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Root
Of Destruction
Most
Christians are only vaguely familiar with the name Moloch.
When reading through the Bible, you will sometimes come
across a weird verse like, "They caused their children
to be passed through the fire to Moloch." (Jer. 32:35)
Research
reveals amazingly little about this false god of the Ammonites.
But we do know for certain that the worship practices
and the lifestyle of these heathen people was such a hideous
abomination to God and such a detestable perversion, that
God ordered the Israelites to utterly destroy the Ammonites
in the conquest of Canaan. (In fact, anyone who thinks
God was merciless in this judgment needs to read on about
the cruelty of the Ammonites!)
So,
though the god Moloch has kept himself intriguingly hidden,
we can learn a great deal about his spirit by looking
at the lives of the pagan people who worshipped him. For,
"by their fruits you shall know them." (Matt.
7:20) 
In
G. K. Chesterton's book, "The Everlasting Man,"
he gives a clear picture of the pagan world before the
birth of Christ and leading up to the kind of civilization
that Jesus was born into. Briefly, Chesterton describes
two kinds of paganism which existed in those days.
Two
Faces Of Paganism
The
first we might call an "Easter Bunny" kind of
paganism. You know, at Easter time, the time when all
men should be celebrating the resurrection, the world
wants to sing songs about bunnies and bonnets. This is
what we call "happy paganism." It's not concerned
with fact, but with feelings. At its very best, paganism
of this variety is an attempt to describe the supernatural
through the imagination. Santa Claus, Rudolph, and the
Tooth Fairy are more modern examples of this in our own
culture.
In
the ancient civilizations that Chesterton describes, especially
Rome, there were an awful lot of "nice" pagan
gods. The Romans had household gods for everything. They
had gods of the floor, the door, the roof, and even a
god of the drain! For example, there was Bacchus, the
god of wine and parties. Now, people didn't seriously
think there was a fat guy up in heaven with grapes. He
was more the stuff of imagination.
This
sort of paganism can be summed up in the term "mythology."
There was a good deal of nonsense in it, and everyone
seems to have understood it was nonsense! It wasn't important
what god was worshipped, the act of worship itself
was the whole thing. People knew worship itself was somehow
important, so they developed an endless variety of rites
and superstitions to try to satisfy this urge in their
hearts.
Civilized
people do this today. But sophisticated, civilized people
can also get pulled into the second form of paganism,
a far more dangerous devotion than common superstition.
In
fact, Chesterton says that simple, "happy paganism"
became locked in a struggle with a much darker force.
Here is where we encounter the worship and the spirit
of Moloch.
Who
Is the King Of Tyre
Tyre
and Sidon were twin cities that became very powerful and
founded a colony, a town the Romans called Carthage, or
New Town. We didn't know Carthage's religion until archaeologists
uncovered its ruins. The Bible has many references to
the area of Tyre and Sidon. Interestingly, the Old Testament
refers to a person called the King of Tyre. He seems to
be more than human, and some Bible scholars believe this
is a reference to Satan himself, for we know that demonic
princes and kings have seats of government in key places.
(Eph. 6:12)
Now
Carthage was a sort of showplace for Tyre and Sidon. It
was their hustling, go-getting, mercantile "jewel,"
because their empire was built on travel and money. And
the empire earned lots of money because they sold,
amongst other things, Tyrian purple, which was unique
in all the world and very, very high-priced. Ships from
trading nations came from everywhere with money to buy
this eye-pleasing shellfish dye. So, people of Carthage
could boast, "You can't wash your hands in the sea
without the permission of New Town." This was the
center of commerce in the time leading up to the birth
of Jesus.
On
the surface, it might appear that with all the wealth
and influence of Carthage, children became a mere inconvenience.
But there is far more than that behind the Moloch worship
that developed in this "jewel" of the Mediterranean.
How
did Carthage adopt the worship of Moloch? We don't know
for sure, but historical archeology tells us what happened
during the horrible sacrificial rites this god demanded.
The hideous idol of Moloch apparently had a man's body
with the head of an ox. Its arms and hands extended out
in front. In the idol's lap was a fire that heated a metal
plate. The priest would take a child, given by its parents,
and lay it across the outstretched arms of the idol. The
child was bound so it could not wiggle away. Other priests
played music and beat drums very loudly while everybody
cheered frantically, all to drown out the screams of the
terrified child. Then the priest manipulated the arms
of the idol until the child was over the plate, which
was now white-hot. Then he would release the idol's arms
so the child would drop to a horrifying fiery death.
