do you allow those who are about to go in to do so. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you swallow up widows' houses and for a pretense to cover it up make long prayers; therefore you will receive the greater condemnation and the heavier sentence. AMP

The Scribes and Pharisees were forcibly appropriating widow’s houses. Who seizes a widow’s house, and for what purpose? We are not talking about government officials, we are speaking about religious leaders taking widows’ houses. We usually just read these words without understanding what was happening. Quite literally, the religious leaders were taking the homes of widows. This shows us that widows were not cared for, but instead were victimized by the religious leaders.

Mark 12:38-40 And in [the course of] His teaching, He said, Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and [to get] greetings in the marketplaces [public forums], 39 And [have] the front seats in the synagogues and the chief couches (places of honor) at feasts, 40 Who devour widows' houses and to cover it up make long prayers. They will receive the heavier [sentence of] condemnation. AMP

Let’s note this again.

Luke 20:46-47 Beware of the scribes, who like to walk about in long robes and love to be saluted [with honor] in places where people congregate and love the front and best seats in the synagogues and places of distinction at feasts, 47 Who make away with and devour widows' houses, and [to cover it up] with pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation (the heavier sentence, the severer punishment). AMP

Luke 20:47 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be severely punished." Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

There is a clue here in Mark and Luke as to why the Scribes and Pharisees were confiscating widow’s houses. They loved riches. Other places in the Bible use the term effeminate for those who “love fancy clothes and jewels”, and these religious leaders were enjoying material things. The religious leaders, who were pious and effeminate were taking the property of widows, and Jesus called them out. These people will receive greater condemnation for their shameful behavior.

Remember how Moses wrote that the tithe was to sustain the Levites as well as the sojourner, the orphan and the widows? Then we noted that by the time of the Judges there was a breakdown in support for those who the tithe was to go to. But by the time of the second temple, Ezra was attempting to keep the laws. But four hundred years later, the religious leaders were rich and stealing from widows. Apparently either the widows were not paying enough of their tithe, or once a woman’s husband died the religious leaders took their property as women were not regarded any more than dogs. Either way, the religious leaders were rich and stealing from the widows.

Luke 21:1-4 LOOKING UP, [Jesus] saw the rich people putting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And He saw also a poor widow putting in two mites (copper coins). 3 And He said, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; 4 For they all gave out of their abundance (their surplus); but she has contributed out of her lack and her want, putting in all that she had on which to live. AMP

It seems very wrong for the religious leaders to have such abundance and to demand offerings from the widows. The rich were giving out of their abundance, but the widow in Jesus’ story gave what she needed to live on. With this being the attitude of the religious leaders we see how far from the Torah they had strayed. What is more contemptible than a rich religious leader living off of the necessity of a widow or orphan? Another ridiculous thing that was going on is that the Greek speaking Jewish widows were not being cared for. If we remember, Israeli people moved to various nations, Israeli people went into captivity, Israeli people were mixed among all the nations, so just because some Israeli people had lived in a place where Greek was the language, their widows should not have been neglected. 

Acts 6:1-8 NOW ABOUT this time, when the number of the disciples was greatly increasing, complaint was made by the Hellenists (the Greek-speaking Jews) against the [native] Hebrews because their widows were being overlooked and neglected in the daily ministration (distribution of relief). 2 So the Twelve [apostles] convened the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not seemly or desirable or right that we should have to give up or neglect [preaching] the Word of God in order to attend to serving at tables and superintending the distribution of food. 3 Therefore select out from among yourselves, brethren, seven men of good and attested character and repute, full of the [Holy] Spirit and wisdom, whom we may assign to look after this business and duty. 4 But we will continue to devote ourselves steadfastly to prayer and the ministry of the Word. 5 And the suggestion pleased the whole assembly, and they selected Stephen, a man full of faith (a strong and welcome belief that Jesus is the Messiah) and full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte (convert) from Antioch. 6 These they presented to the apostles, who after prayer laid their hands on them. 7 And the message of God kept on spreading, and the number of disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem; and [besides] a large number of the priests were obedient to the faith [in Jesus as the Messiah, through Whom is obtained eternal salvation in the kingdom of God]. 8 Now Stephen, full of grace (divine blessing and favor) and power (strength and ability) worked great wonders and signs (miracles) among the people. AMP

The Apostles chose seven men to serve widows in Jerusalem. This is the way the first century church handled the needs that the widows had. This is pure religion. Because the Israeli’s mingled with other nations no one knows who is who, and as we see the Greek speaking Jewish widows were not helped by the native Jews from Jerusalem. That is unfortunate, as Exodus 22:22 clearly says not to mistreat widows, orphans, and strangers or else the Israelites would suffer the same fate. In 70 AD the temple was destroyed and those who remembered Jesus’ words fled the city. Again, another historical time of Jews intermingling with the surrounding nations. Who are the widows, orphans, and strangers? Could they have been of the ancestry of one of the sons of Jacob? Could they be Abraham’s heirs?

