Entertaining Moloch

Entertaining Moloch

8/3/15

Most people who have read the Bible probably do not recall this entity that is mentioned.  Yes, you saw correctly most have not heard of this entity but to those who have studied the Bible might have reached the point to where Moloch was mentioned and the significance of its presence within Israel.  Moloch may have been popular during ancient times, but it is important to understand that its false presence is still prevalent in today’s world.  What needs to be understood is that Moloch and its aura has captivated a worldwide audience as a safe haven for choices that humans make, and while the presentation of Moloch may be a little different from ancient times the acts towards Moloch today are vitally identical.  It also important to note that because of our choices today, the same results shall occur within our governing bodies that support Moloch and its requirements.

In no way am I bashing those people who claim to read the Bible; however, I do question their habits for there is a difference between reading and studying and it is through this difference that raises my level of concern.  I have to admit that I had to place myself into this reading category for the majority of my life.  I was an avid reader of the Bible and then a point in my life came where I did not wish to read it any longer, thus exacerbating the issue between the two concepts. 

When I reached this point in my life I just stopped reading the Bible and it was easy for me to do so.  Even though I was born and raised in church and the Bible was the essential book that was the centerpiece of my family, I chose to just read it on a daily level, or a few times a week.  Then, after a while reading the Bible became a burden to me so I slowed down even further until I stopped completely.  Reading the Bible kept my mind guilt-free yet starved my heart from the direct source of spiritual life within my life.  It was easy to stop reading the Bible because reading a source is superficial in stature and one shall deem the contents of that book as such; treat it with a grain of salt if one wishes to put it this way.  I treated it as a duty or a requirement instead of a direct communication tool that would provide me protection from this world and during this time, I really did not care to understand the difference either.

Studying a book or diving into its subject compels a person to research more about the topic that they are studying.  Readingskims the surface and is usually at a faster pace with no conviction represented by the reader.  Studying breaks down each word, phrase and sentence in order to draw out the entire meaning of the sentence, paragraph or chapter.  It takes longer to study a book because the mind inquires for further information on each subject mentioned, thus creating a heart’s desire to know every detail of the subject.  Reading the Bible falls into this same category and should warrant our complete attention instead of performing a religious ritual on a scheduled timeframe.

When I came to this conclusion and the difference between reading and studying the Bible I felt so stupid.  For all my life, I watched my dad study the Word of God every day.  I heard him tell me about how Paw Paw used to spend hours at a time studying the Word and then I had the opportunity to watch Yanyad take notes after notes on the passages that he would study. All of these examples in my life and I did not have the decency to think that there was a difference between the two words reading and studying; especially since reading was the exact way that I “studied” in high school and the first part of my college years.  This example alone should have triggered this difference, but it laid dormant for decades.

Now, I study the Word of God as often as I can, sometimes even more than once a day.  I find myself constantly trying to figure out settings that occurred in the Bible and place them on a human level; the Bible is all about humans and the lives that they lived, either for God or against God.  When I began to study the Bible it became a living word to my life and it brought into my heart a hunger to know more about God and how He operates.  Studying the Bible also places a person into another category, a category which throws away biased opinions and interpretations, thus creating the perfect and stable truths that we need to survive against the world.

I have to admit that I did not know anything about Moloch until a year ago, yet its (his) name has been in Leviticus ever since it was written many millennia ago.  The mention of his name brings into light a curiosity to me now, one that after I really read the passage, with open spiritual eyes and heart, and I began to study the passage, looked it up online and gathered more information about his presence.  I found out that he was a god that was very popular during the times of the Ammonites and was a principle god of their culture.  Moloch was worshiped by the Canaanites, Phoenicians and other cultures of North Africa and the Levant. Interesting note here in that one should look up the area of the Levant and of Phoenicia and see which modern peoples are associated with this area.  Moloch is a Semitic root word that means “king”, which should also serve as an interesting study.

We all have heard about the antics that the Israelites performed while Moses was on the mountaintop with God.  There are detailed accounts of how they were dancing around the golden calf idol that they had made.  It was a total party and celebration to them and nothing was held back during this worship service.  With all of the participation that was ongoing it would not have been hard to understand that something was going on as Moses came down from the mountain.  One can imagine that at first Moses thought that the people were celebrating God and His mercies that they had beheld but as Moses came closer to their celebrations he quickly understood that the partying going on was nothing but a drunken spiritual and physical orgy to a melted down and reshaped piece of metal.

The setting that is presented in this story is one of pure happiness and a party style atmosphere.  The people that are participating in this ritual are having a blast and are not concerned with how they are appearing to anyone else but themselves.  Their actions tell a story of contentment and acceptance to what the golden calf represents and it opens the door for further rebellion to be accepted in their futures.  It is easy for us to compare this type of setting to today’s party type atmospheres but the mention of Moloch and his commands present another whole setting which is far more inclusive, invasive and dangerous.

Moloch was a principle god of the tribes that I mentioned above and he was important enough that his worship required a little bit more than dancing hysterically around his image.  His commands also included a higher level of status which included specific acts by those who saw him as their god.  The level of worship and commitment to Moloch was set at a higher standard as well which we will observe in a moment.  This example is the prime reason as to why God states that He wants no other gods before Him, for when we do place anything above Him it can cause us to commit terrible acts in the name of that god.  It does not matter what the god may be, placing something else or someone else above God is a mortal act for both the person granting the access and for the recipient of the act.

