To understand this passage of scripture, you need a history lesson on the worship of Moloch.
The Phoenicians were a group of people who inhabited Canaan which is now modern-day Lebanon, Syria, and Israel between 1550 BC and 300 BC. and who practiced the worship of Moloch. The worship included child sacrifice, or “passing children through the fire.” It is believed that idols of Moloch were giant metal statues of a man with a bull’s head. Each image had a hole in the abdomen and possibly outstretched forearms that made a kind of ramp to the hole. A fire was lit in or around the statue. Babies were placed in the statue’s arms or in the hole. When a couple sacrificed their firstborn, they believed that Moloch would ensure financial prosperity for the family and future children. They in essence “aborted” their new born babies for the sake of convenience and prosperity. Sound familiar?
Regarding the awful sin of abortion, God describes His anger towards the different people groups who support it.
1. Believers who abort their own children.
Lev. 20:2-5 “Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.”
2. Believers who condone this sin by looking the other way.
“And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:”
3. Family members who offer support for the individual who commits this sin.
“Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.”
LESSON - You may say to yourself that America is not at this point yet, but we are close! This passage does not address the pagan culture surrounding God’s people, but God’s people themselves. When Believers become silent on this matter, we become worthy of the very same punishment described in this passage. Sadly just like the world around us, many Christians are aborting babies today or neglecting the children to whom God has already blessed them and instead placing them on the altar of convenience and financial prosperity. May God forgive us for allowing this wretched sin to become legal in our country and widely accepted among His people.
~Mike