There wasn’t supposed to be any discrimination as to who to help because the stranger/traveler/sojourner was included among the widows and orphans. Here is the catch to helping foreigners who move into the land, they are not to usurp the religion or government of the land they travel to. We see in Judges how the nations that were left in the Promised Land continued to practice their own religion. Eventually their influence persuaded the Israelites to follow their religion, however the reason Jacob’s sons were chosen was to teach the nations about Yahweh. Instead, the Israelites followed after other practices as we have studied, such as child sacrifice, male and female prostitution in the temple, worshipping of the stars, the cherubim, and other gods. When a stranger comes into the land, the people were to care for them, and teach them about Yahweh. They were to be hospitable, because remember one could convert to Judaism.


Today we face a situation where a nation that is predominantly occupied by Christians is being asked to care for widows, orphans, and strangers. It is no wonder that people are passionate on all sides of the issue, as many of the strangers are of a particular religion that promotes world domination. The key here is not to allow the strangers and sojourners to usurp the nations’ predominate religion or government, but in our day and time rather, to teach the traveler about Jesus. Caring for the widows and orphans while sharing the cross of Christ is not an attempt to impose Christian beliefs on others but it is the actual reason Christians do care for the widows, orphans, and strangers. This also does not mean that able bodied men should live on government subsidies, only the female widow and the young child are recognized in that category. The stranger is allowed hospitality, but able bodied individuals were never subsidized their whole lives. If the traveler stayed in the land, he was obliged to become a productive member of society and in turn care for widows, orphans, and strangers. Keeping in mind once again, widows being older females and orphans being a child without a father, we can make sense of what we are asked to do. If we care for the widows and orphans we will be practicing pure undefiled ceremonial worship.   

Monday, November 16, 2015

Dark Mirrors; Child Sacrifice; the Complete Sacrifice

We have looked at the detestable observances Josiah had to clean up in the temple. We have detected many crazy and unusual practices, such as male and female prostitution, incense burned to idols, the worship of the Cherubim and the stars. Another practice that regularly showed up in Israel is child sacrifice and the worship of Moloch. We have a hard time adjusting our thinking as we have only heard the happy version of Israel’s history but when we read the Bible we find some very interesting facts that we have not been taught. In part we have a fragmented knowledge that is like looking into a dark mirror at a puzzle, but as we put a historical time line together we start to see that Jacob’s sons have always had a hard time staying faithful to Yahweh. There is a prophetic relationship to this child sacrifice which we will also explore. The ritual practice of child sacrifice is horrific and still happens in our time, even though the cultic ceremonies have mostly gone underground and have fallen out of popularity.

1 Cor 13:9-13 For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). 10 But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded). 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside. 12 For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God]. 13 And so faith, hope, love abide [faith — conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope — joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love — true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love AMP

We should keep in mind that our walk should be “in love” when we read history. We did not live at that time period and we did not have to experience the pressures the people of Israel did, and we do not know how we would have behaved in the same situation. One thing we have been led to believe is that idolatrous worship started under some of the kings, but what we see is that Amos tells us that the children of Israel worshiped Moloch in the wilderness. We have studied this section previously. http://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2014/11/lucifer-worship-of-cherubim-star-gospel.html

Amos 5:25-27 Did you bring to Me sacrifices and cereal offerings during those forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 26 [No] but [instead of bringing Me the appointed sacrifices] you carried about the tent of your king Sakkuth and Kaiwan [names for the gods of the planet Saturn], your images of your star-god which you made for yourselves [and you will do so again]. 27 Therefore I will cause you to go into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. [Acts 7:42,43.] AMP

If this is a surprise it is only because we haven’t noticed it before. While idol worship in the wilderness might be a surprise, we see several more surprises. Samuel records, in the book of Judges, that the children of Israel didn’t do what they were told so the Angel of the Lord did not drive out the people that lived in the land of Canaan. During Joshua’s time leading Israel, many nations were conquered but some were left behind.

