On The Eagle's Wings

There is nothing that has made a greater impact on my understanding of God as Father than the accounts from scripture that speak of the worship of Molech. The Lord has performed various miracles in our lives over the years, everything from physical healings to spiritual healing to very practical material things. But never have we experienced what the Israelites did, the parting of the Red Sea, manna from the heavens, water from a rock, etc. In spite of some really substantial miracles, the Israelites were unable to consistenty follow God.

We marvel at these things and wonder how they could possibly have become so faithless. At the same time, we need to understand that they had God in their midst, but we have God right within us! I believe the message of the old covenant, from a broader perspective, reveals to us how impossible it is to be consistent in following the Lord apart from His life living through us. It is plain to me that apart from Christ we are incapable of any lasting good and completely vulnerable to all forms of heinous sin. One need not look too far to find proof of this today. Child sacrifices are still happening in pagan religions around the world.

Let's take a look at this from scripture. 2 Kings 23, Lev. 18, 20, I Kings 11, and Jer. 32  refer to the Israelite's worship of Molech.

Jer. 32:35 says, "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 to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin."

Over the centuries of biblical history God's people at times participated in gruesome orgies that involved offering helpless children into the red hot arms of Molech to burn to their death.  Topheth is the name of the area in the Valley of Hinnom where these cermonies took place.  God clearly says it never came to His mind that they they should do this abomination! The word abomination means ' a disgusting thing'. It had never occurred to God that His people would do this DISGUSTING thing!!! The sad thing is, over the course of time, much of Christianity has been taught that God Himself will one day engage in this abomination, this DISGUSTING thing.  Why?

The Valley of the Son of Hinnom is the same place referred to in the New Testament as the Valley of Gehenna and is rendered 'hell' in most translations.  It is also found once in the book of James. I will list the references here for you so you can look them up if you like. Matt. 1:18, 23, 30; 10:28; 18:9; 23:15,33; Mark 9:43,45,47; Luke 12:5; James 3:6. None of the other New Testament writers ever mention it, likely because only the Jews would have been familiar with this place. By Jesus' time, it was no longer the place where people sacrificed their children to Molech but it was still burning on a regular basis as it had become the city dump situated outside the gates of the Jerusalem. The bodies of criminals and others who were not worthy of a proper burial were burned there along with the refuse of the city. 

There is one other word in the New Testament 'tartaroo' that is translated 'hell' and found in  2 Pet. 2:4.  More about that another time. The other word in the new testament, hades, often translated 'hell' should correctly read 'grave'. All words rendered 'hell' in the Old Testament are from the Hebrew word 'sheol' which also means 'grave, or 'unseen place'. Hebrew has always been the language of the Jews and therefore is unadulterated by pagan religions. Greek, on the other hand, was first a heathen language and because of this there were meanings attached to words from those pagan roots. Therefore the Greek word for grave, hades, also has attached to it a meaning from ancient Greek mythology referring to, Hades, the god of the underworld. So to the Greek pagans, hades also referred to the place where the god Hades resided.  The word hell is anglo-saxon in origin and means "hidden place" or "to hide".

Ideas of eternal punishment after death were first introduced to the Hebrew people while they were living among the Egyptians during the time of Joseph and later until Moses lead them out.  Throughout Biblical history pagan nations living among or near the Israelites influenced some.  For instance some of Solomon's wives were pagan and he accomodated their practices by setting up places where they could practice their rituals.  During the 400 years of silence between the covenants, these practices became even more widely practiced because many Jews were living among pagans.

Christianity was predominantly unadulterated by this thinking until about 500 years after Christ when the doctrine of eternal damnation began to take hold in the New Testament church.  It wasn't until after the formation of the Roman Catholic Church in Constantine's day that it began being taught as a church doctrine.  The Roman Catholic Church used it as a kind of fear tactic to entice people to pay penance to the church for their sins. When the King James Bible was commissioned just prior to 1611, the translators were instructed to translate it in such a way as to preserve the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church.  This accounts for the mistranslations we find in many Bibles today. Most newer translators are correcting some of these mistakes but the doctrine of eternal damnation is very fixed into the mindset of most of Christianity.   

There are many author's who have written on this subject throughout the centuries. The Bible is the best place to go to study this, and since there are now many lexicons and dictionaries to help us discover the true meanings of the original words, one need not be a scholar in Hebrew and Greek to do so.  We also need to remember at all times that the "anointing that you have received from Him abides in [us] and [we] need not that any man teach [us] but the same anointing teaches [us] of all things, and is truth and is no lie." If reading this has sparked freedom or turmoil within you today, go to the Lord and seek Him to guide you to the truth!

Two of the best and most concretely documented writings that I have read on the subject are the following.  The first is a rather lengthy but concise and elaborately documented study written in 1951 by Thomas Thayer.  The second, written by Dr. Loyal Hurley, is not as long but also well documented. 

The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment by Thomas Thayer

The Outcome of Infinite Grace by Dr. Loyal Hurley

On a personal note, having grown up in Calvinism we were heavily indoctrinated into the idea that God choses some and others he rejects. Having been one of very few people in my denomination over 35 years who was experiencing  a personal, hearing, relationship with the Lord, it was only a small step to embracing this "new" old teaching once the Lord began to take the blinders of doctrine off my eyes. It was so refreshing to my Spirit to be free to love everyone the same. When I came to understand that God's love truly is unfailing, that Christ is indeed the Savior of the World (not just a small portion of it), and that no matter what, our God is big enough to restore all things in His time, I was released to live and to love like I was never able to before. It has been a 9 year 'love story' of progressive transformation and healing for me since that time. 

I am convinced that the reason the majority of genuine Christians do not hear His voice daily or consistently is because of this misunderstanding. I am also convinced that victory has been unattainable for many because it is impossible to truly and completely trust a dangerous God, who will at some point throw a portion of his children (including some of your friends and family) into the fires of hell eternally.  This teaching has kept God's people in fear and condemnation far too long.  God is not the author of confusion, and His children seeking to walk in obedience need not fear Him as though He were an abusive father. Oh, how I long for the day when all will see Him as He truly is!