Now,
Moloch is one of the oldest names for the ancient deities
associated with human sacrifice, nature worship, and fertility.
Others were Baal, Asherali, and Ashtoreth. As with Moloch,
it is difficult to find too much recorded about them in
ancient texts. One reason is censorship. Early archaeologists
who came across their sites of worship were shocked and
horrified by their discoveries. They found entire cemeteries
full of babies that had obviously been sacrificed in some
kind of ritual murder. Some archaeologists would not even
report the details of sights they found in professional
journals. Some even wrote in scholar's Latin because they
felt it was so pornographic and so ugly. That is why you
so rarely found detailed descriptions of the secret worship
of Moloch, Baal, Ashtoreth, and Asherah.
Why
Worship What Is Evil?
What
we know without question is that the worship of the followers
of these deities like Asherah and Ashtoreth focused on
sexual reproduction. The "sacred" groves were
places where sexual immorality was carried out for the
purpose of worship. It was a very attractive sort of religion
for people in love with money and power. You went to the
groves for sex and food, you danced in the grass nude,
you had an orgy, and you made it religious. Then later
you sacrificed your children because, supposedly, these
gods of nature had given them to you, and now they wanted
them back.
While
reading about these rituals, what type of people do you
think were taking part? People with bones through their
noses? Clubs and animals skins? No. We're talking about
a highly advanced civilization, the one that ruled the
world at that time. We're not talking about primitive
people. We're talking about highly intelligent and well-to-do
men and women.
For
an equivalent in our day, imagine a group of Silicon Valley
executives, high-tech types who own state-of-the-art computers,
expensive clothes, and live in condos or high-rises. Imagine
them meeting Sundays at 11:00 a.m. (and on special holidays!)
to watch a baby being slowly roasted alive.
Here's
what one scholar says:
"Night
seems to have been the special time for these awful
burnings... the whole scene, visible from the walls
by the glow of the furnace and the flames, formed such
an ideal of transcendent horror, that the name of the
valley became Gehenna, the usual word for hell."
Yes,
that is where the word Gehenna, the New Testament
word for hell, came from. The place where demon worshippers
sacrificed children in fire.
Why
in the world would civilized people of any age do that?
How could they take their own children, (not even
an enemy's children), and deliberately murder them for
a god?
This
is the second type of paganism, a frightful force that
still rules today in the lives of people to whom power
and possessions mean everything.
The
voice behind these terrible acts says this: "You
have everything. Now if you want real power you must tap
in to the supernatural world." And how do you get
the attention of that world?
The
answer is simple and deadly. You turn to the demonic,
to spirits who will take on any job for you, no matter
how dirty. As Chesterton said, you prove to them that
you mean business if they will do business. And
to get to the heart of this dark power, you must go
against nature, against God's creative life-force,
His rapture over an expanding, alive, creation.
Ask
a young mother cuddling her newborn why she doesn't simply
kill her baby, and she will be shocked and horrified.
She'd probably blurt out, "How could you even ask
such a thing? It isn't even natural!"
That's
the key to understanding today's assault on children.
It isn't natural, it is unnatural. It is beyond
indecent or inhuman. It is alien. And that is what
Moloch was like, like worshipping something from another
world.
To
get the attention of this alien spirit you vowed against
your own humanity. You said to the waiting darkness: "I
mean business, and I'll do the most horrible, unnatural,
alien thing to prove my commitment." People didn't
sacrifice their children out of ignorance. Actually, it
was the opposite. They did it precisely because they
knew it was unnatural and wrong.
The
secret of satanic power was to direct you to go against
nature, a reversal of all that God made alive
and bright and human, all that was beautiful and good
and normal. That was the heart of the destructive spirit
of Moloch.
And
so, likewise, the attack on children and childhood today
is alien. And again, it is coming through people for whom
money and information and power mean more than life. That
is why Satanism, devil worship, and witchcraft are becoming
a visible force in our world again today.