Judg 2:1-4 NOW THE Angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, I brought you up from Egypt and have brought you to the land which I swore to give to your fathers, and I said, I will never break My covenant with you; [Ex 20:2.] 2 And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; but you shall break down their altars. But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? 3 So now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you. 4 When the Angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the Israelites, the people lifted up their voice and wept. AMP

That generation of people under Joshua’s leadership died, but the next generation of Israelites behaved worse than their fathers.

Judg 2:10-15 And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers, and there arose another generation after them who did not know (recognize, understand) the Lord, or even the work which He had done for Israel. 11 And the people of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods of the peoples round about them and bowed down to them, and provoked the Lord to anger. 13 And they forsook the Lord and served Baal [the god worshiped by the Canaanites] and the Ashtaroth [female deities such as Ashtoreth and Asherah]. 14 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He gave them into the power of plunderers who robbed them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could no longer stand before their foes. 15 Whenever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them; and they were bitterly distressed. [Lev 26:14-46.] AMP

This generation of people did not recognize the Lord and they practiced religious observations to false gods. They also intermarried. We seem to think that The Israelites stayed pure and everyone has a pure genetic lineage but shortly after Joshua died the mixed marriages started. This is only one of a number of recorded mixings of the Jews with the surrounding people.

Judg 3:2-7It was only that the generations of the Israelites might know and be taught war, at least those who previously knew nothing of it. 3 The remaining nations are: the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who dwelt on Mount Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to the entrance of Hamath. 4 They were for the testing and proving of Israel to know whether Israel would listen and obey the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded their fathers by Moses. 5 And the Israelites dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites; 6 And they married their daughters and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods. [Ex 34:12-16.] 7 And the Israelites did evil in the sight of the Lord and forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. [Judg 2:13.] AMP

If we recognize that Israel was a mixed nation at this point in history we will recognize the reason for Yahweh’s sarcasm in Judges 10. One could become a Jew by conversion and that was perfectly acceptable, but lineage is from the mother’s line. Therefore it does not matter what the father’s heritage is, only the mother’s heritage establishes a true Jew. Yahweh reminds the people what he did for them.   

Judg 10:11-14 And the Lord said to the Israelites, Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? 12 Also when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites oppressed and crushed you, you cried to Me, and I delivered you out of their hands. 13 Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will deliver you no more. 14 Go, cry to the gods you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress. AMP

Obviously there was never a “happy time” of entering the Promised Land. There were constant struggles. By the time Josiah became King and wanted to hold a Passover, Josiah had to deal with so many evil practices in Judah. One of those practices was child sacrifice.

2 Kings 23:10 And Josiah defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom], that no man might ever burn there his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech. [Ezek 16:21.]  AMP

The Valley of Hinnom became a garbage dump with a perpetual fire. By the time of the first century, the people related Hinnom’s ever burning fires to Hades. It became a great visual for people to understand. But let’s go back in history before the captivity into Babylon. Jeremiah records what Yahweh wanted the sons of Jacob to do. He notes that from the time they came out of Egypt to the time Jeremiah was recording this, the people did not listen to Yahweh’s servants or prophets.

Jer 7:21-29 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the flesh [if you will. It will avail you nothing]. 22 For in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to your fathers or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices. 23 But this thing I did command them: Listen to and obey My voice, and I will be your God and you will be My people; and walk in the whole way that I command you, that it may be well with you. 24 But they would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ear [to Me], but followed the counsels and the stubborn promptings of their own evil hearts and minds, and they turned their backs and went in reverse instead of forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt to this day, I have persistently sent to you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, early and late. 26 Yet the people would not listen to and obey Me or bend their ears [to Me], but stiffened their necks and behaved worse than their fathers. 27 Speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to and obey you; also call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 Yet you shall say to them, This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or receive instruction and correction and warning; truth and faithfulness have perished and have completely vanished from their mouths. 29 Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights, for the Lord has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.

Yahweh points out that Israel’s abominations were done in His house and that they also built a high place in the Valley of Hinnom.

