Providence: the Valley of Gehenna

"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." John 3:16

Good morning! Just a few thoughts from Chapter 3 of Meeting God in Holy Places by F. LaGard Smith, which talks about God's providence in giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins, in order to save us from hell.

The worshipers of Molech offer a different kind of sacrifice. The picture on the right is of people in ancient Israel who sacrificed their sons and daughters to their god Molech in the Valley of Hinnom (now the Valley of Gehenna). These people believed that there were gates to pass through to be in the presence of their god.

Lagard describes the ritual: "The sacrifice of a pigeon permitted the worshiper to pass through the first gate, a sacrificed goat through the second, and so on. But only the sacrifice of a son or daughter permitted a man to pass through the seventh and last gate into the very presence of Molech. This pagan practice had the worshiper kiss his child and place it into the red-hot arms of the idol, inside of which was a continually burning fire. To muffle the screams of the children who were 'passing through the fire,' onlookers would frenetically beat loud drums."

Referring to these Molech worshipers in Israel, God spoke through Jeremiah to say: "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." Topheth, at the southeast end of the valley, takes its name from the root word toph, meaning drum. God's anger was so great against this practice that He declared a punishment on these people: "The days are coming...when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room." God's prophecy is fulfilled when Josiah destroyed the altars, broke apart the idol Molech, and burned the bones of its priests, dumping them into the valley.

The valley from that time became a garbage dump for Jerusalem, and the refuse thrown into it fueled a constantly burning fire. Jesus refers to a place of fire where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched," completing the picture where bodies are "thrown into hell" to be burned up. And again, Jesus speaks of hell as a place of punishment, banishment, and destruction, when he says: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

We've all heard jokes about "cold days in hell" and "hell freezing over," but eternal punishment, eternal destruction, and eternal banishment from the presence of God is not a laughing matter.

I thought this blog could be finished in one, but tomorrow I'll give the redeeming part of the picture. Have a good day! Blessings...Mimi