Among professing believers today, views concerning the depths of human depravity differ. Three passages in Jeremiah reveal that human depravity has reached unimaginable depths that point to a widespread deficiency in the views of many believers concerning human depravity. In fact, these passages show that many humans throughout history have become so depraved as to plunge to a depth of wickedness that Scripture speaks of in a stunningly remarkable way.
Wickedness That Never Came into God’s Heart or Mind
Jeremiah writes three times of the unspeakably wicked practice of child sacrifice that God’s people at that time had engaged in:
Jer 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
Jer 19:5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:
Jer 32:35 And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
These texts make known that the practice of burning children in fire in worship of idols was something that never came into God’s heart or mind as something that His people would ever do! Amazingly, these texts reveal that in their depravity, they had sunk to a depth that was unthinkable to God!
Many other passages also document God’s profound condemnation of this abomination:
Lev 18:21 And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
2Ki 17:17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
Psa 106:37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,
Psa 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
2Ch 28:3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
Eze 16:20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne unto me, and these hast thou sacrificed unto them to be devoured. Is this of thy whoredoms a small matter,
21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
Eze 20:26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the LORD.
Of these additional passages, 2 Chronicles 28:3 is particularly noteworthy because it reveals that the Israelites engaged in this corrupt practice “after [in imitation of] the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.” This passage especially points to the profound dangers of God’s people exposing themselves to the wicked practices of the world.
God-fearing Christians should guard themselves from the corrupting influences of all people who are not like God (Ps. 1:1), including those professing Christians who live worldly lives permeated by the sensuality of the world. As 2 Kings 17:17 and other texts of Scripture warn us, we must especially shun all contact with objects and practices used in connection with encountering evil supernatural beings or stemming from contact with them, including musical styles that are associated with people influenced by them.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