When
Sin Abounds
You
can see it in the news and media everywhere, Moloch rearing
its ugly head again in our time. It is not true, of course,
that every woman (or man) who chooses to abort a child,
or that every adult who abuses one, is overtly seeking
Satanic power. But it is true that sin against
these innocents are crimes against God.
Our
families have become the victims of a spirit behind a
culture that convinces civilized adults to sacrifice the
lives of their children on the altars of convenience,
luxury, and personal pleasure. Nature worship is back.
Many of the same apparently intelligent people who fight
for the lives of baby whales, seal pups, and fledgling
bald eagles also demand the right to abort a human child.
Who has blinded them to the shocking inconsistency in
their thinking?
We
are faced with a massive wave of both female and male
prostitution, not unlike the temple prostitutes of the
ancient deities we've named. And today whole industries
take in billions of dollars on the systematic murder,
torture, and perversion of our children. Now satanic and
gothic metal music encourages kids to destroy the Church,
"Worship The Beast," and glorify the devil;
even to kill themselves or someone else. It has all come
to a head with Satanic practices for power even in junior
high and high schools. And once again, like long, long
ago, the ritual murder of babies, children, and teenagers.
What
does all this say? Simply this: The ancient deities never
died, they simply moved underground. And they have emerged
again in our time.
Is
it serious? Yes. The devil has no sense of humor. He hates
God and he hates His creation. It is a real battle, and
people really die in it. Is it new? Hardly. It has happened
as we have seen in Biblical times. It happened briefly
and less obviously in the 60s and 70s with Charles Manson,
"Rosemary's Baby," with the Stones' "Sympathy
For The Devil," and Arthur Brown's "God of Hellfire."
But
every demonic outpouring was answered by an awesome wave
of the Holy Spirit that resulted in hundreds of thousands
of conversions and a fresh wave of life in the world.
Then is this last onslaught significant? Yes, but in an
unusual way.
What
is this recent explosion of renewed occultic practice
and all-out warfare on childhood? Nothing but a revelation
of the true, ugly nature of the demonic world. As Jesus
said, "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and
destroy." (Jn. 10:10) Satan's best work is done in
secret, (Jn. 3:19), but everything now has come into the
light! What we are witnessing is deep darkness uncovered,
the heart of hell revealed. And there is one important
thing to understand about what we see.
Hell
Is In Trouble
No
one lays all their cards out on the table unless it is
the end of the game. No country, no nation, no kingdom
brings its ultimate weapons into service unless its back
is against the wall. This frontal assault is not a sign
of demonic power, but demonic desperation. It is
not a sign of Satanic strength, but growing weakness.
Hell
is in trouble. It is bringing out all its last weapons
because it knows something that many in the Church have
not yet realized. The devil knows he only has a short
time left. He's had to let the lid off his operation and
it has happened in our time. The occult explosion and
the war on children is a sign of the coming triumph of
Christ.
"In
the last days," God said, "I will pour out My
Spirit on all flesh." (Joel 2:28) We have seen the
targeting of children and childhood. We have seen that
the Dragon seeks to destroy the Child. But now we need
to see our times through God's eyes. He is the Sovereign
Lord; the "times are in His hands." (Ps. 31:15)
It
is as if God looked down through history to the kind of
world our time has become. He saw not only the destruction
of children, but the rejection of the old, the war against
women and the young, and the attack on the family. And
He has not left us alone and desolate. "When the
enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will
raise up a standard against him." (Is. 59:19 KJV)
"The
promise is to you," says Scripture, "and to
your children, and to all that are far off, as many as
the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:39) God's answer
to a lost and broken generation is redemption; the renewal
of love, purity, and trust in individuals, and a rebirth
of the family where reborn parents and children begin
to love each other. God's answer to the kingdom of darkness
and hell is His revived Church, which always ushers in
the Kingdom of God. He will bring about the restoration
and redemption of the decayed and demonically-infested
structures of our society, through His Church, by evangelism,
spiritual warfare, and reformation.
There
is a wind of supernatural change in the air, and in the
darkness a great Light is dawning.
A
Last Days Promise
It
is as if God said of our time: "If no one will look
after the children, then I will. I will be a Father to
them and they will be My sons and My daughters."