Moloch required a bit more attention than other gods, in that he wished to have a “personal relationship” with his subjects.  The people who “led” these services for Moloch said that the people wee responsible to give up their children in order to obtain a certain level in Moloch’s realm.  By giving up, they meant that the parents would voluntarily give their children to Moloch in the form of a sacrifice, a human sacrifice.  And since there are tablets that have been preserved that show parents giving their children to Moloch for sacrifice it can be accepted that this practice was real and it was performed in a genuine manner by these people.  The parents voluntarily chose to sacrifice their own children in order to make their presence known to Moloch and the government of these people approved of these acts of murder.

This setting seems so vulgar and grotesque that one would never believe that a person would stoop so low that they would willingly give up their child to an object that does not exist any further than the metal, wood, clay or any other type of shape that has been made by mankind.  Yet, even today we have some examples that are readily accepted that serve as the same foundations as what Moloch “wanted” as a requirement for his services.

Think about this for a moment, there were people who had sex, get pregnant, deliver the child and at some point when the child was very young offer it’s life up to Moloch, never to see this child again.  In the book of Genesis, God states that it is mankind’s responsibility to replenish the earth and to bring forth their own kind after each other.  No where does it state in God’s Word that the act of human reproduction be molested in such a manner to produce children for any type of sacrifice.  God gives us this example when He tested Abraham with Isaac, because God knew that a human / human originated sacrifice.  This “practice” also takes the intimacy of two people becoming one and places it into a casual setting in order to satisfy another’s feelings or wants; in this case, a god that has no life beyond the visual object that is before the human eye.  Does this type of foundational setting sound familiar to anyone, and could anyone see where it can lead?

Also, this child would not be just thrown into a fire and sent burning in a small ceremony.  No, the child had to be a literal sacrifice which means that a true ceremony had to be correctly performed in order for the sacrifice to be accepted by Moloch. No where does the Bible mention that the governments of those who worshiped Moloch and participated in his requirements forbade this type of practice.  Instead, God gives the command that no one should participate in such an activity and to completely stay away from it.  And for those who did participate or agreed to host such an event, He promised to personally end their lives as soon as possible.  This proves that God chooses life at all costs and it also sets into motion the choices that humans are granted and to live with the consequences of such choices on the same hand.

It is not too hard to understand that the same types of practices are in play within the current world today.  Even though people do not publicly celebrate this practice and receive funds in order to provide such programs; oh, wait a minute, yes they do and yes, there are programs today all granted in the name of choice according to this setting.  Instead of the god Moloch being served it is the person who is aborting the baby that is being served.  The procedure itself is presented as a glorious setting and one that should be demanded whenever a person deems it is necessary, without question, recourse or remorse.  During the days of the Ammonites, the setting of a sacrifice was a great event and the parents honored for their participation, similarly as the tearing apart of the child is today.

With the apparent ancient government approval of this practice to Moloch, it would be reasonably concerning to the “modern and enlightened” mind to comprehend such a quota being raised today.  However, when we look at all of the options granted to people these days it does not take too much searching for such a plan of support coming from government levels.  There are not only agencies that provide such destruction but they celebrate in the lie that the baby is not alive by selling its living tissues to other agencies for profit.  Now, if you place this practice in line with the activities towards Moloch, is there a comparison?  Oh yes, in that the parents of the sacrificed child would supposedly receive a blessing or elevated status for their reward; a profit.

I find it fascinating that God would even have to mention this type of activity to Israel, but because Israel is made up of people, God had to warn them.  And, keeping in line with being human it was not too much longer until Israel began worshiping Moloch and they too participated in the child sacrifices.  Doesn’t it seem kind of far-fetched that a nation created and established by God would even entertain this type of idolatry?  What about this country?  Even though our name was not mentioned in the Bible our land was established by God for the protection of His people and it is through our own choices that we have made this land an abomination to His establishment.

In the book of Leviticus, God is very specific in His instructions concerning the god Moloch and how the children of Israel should stay away from any participation in this worship.  It means that Israel had contact with its neighbors and was accepted for a time within their communities, so much so that Israel became interested in Moloch.  God also was very specific about what He would do to the people that chose to participate in this worship, and it was not too much longer until Israel was completely destroyed by the same people that they once associated with on a regular basis.  When God is specific and then His children do not obey, God will reach a point and He will have to say it is enough.

Today, our nation and its leaders had an opportunity to shut down one of the publicly funded programs that participate in such a manner.  This company funds thousands of abortions each day and helps women sacrifice their babies in order to preserve their sexual status.  The majority of the women that have abortions are strictly elective and have no ties to anyone except the sexual contact with the partner at the time; a pattern that is far too common when dealing with human choices.  As expected the government leaders struck down a bill to defund this company, once again refusing to regulate this practice and send another signaling slap in the face to God.  It is all in the name of choice and as long as humans fail to ignore the realities of their choices and how important each one of our choices are, this trend shall continue until God says “enough”.  But remember, we have examples of what occurs when God says “enough” and when it hits the fan, do not blame anyone else but ourselves; yet, I have a feeling we will continue to “set” the trend by lying to ourselves of exactly why things were destroyed.

We have once again proven that humans who do not study history and understand its complete contents are doomed to repeat the same history again.  America deems herself to be the greatest country that ever existed and she is absolutely correct.  God ordained this land to be a haven for life and for a while that truth was proclaimed to the entire world.  Now, self indulgences are the rule of the day and we can offend no one, except God.  That is our choice and God shall give us every opportunity to change that choice and to turn back into His direction but there is a limit and it is very obvious, to those who are studying and watching, that this time is at an end.  I do not know how many days of entertaining Moloch we have left, but know this please, when God strikes He will do it just as we have proudly and staunchly slapped Him in the face.  His judgment will be huge and mind boggling with the just and unjust included in the devastation.  And when the devastation can be totally measured and it is time for the restoration process to begin, maybe, just maybe we will get the process correct this time.

DLB