Jer 7:30 For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight, says the Lord; they have set their abominations (extremely disgusting and shamefully vile things) in the house which is called by My Name to defile it. 31 And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom], to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire [in honor of Molech, the fire god] — which I did not command, nor did it come into My mind or heart. [Lev 18:21; Josh 15:8; 2 Kings 16:2-3; 21:1,6; Isa 30:33.] 32 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it shall no more be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom], but the Valley of Slaughter, for [in bloody warfare] they will bury in Topheth till there is no more room and no place else to bury. [Jer 19:6.] 33 And the dead bodies of this people will be meat for the fowls of the air and for the beasts of the earth, and none will frighten them away. AMP

Eventually the place known as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom will be a burial place due to war, and the birds will eat the dead. The sacrificing of children was not Yahweh’s idea but a practice of the nations to appease their many gods. Yahweh says they have filled Hinnom with the blood of innocents.

Jer 19:1-4 THUS SAYS the Lord: Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take some of the old people and some of the elderly priests 2 And go out to the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom], which is by the entrance of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I shall tell you, 3 And say, Hear the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am going to bring such evil upon this place that the ears of whoever hears of it will tingle. 4 Because the people have forsaken Me and have estranged and profaned this place [Jerusalem] by burning incense in it to other gods that neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah ever knew, and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents AMP

A second time Yahweh notes the Valley of Hinnom will be called the Valley of Slaughter.

Jer 19:5-6 And have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I commanded not nor spoke of it, nor did it come into My mind and heart —  6 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when this place shall no more be called Topheth or the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom], but the Valley of Slaughter. [Jer 7:31-32.] AMP

Jeremiah prophesies in Topheth (the Valley of Hinnom) and then prophesies in Jerusalem in the temple court.

Jer 19:7-15 And I will pour out and make void the counsel and the plans of [the men of] Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause their people to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives, and their dead bodies I will give to be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth. 8 And I will make this city an astonishment and a horror and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and will hiss [in scorn] because of all its plagues and disasters. 9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and their daughters, and they shall eat each one the flesh of his neighbor and friend in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their lives distress them. 10 Then you shall break the bottle in the sight of the men who accompany you, 11 And say to them, Thus said the Lord of hosts: Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaks a potter's vessel, so that it cannot be mended. Men will bury in Topheth because there will be no other place for burial and until there is no more room to bury. 12 Thus will I do to this place, says the Lord, and to its inhabitants; and I will even make this city like Topheth. 13 And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah, which are defiled, shall be like the place of Topheth — even all the houses upon whose roofs incense has been burned to all the host of the heavens and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods. [Acts 7:42,43.] 14 Then came Jeremiah from Topheth, where the Lord had sent him to prophesy, and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people, 15 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks, refusing to hear My words. AMP

The superstition of appeasing a god by a blood sacrifice, especially the blood of a first born son, seemed to permeate Israel at the time they entered the Promised Land. But Moses had told the Israelites not to do this during their forty years in the wilderness.  

Lev 18:21 You shall not give any of your children to pass through the fire and sacrifice them to Molech [the fire god], nor shall you profane the name of your God [by giving it to false gods]. I am the Lord.  AMP

Not only was the person making the child sacrifice going to be cut off from the people, anyone who neglects to do anything about someone making a child sacrifice will be cut off from the people.

Lev 20:1-6 AND THE Lord said to Moses,  2 Moreover, you shall say to the Israelites, Any one of the Israelites or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech [the fire god worshiped with human sacrifices] shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones.  3 I also will set My face against that man [opposing him, withdrawing My protection from him, and excluding him from My covenant] and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his children to Molech, defiling My sanctuary and profaning My holy name.  4 And if the people of the land do at all hide their eyes from the man when he gives one of his children [as a burnt offering] to Molech [the fire god] and they overlook it or neglect to take legal action to punish him, winking at his sin, and do not kill him [as My law requires],  5 Then I will set My face against that man and against his family and will cut him off from among their people, him and all who follow him to [unfaithfulness to Me, and thus] play the harlot after Molech.  6 The person who turns to those who have familiar spirits and to wizards, [being unfaithful to Israel's Maker Who is her Husband, and thus] playing the harlot after them, I will set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people [that he may not be included in the atonement made for them]. [Isa 54:5.]AMP

As we know, Solomon built a high place for Molech.

1 Kings 11:7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abominable idol of Moab, on the hill opposite Jerusalem, and for Molech the abominable idol of the Ammonites. AMP

Therefore, Judah went into captivity in Babylon.

