The Truth in Print Vol. 25 Issue 3, April 2019

A Publication of the Valley church of Christ,

2375 W. 8th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364 (928-782-5058)

 

Website Address ~ http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com

 

Infanticide ~ #1 Penalties, Israel’s Idolatry and Practice

*Corrected Copy 10.02.24

Note: Before I get to our current cultural and political state in these articles here is some Biblical history that is all important.

Jas 2:11  For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT MURDER." Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

 

The Penalty for Murder When Noah Left the Ark

Gen 9:6 “Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.

 

The Mosaic Law Taught Respect for Human Life

Exo 21:22  "If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.

Exo 21:23 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life…

 

Joshua in His Farewell Told Them You are Not Going to Serve God

 

· Jos_24:14  "Now therefore, fear the LORD, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD!  ...

· Jos 24:16  So the people answered and said: "Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods; ...

· Jos 24:19  But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

· Jos 24:20  If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He  will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good."

· Jos 24:21  And the people said to Joshua, "No, but we will serve the LORD!"

· Jos 24:22  So Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD for yourselves, to serve Him." And they said, "We are witnesses!"

· Jos_24:23  "Now therefore," he said, "put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel."

 

Israel During the Period of the “Judges” (Psa 106:34-43)

 

  They disobeyed and did not destroy nations God commanded them, learned their works and  served their idols (which became a snare to them) — they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons, shed the innocent blood of the children they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan and polluted the land with blood.

 

· Served Baals (Jud 3:7, 10:6) *the god Baal served by Canaanites, Philistines.

· Served Asheroth (Jud 3:7, 10:6) *Ashtaroth, Asheroth, Astarte Canaanite goddess love, war, fertility.

· Served the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.

 

Samuel Was Called As a Prophet and Judge Before Israel Had a King

 

· 1Sa_7:3  Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines." ...

· 1Sa_7:4  So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

 

Solomon’s Idolatrous Wives Turned Him to Other gods (I Ki 11)

· Ashtoreth (1Ki 11:5)

· Milcom also Molech (I Ki 11:5,7)

1) Milcom: BDB Definition [H4432] = “great king”

1) the god of the Ammonites and Phoenicians to whom some Israelites sacrificed their infants in the valley of Hinnom

1a) also ‘Molech’ H4432 (I Ki 11:7) Molech = “king” > Lev. 18:21, 20:2-5.

· Chemosh I Ki 11:7

Chemosh: BDB Def. [H3645 kemôsh] = “subduer”

1) the national deity of the Moabites and a god of the Ammonites

1a) also identified with ‘Baal-peor’, ‘Baal-zebub’, ‘Mars’ and ‘Saturn’

1b) worship of this god was introduced into Jerusalem by Solomon and abolished by king Josiah of Judah (B.L. 2 Ki 23:10)

 

The Kingdom Was Divided Because of These Idolatries

Ahijah and Jeroboam

· 1Ki 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, "Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you

· 1Ki 11:32 (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),

· 1Ki 11:33  because they have forsaken Me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in My ways to do what is right in My eyes and keep My statutes and My judgments, as did his father David.

·  Then what did Jeroboam do? He set up the two calf idols: I Ki 12:26-33.

 

King Ahab Followed Later in the Northern Kingdom

 

· 1Ki 16:29  In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.

· 1Ki 16:30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.

· 1Ki 16:31  And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.

· 1Ki 16:32 Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

· 1Ki 16:33 And Ahab made a wooden image (“the Asherah,”nasb). Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

 

Why the Northern Kingdom Fell to Assyria

 

   In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, 2 Ki 17:6.

· They had feared other gods, 2 Ki 17:7.

· Walked in the statutes of the nations the Lord had cast out, 2 Ki 17:8.

· Left all the commandments of God and “made for themselves a molded image and two calves, made a wooden image and worshiped all the host of heaven, and served Baal,” 2 Ki 17:16.

· 2Ki 17:17 And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

· 2Ki 17:18 Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone.

· 2Ki 17:19 Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the LORD their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.

 

In Samaria Every Nation Among the Transplants Continued to Make gods of Its Own  (2 Kings 17:28-33)

 

   A priest who had been carried captive by the Assyrians was sent to Samaria, dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord. However every nation continued to make gods of its own and worship in the shrines in the high places and in the cities. 

· 2Ki 17:30 The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,

· 2Ki 17:31 and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

· 2Ki 17:32  So they feared the LORD, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.

· 2Ki 17:33  They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods—according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.

 

Ahaz king of Judah Was Doing This When Shalmaneser King of Assyria Took the Northern Kingdom Away

 

· 2Ch 28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD, as his father David had done.

· 2Ch 28:2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made molded images for the Baals.

· 2Ch 28:3 He burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.

· 2Ch 28:4 And he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree. 

 

Manasseh King of Judah Seduced Jerusalem to do More Evil Than the Nations God Destroyed Before Israel (2 Ch. 33:9)

 

· 2Ch 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

· 2Ch 33:2 But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. …

· 2Ch 33:3  For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

· 2Ch 33:4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, "In Jerusalem shall My name be forever."

· 2Ch 33:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

· 2Ch 33:6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

* Note: He’s the king that was taken captive by the King of Assyria to Babylon and then brought back: 2 Ch. 33:10-13.

 

The Book the Law That Had Been Lost Was Found When Cleansing the Temple and Read to King Josiah of Judah

 

· Josiah cleansed the temple of all the articles made for idolatrous worship, 2Ki 23:4. 

· He removed the idolatrous priests who burned incense on the high place in the cities, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven, 2Ki 23:5. 

· And he brought out the wooden image (*Ashera) from the house of the LORD, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people, 2Ki 23:6.

· He tore down the booths of the male cult prostitutes that were in the house of the Lord, 2Ki 23:7.  

· He defiled the high places where the priests burned incense, 2Ki 23:8.

· 2Ki 23:10  And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

 

   Many people in America claim to believe in God and yet stand guilty of taking innocent lives by practicing abortion and promoting infanticide!

 

 

 

The Valley Church of Christ

2375 W. 8th Street, Yuma, AZ 85364

(928) 782-5058 ~ http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com

Sunday Services – Classes ~10:00; Assembly 10:50 am; Evening: 6:00 pm.

Wednesday evening – 7:00 pm.

 

 

To learn more call, visit or visit our website at:

http://yumavalleychurchofchrist.com

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