Jeremiah the Weeping Prophet - No. 12
Idolatry Destroys Families and Children - Jeremiah 7:16-8:3
When Satan seeks to destroy the world, he attacks families. He is never content to focus on one generation, lest his strategy for destroying God’s good creation fades away after that generation is gone.
“Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes to offer to the Queen of Heaven. They pour out drink offerings to other gods to arouse my anger. But am I the one they are provoking? declares the Lord. Are they not rather harming themselves, to their own shame?" Jeremiah 7:17-19
Entire families are enlisted to worship a demonic god called the “Queen of Heaven.” This was the goddess of war and fertility for crops, animals, and women. The women of Israel enlisted their children to prepare cakes shaped in this idolatrous image, as the men lit the fires for the wood gathered by their children. Worshipping idolatrous gods didn’t just happen with corrupt priests, it was happening in the everyday lives and homes of the people who should have been worshipping God.
As a result, God says they are not provoking Him as much as they are harming and shaming themselves. As Christopher J.H. Wright says in his book, The Message of Jeremiah, “…idolatry is self-harm.”
The primary command God gave his people was ultimately summed up in one word: obedience.
“I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” Jeremiah 7:23-24
The idolatry of the land had progressed to the point that God bluntly tells Jeremiah, “Truth has perished; it has vanquished from their lips.” (v. 7:28)
This is epitomized by the detestable actions that followed,
‘The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, declares the Lord. They have set up their detestable idols in the house that bears my Name and have defiled it. They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind.” Jeremiah 7:30-31
The violent outcome of turning away from God to worship idols is expressed most clearly when people sacrifice their own sons and daughters, something God says he never commanded or even considered. It doesn’t take much imagination to find child sacrifice in the modern world: child abuse fueled by rampant pornography, abortion, children suffering as the result of broken homes, child slavery, sex trafficking, and people using children to push evil agendas of far-left gender ideology all represent the same fruit of idolatrous behavior.
As Christians today, we are called to worship the one true God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as we stand boldly to protect the lives of children in our world today. Otherwise, we will experience the same outcome as the people of God in Jeremiah’s time,
“At that time, declares the Lord, the bones of the kings and officials of Judah, the bones of the priests and prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem will be removed from their graves. They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.” Jeremiah 8:1-2
God is aggressively opposed to the destruction, abuse, and manipulation of the children. We see this in the words of Jesus as well, “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matthew 18:6
It’s time for followers of Christ to stand firm and protect our children as we stand in absolute commitment to God.
Protect the innocent children