The Second Commandment – A Contemporary Molech?

The Second Commandment

A Contemporary Molech?

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2.4 Reject pagan practices

God’s people must not adopt, for any reason, the harmful, disgusting practices of the pagan practices they are called to displace.

Leviticus 18:21

“You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.”

Leviticus 20:1-5

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. 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 whoring after Molech.”

In Molech worship children were burned in fire by their parents in order to appease the false deity. Let’s read that another way: In order to be at ease, with a minimum of inconvenience or want, parents gave their children up to a false god. Is abortion a kind of Molech worship? Are those parents who let their children do whatever they want, have whatever they want, hang with whomever they want, and indulge in pop culture and social networking without any supervision or restraints—are such parents, in order to keep peace at home, simply giving their children over to a new Molech in our day?

It’s hard to see how we can be training our children to delight in the Lord and find in Him the fullness of joy when we allow them to fill their lives with so many other diversions and things designed to make them happy.

In this series of In the Gates we present a detailed explanation of the Law of God, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and working through the statutes and rules that accompany each commandment. For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the practice of ethics, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.MyParuchia.com and click on our Book Store.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.