(See 2 Cor. 6:17-18) "If no one will care for those
that cannot defend themselves, I will be for them a shield
and a defense, the hope of the hopeless and a Father to
the fatherless." (Ps. 33:18-20; 84:11; 68:5; 27:10)
"In the last days I will pour out my Spirit of adoption
on your sons and your daughters, the handmaids and the
servants, your old men and your young men; and I will
show the world what a real family looks like." (Rom.
8:15-16; Joel 2:28-29)
God
has not lost hold of His poor world. Because of Jesus,
one day it will be beautiful again, a world safe for children.
"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem
of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots; and
the Spirit of the Lord shall rest on Him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord... with
righteousness shall He judge the poor and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth... The wolf also shall
dwell with the lamb and the leopard lie down with the
kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
and a little child shall lead them... They shall not hurt
or destroy in all My holy mountain; for the earth shall
be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover
the sea." (Is. 11:1-10)
Steps
To Guard Your Child From Danger
These
steps are general guidelines to teach your child
carefulness in a Moloch society. Children from
all kinds of backgrounds are being molested,
kidnapped, raped, abused, and murdered. These
rules may help save their lives.
- Lead
them to Christ early. Teach them
what it means to love God and trust Him. The
Holy Spirit is able to warn any believer with
a clean conscience of the presence of evil.
Scripture has much to say about discerning
the intent and motives of others. Even children
can often discern evil in a person when they
are approached. "Take heed that you despise
not one of these little ones; for I say unto
you, that in heaven their angels do always
behold the face of My Father which is in heaven."
(Matt. 18:10)
- PRAY
for your children daily. "The
angel of the Lord encamps round about those
that fear Him." (Ps. 34:7) As we have
often stressed here, much of the war on childhood
is genuinely demonic in origin. Some tragedies
may even be prevented by earnest, specific
prayer where Christian parents can hold their
children before God for His protection and
guardianship.
- Be
OBSERVANT. Teach them to note suspicious,
unusual, or strange behavior in others. Bill
Gothard advocates the teaching of character-quality-discernment
based on topics from the book of Proverbs.
Tell them how lost people look, think, speak,
and behave. Here, the normalcy of a genuinely
loving family will be a standard from which
they can evaluate any deviations.
San
Francisco Detective, Dick Vance, gives some
basic rules for parents to teach their kids
to help guard against sexual abuse or kidnap:
Rule
1: "Get permission
from mommy and daddy whenever any grown-up
wants to take your picture, even if it's
fun-loving Uncle Bob."
Rule
2: "When any adult wants you to keep
a secret from your mommy or daddy be sure
to tell us about
it."
Rule
3: "Never
go along with any adult to help
them find a lost dog or cat."
Rule
4: "Never
go near a car with someone in it
even if the person in the car asks for directions."
Teach them never to accept gifts, candy,
toys, money, or rides from strangers. They
should know beyond a shadow of a doubt that
a stranger will
NEVER be sent to pick them up from
school, a store, or a movie. They should
be told that if someone calls them from
a car they should never get close enough
to be snatched or pulled into the car.
Ruler
5: "Whenever an adult gives you something,
be sure to tell
mom and dad about it."
Rule
6: "Never
enter someone's home without our permission."
Rule
7: "Never
go with a man who shows you a badge
and tells you he is a policeman unless
he is wearing a uniform and is driving a
marked police car." (A particularly
cruel trap that molesters lay is to tell
children there is an emergency such as mommy
was rushed to a hospital and the child must
go there immediately, the "Arizona
Republic" reports.)
- Resolve
to NEVER hitchhike; a firm,
unbreakable rule with NO exceptions.
- Tape
money into a shoe for an emergency phone
call. Teach children to memorize
their name, home address, and phone number,
and how to use a dial and push-button
phone.
- Teach
them not to boast about money,
and that personal belongings are never
worth risking physical harm. Small treasures
are precious to young children. One of the
best tactics a child can learn to escape an
attack is yelling loudly to attract attention.
But fighting back, running, or talking their
way out of difficult situations are also useful
tactics.
- A
child can be taught
to cry out to the Lord in
life-threatening situations. There have been
instances where this has actually resulted
in the offender stopping or fleeing. Although
God has not promised that Christians will
be immune to harm or danger, when that threat
is demonic in origin, "the name of the
Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth
into it, and is safe." (Prov. 18:10)
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