Jer 32:28-35 Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 29 And the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come in and set this city on fire and burn it, along with the houses on whose roofs incense has been offered to Baal and drink offerings have been poured out to other gods to provoke Me to anger. [Jer 19:13.] 30 For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth; for the children of Israel have only provoked Me to anger with the work of their hands [the idols], says the Lord. 31 For this city has been to Me a [such a] provocation of My anger and My wrath from the day that they [finished] building it [in the time of Solomon, who was the first Israelite king who turned to idolatry] even to this day that I must remove it from before My face —  [1 Kings 11:1-13.] 32 Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah which they have done to provoke Me to anger — they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 And they have turned their backs to Me and not their faces; though I taught them persistently, yet they would not listen and receive instruction. 34 But they set their abominations [of idol worship] in the house which is called by My Name to defile it. 35 And they built the high places [for worship] of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom] to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire [in worship also of and] to Molech — which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind or heart that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. [Jer 7:30-31.AMP

Again we note that this was a problem from Israel’s youth. As we saw from Amos, carrying the tents of Moloch in the wilderness happened during Israel’s youth. Ahaz was a king of Judah and he sacrificed his sons in the fire.

2 Kings 16:2-3 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began his sixteen-year reign in Jerusalem. He did not do right in the sight of the Lord his God, like David his [forefather]. 3 But he walked in the ways of Israel's kings, yes, and made his son pass through the fire [and offered him as a sacrifice], in accord with the abominable [idolatrous] practices of the [heathen] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. AMP

2 Chron 28:1-5 AHAZ WAS twenty years old when he began his sixteen-year reign in Jerusalem. He did not do right in the sight of the Lord, like David his father [forefather]. 2 But he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel and even made molten images for the Baals. 3 And he burned incense in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom] and burned his sons as an offering, after the abominable customs of the [heathen] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. 5 Therefore the Lord his God gave Ahaz into the power of the king of Syria, who defeated him and carried away a great multitude of the Jews as captives, taking them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, who smote Judah with a great slaughter. AMP

During the same time period Ahaz was in Jerusalem (in the Southern Kingdom) Hoshea was doing the same awful things in the Northern Kingdom.  

2 Kings 17:1-18 IN THE twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah began his nine-year reign in Samaria over Israel. 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not as Israel's kings before him did. 3 Against him came up Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and Hoshea became his servant and brought him tribute. 4 But the king of Assyria found treachery in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt and offered no tribute to the king of Assyria, as he had done year by year; therefore the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. 5 Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and went up to Samaria and besieged it for three years. 6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried the Israelites away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes. 7 This was so because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, Who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods 8 And walked in the customs of the [heathen] nations whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites, customs the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites did secretly against the Lord their God things not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from [lonely] watchtower to [populous] fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves pillars and Asherim [symbols of the goddess Asherah] on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 There they burned incense on all the high places, as did the nations whom the Lord carried away before them; and they did wicked things provoking the Lord to anger. 12 And they served idols, of which the Lord had said to them, You shall not do this thing. 13 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all the prophets and all the seers, saying, Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the Law which I commanded your fathers and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets. 14 Yet they would not hear, but hardened their necks as did their fathers who did not believe (trust in, rely on, and remain steadfast to) the Lord their God. 15 They despised and rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings to them, and they followed vanity (false gods — falsehood, emptiness, and futility) and [they themselves and their prayers] became false (empty and futile). They went after the heathen round about them, of whom the Lord had charged them that they should not do as they did. 16 And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the [starry] hosts of the heavens and served Baal. 17 They caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire and used divination and enchantments and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them out of His sight. None was left but the tribe of Judah. AMP

There are times we may have thought that the Southern Kingdom was less evil or more righteous than the Northern Kingdom but that was not true. As we noted from the time of the death of Joshua, the Israelites were mixing with the other nations, and taking on their religious practices. So this was a cultural problem for all of Jacob’s heirs. We saw a few weeks ago that even if someone walked faithfully with Yahweh, that did not mean his children would. Another example we have of this is Hezekiah’s son Manasseh. Remember Hezekiah tried to clean up Judah and the temple and held a Passover in the second month even though they simply could not get the entire nation cleaned up.

