The Israelites were often tempted to worship the gods of the Canaanites and the surrounding nations. One of those gods was called Molech or Moloch. He required that his worshipers sacrifice their children to him. Here is what Wikipedia says about him.
Quote:
Rabbinical tradition depicted Moloch as a bronze statue heated with fire into which the victims were thrown. This has been associated with reports by Greco-Roman authors on the child sacrifices in Carthage to Baal Hammon, especially since archaeological excavations since the 1920s have produced evidence for child sacrifice in Carthage as well as inscriptions including the term MLK, either a theonym or a technical term associated with sacrifice. In interpretatio graeca, the Phoenician god was identified with Cronus, due to the parallel mytheme of Cronus devouring his children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch
|
It seems inconceivable that anyone would be willing to kill their own children. Perhaps it makes more sense when we understand the power behind idolatry.
Quote:
What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.
1 Corinthians 10:19-20 ESV
|
The idols that people once worshiped were not simply statues. They were empowered by demons and those who worshiped them placed themselves under the power of those demons. The power of Molech overrode the natural instincts of parents to care for their children and led them to sacrifice them to their god.
Today no one sacrifices his children to a statue of Molech but the spirit of Molech is very active in the world. Many people consider it acceptable to sacrifice their children as long as they do so while the child is still in its mother’s womb. Proponents of abortion defend the practice with a zeal that seems almost religious. Most Christians know that those who have abortions are violating the sixth commandment, “You shall not murder,” but how many of us realize that they are also violating the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me”?
Of course abortionists don’t call abortion a sacrifice. Instead, they say it is a mother exercising her right to control her own body. There are two things wrong with this belief. They are actually destroying a child whom they have a God given responsibility to protect, train, and nurture. And their bodies do not belong to them but to the God who created them.
Here is God’s command regarding those who sacrifice their children to Molech.
Quote:
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name.”
Leviticus 20:1-3 ESV
|
Surely he feels the same way about today’s worshipers of Molech. Of course the church is not a nation, as Israel was, so we have no authority to use force to end abortions, but we should do what we can to get our nations to outlaw abortion, and we should do all was can to show others how evil it is.
Have you ever heard anyone say something like this, “I am personally opposed to abortion but I don’t feel that I have any right to impose my beliefs on others”? God has something to say to these people.
Quote:
And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in ******* after Molech.
Leviticus 20:4,5 ESV
|
There can be no neutrality on the issue of abortion. Unless you are opposing it you are supporting it, either actively or passively. There are several ways to fight it. You can try to get abortion outlawed by voting for prolife candidates and you can support organizations that provide counseling for women considering abortion and help for those who decide against it.
While these are all good, none of them addresses the Satanic influence which is the real source of the problem. People who do not worship the true God can easily be tricked into worshiping Satan. By nature, all of us are in this category. We have all sinned and our sins separate us from God. This separation must be removed before we can to serve him. Jesus died and rose from the dead to pay for our sins and we can be forgiven by repenting and putting our faith in Jesus. Here is an explanation of how to do this:
https://carm.org/christianity/answers-for-seekers/
Preaching this message, rather than ending abortion, is our primary task. When we put this first it will be easier for us to oppose abortion.