“Adonai said to Moshe, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘If someone from the people of Israel or one of the foreigners living in Israel sacrifices one of his children to Molech, he must be put to death; the people of the land are to stone him to death. I too will set my face against him and cut him off from his people, because he has sacrificed his child to Molech, defiling my sanctuary and profaning my holy name“-Leviticus 20:1-3
Leviticus chapter 20 represents that part of Scripture our modern court system calls the “penalty phase”.
Notice that for the list of crimes listed in this chapter, there is a parallel list of consequences.
Notice also that in most cases, the consequence for breaking these commands is death.
In verse 3, we come across the odd sounding but familiar phrase “I well set my face against him”.
If the Lord sets His face against someone, that means He intends to inflict harsh punishment on that person.
In the context of Leviticus chapter 20, it means that the person who worships Molech will not only die physically by stoning but will also be eternally separated from God.
It further goes on to say that if the people won’t do their duty and execute the Molech worshipper, then God will step in and inflict horrible judgements on the transgressor for the rest of his life and then once he dies ensure that he is cut off from his people.
Boy, it just doesn’t get any worse than this.
The Molech worshipper is put to BOTH physical death and spiritual death.
Why such a severe judgement?
There are two reasons.
First, the Molech worshipper has committed flagrant idolatry.
Second, he (or she) has shown the most blatant disregard for life by sacrificing his child.
I hope we can grasp what really happened when an Israelite participated in Molech worship.
By worshipping a false god, the Lord’s HOLY sanctuary was defiled!
God’s HOLY name was profaned and God’s own personal HOLINESS was stepped on.
Again, it is a non-negotiable Scriptural principle that the Lord will guard His personal holiness no matter the cost.
If He has to destroy the whole universe and every living thing in it to protect His Holiness from becoming defiled, He will.
Actually, we’re told that ‘s EXACTLY what He’s going to do according to the Book of Revelations.
I think a lot of people don’t have a proper understanding of what it really means to defile God’s HOLY NAME.
It doesn’t mean to use God’s name (which is YHVH and NOT “Lord” or “Adonai”) as a curse word when something goes wrong in our lives.
Here in Leviticus 20, when it says that Israel profanes HASHEM’s HOLY NAME by sacrificing to MOLECH, it means that Israel is BOTH perverting and misrepresenting who God really is.
Let me say that in another way.
When Israel participated in the worship of MOLECH, they misrepresented the Lord’s HOLY ATTRIBUTES AND HIS HOLY NATURE.
As God’s people, Israel and all those grafted into Israel are commanded to “BE HOLY” as the Lord is HOLY.
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