2 Kings 21:1-7 MANASSEH WAS twelve years old when he began his fifty-five-year [wicked] reign in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 He [Hezekiah's son] did evil in the sight of the Lord, after the [idolatrous] practices of the [heathen] nations whom the Lord cast out before the Israelites. 3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshiped all the [starry] hosts of the heavens and served them! 4 And he built [heathen] altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put My Name [and the pledge of My presence]. 5 And he [good Hezekiah's son] built altars for all the hosts of the heavens in the two courts of the house of the Lord! 6 And he made his son pass through the fire and burned him as an offering [to Molech]; he practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and wizards! He did much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 He made a graven image of [the goddess] Asherah and set it in the house, of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put My Name [and the pledge of My presence] forever; AMP

2 Chron 33:1-7 MANASSEH WAS twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 But he did evil in the Lord's sight, like the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites. 3 For he built again the [idolatrous] high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared altars for the Baals and made the Asherim and worshiped all the hosts of the heavens and served them. 4 Also he built [heathen] altars in the Lord's house, of which the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall My Name be forever. 5 He built altars for all the hosts of the heavens in the two courts of the Lord's house. 6 And he burned his children as an offering [to his god] in the Valley of Ben-hinnom [son of Hinnom], and practiced soothsaying, augury, and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and wizards. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put My Name [and Presence] forever; AMP

We have to recognize that this is ritual sacrifice. A ceremonial offering to appease a false god. This was more than a simple observation such as Jews do today when a baby is born, by passing the baby over the flame of a candle. That practice has its roots in passing the children through the fire, but today it is not culturally an offering to Moloch. It is instead a superstition to ward off evil spirits. Instead, this ritual sacrifice was a brutal bloody murder of the most innocent humans on the planet, babies. The baby is the embodiment of innocence and the slaughter of the innocent is an abomination to Yahweh. 

Isa 57:1-8 THE RIGHTEOUS man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; and merciful and devout men are taken away, with no one considering that the uncompromisingly upright and godly person is taken away from the calamity and evil to come [even through wickedness]. 2 He [in death] enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks straight and in his uprightness. 3 But come close, you sons of a sorceress [nursed in witchcraft and superstition], you offspring of an adulterer and a harlot. 4 Against whom do you make sport and take your delight? Against whom do you open wide your mouth and put out your tongue? Are you not yourselves the children of transgression, the offspring of deceit —  5 You who burn with lust [inflaming yourselves with idols] among the oaks, under every green tree, you who slay the children [in sacrifice] in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks? 6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is your portion; they, they [the idols] are your lot; to them you have poured out a drink offering, you have offered a cereal offering. Should I be quiet in spite of all these things [and leave them unpunished — bearing them with patience]? 7 Upon a lofty and high mountain you have openly and shamelessly set your [idolatrous and adulterous] bed; even there you went up to offer sacrifice [in spiritual unfaithfulness to your divine Husband]. 8 Behind the door and the doorpost you have set up your [idol] symbol [as a substitute for the Scripture text God ordered]. Deserting Me, you have uncovered and ascended and enlarged your bed; and you have made a [fresh] bargain for yourself with [the adulterers], and you loved their bed, where you saw [a beckoning hand or a passion-inflaming image]. [Deut 6:5,6,9; 11:18,20.] AMP

Child sacrifice is mentioned so many times in the Bible we should recognize how big a problem it had become. Yet we are rarely mindful that it actually happened. Spiritually speaking, Topheth will be the place of eternal burning for Molech/Moloch.

Isa 30:33 For Topheth [a place of burning and abomination] has already been laid out and long ago prepared; yes, for the [Assyrian] king and [the god] Molech it has been made ready, its pyre made deep and large, with fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, kindles it. [Jer 7:31,32; Matt 5:22; 25:41.] AMP

It is a good thing Jesus came to rescue us because, as I have mentioned before, no one could live under the law. The problems the children of Jacob faced with the worship of strange gods was evident in the wilderness. Today we recognize that many people in that time period worshipped dumb idols. They worshipped false gods and attempted to appease gods that had no power or position with the sacrifice of their own children. Yet the Heavenly Father allowed His Son to be a sacrifice for all humanity and the simple requirement to appropriate the Father’s blessings is belief in His Son Jesus. Once we believe on Jesus as Messiah and Christ we share in the heavenly calling.

Heb 3:1-13 SO THEN, brethren, consecrated and set apart for God, who share in the heavenly calling, [thoughtfully and attentively] consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest Whom we confessed [as ours when we embraced the Christian faith]. 2 [See how] faithful He was to Him Who appointed Him [Apostle and High Priest], as Moses was also faithful in the whole house [of God]. [Num 12:7.] 3 Yet Jesus has been considered worthy of much greater honor and glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than the house [itself]. 4 For [of course] every house is built and furnished by someone, but the Builder of all things and the Furnisher [of the entire equipment of all things] is God. 5 And Moses certainly was faithful in the administration of all God's house [but it was only] as a ministering servant. [In his entire ministry he was but] a testimony to the things which were to be spoken [the revelations to be given afterward in Christ]. [Num 12:7.] 6 But Christ (the Messiah) was faithful over His [own Father's] house as a Son [and Master of it]. And it is we who are [now members] of this house, if we hold fast and firm to the end our joyful and exultant confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ]. 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts, as [happened] in the rebellion [of Israel] and their provocation and embitterment [of Me] in the day of testing in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tried [My patience] and tested [My forbearance] and found I stood their test, and they saw My works for forty years. 10 And so I was provoked (displeased and sorely grieved) with that generation, and said, They always err and are led astray in their hearts, and they have not perceived or recognized My ways and become progressively better and more experimentally and intimately acquainted with them. 11 Accordingly, I swore in My wrath and indignation, They shall not enter into My rest. [Ps 95:7-11.] 12 [Therefore beware] brethren, take care, lest there be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to cleave to, trust in, and rely on Him], leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God. 13 But instead warn (admonish, urge, and encourage) one another every day, as long as it is called Today, that none of you may be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [by the fraudulence, the stratagem, the trickery which the delusive glamor of his sin may play on him]. AMP

If we had been living in that time period we may have tried to appease false gods to change our luck just as the sons of Jacob did. We may have done the same things they did and we may very well have made ritual sacrifices of our children. We attempt to piece this puzzle of Biblical history together as if we are looking through a dark mirror. We want to understand the history of the temple so that we can more clearly appreciate what Jesus has done for us. Today there is no temple and anyone wanting to atone for sin under the temple model will die in their sin. However Jesus made atonement by His blood, the sinless blood of the first born Son of the Heavenly Father.

Heb 9:11-15 But [that appointed time came] when Christ (the Messiah) appeared as a High Priest of the better things that have come and are to come. [Then] through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with [human] hands, that is, not a part of this material creation, 12 He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven], not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves [by which to make reconciliation between God and man], but His own blood, having found and secured a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us). 13 For if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is sufficient for the purification of the body, [Lev 16:6,16; Num 19:9,17,18.] 14 How much more surely shall the blood of Christ, Who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, purify our consciences from dead works and lifeless observances to serve the [ever] living God? 15 [Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance — since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement. AMP

There is a parallel between the ancient sacrificing of a child to false gods and the sacrificing of the innocent first born Son of the Living God. While the sacrifice of innocent children to false gods yields nothing but sin, the sacrifice of the innocent Son of the Living God, Jesus Christ, yields forgiveness of sin. The evil ritual of child sacrifice was atoned for with Jesus’ blood. We see that the only blood good enough to save all of humanity was Jesus’ blood. The only child sacrifice that made a difference to a lost and dying world was Jesus. It is fascinating that the Jews were the ones who pushed the Romans for Jesus’ murder, and it is Jesus’ blood that can save the Jew who believes that Jesus is Lord and Messiah. 

While there is no temple in Jerusalem today, those who believe on Jesus as Lord and Messiah are the living temple, and we can enter into the Holy of Holies. Jesus cleansed humanity by His blood. So the prophetic comparison is that all the years of bloodshed during ritual child sacrifice is compensated for with Jesus’ blood. This was part of the deal to save humans from eternal damnation. The full recompense is made by Jesus who saves humanity in all areas and in all aspects of human sin. Then we can enter into full relationship, in the Holy of Holies because we are the temple on earth.    

Heb 10:19-23 Therefore, brethren, since we have full freedom and confidence to enter into the [Holy of] Holies [by the power and virtue] in the blood of Jesus, 20 By this fresh (new) and living way which He initiated and dedicated and opened for us through the separating curtain (veil of the Holy of Holies), that is, through His flesh, 21 And since we have [such] a great and wonderful and noble Priest [Who rules] over the house of God, 22 Let us all come forward and draw near with true (honest and sincere) hearts in unqualified assurance and absolute conviction engendered by faith (by that leaning of the entire human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), having our hearts sprinkled and purified from a guilty (evil) conscience and our bodies cleansed with pure water. 23 So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word. AMP


Jesus’ blood was shed to fix the problem of all sin but especially the sin of child sacrifice. Once we understand that Jesus came to make a new and living way, we will not want to go back to the old way.