The American Holocaust
1KI 11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter--Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.
1KI 11:7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.
1KI 11:23 And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah. 24 He gathered men around him and became the leader of a band of rebels when David destroyed the forces of Zobah; the rebels went to Damascus, where they settled and took control. 25 Rezon was Israel’s adversary as long as Solomon lived, adding to the trouble caused by Hadad. So Rezon ruled in Aram and was hostile toward Israel.
1KI 11:26 Also, Jeroboam son of Nebat rebelled against the king. He was one of Solomon’s officials, an Ephraimite from Zeredah, and his mother was a widow named Zeruah.
1KI 11:27 Here is the account of how he rebelled against the king: Solomon had built the supporting terraces and had filled in the gap in the wall of the city of David his father. 28 Now Jeroboam was a man of standing, and when Solomon saw how well the young man did his work, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.
1KI 11:29 About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. 32 But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33 I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molech the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in my ways, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my statutes and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.
God had forbidden the Israelites to worship Chemosh or Molech. Both of them are the gods of fire, Chemosh is Moabite god and Molech is the Ammonite god. But what did they sacrifice to these gods? The people of Moab and Ammon sacrificed their firstborn sons to these gods. Some say the children were to pass through the fire, the fire would be on two sides and the children would walk through the middle. But that is not what Isaiah, Jeremiah or Ezekiel understood. It is clear from reading the prophets that the children were killed and burned. The whole point of the offering consisted, therefore, in the fact that it was a human sacrifice. For what reason? To bring blessing upon the family. The father, with his arms outstretched, holding his firstborn son, he walked toward this statue of a man with the head of a calf and turned down horns. The statue would have its arms out to receive the sacrifice. The child was put in a iron mold of Molech and placed in the fire. Now we see why God called this an abomination.
You say, how barbaric, you are repulsed that people acted in such a way. How can civilized people sacrifice their children in such a way? It is interesting you are repulsed in such a way. Actually you may even be taken back by the passage we read. How could such a smart man like Solomon, such a godly man as he was, turn to such a practice? How could Israel which had seen the mighty workings of God, turn to this detestable god, who is no god at all?
It was Jan 1973 when our Supreme Court handed down its decision to allow abortions on demand. Before this decision, abortions could only be performed to save the mother’s life. The Court held that a woman’s right to an abortion fell within the right to privacy (recognized in Griswold v. Connecticut) protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision gave a woman a right to abortion during the entirety of the pregnancy and defined different levels of state interest for regulating abortion in the second and third trimesters. As a result, the laws of 46 states were affected by the Court’s ruling.
Why are children aborted? The Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) states 1% are victims of incest or rape, 1% had fetal abnormalities, 4% had a doctor who said their health would worsen if they continued the pregnancy, 50% said they didn’t want to be a single parent or they had problems in the current relationship, 66% said stated they could not afford a child, 75% said the child would interfere with their lives or career.
Before I go on I want to address one of the issues raised here. The survey says 4% had doctors who said their health would worsen. C. Everett Koop, formerly Surgeon General, stated that during his 35-plus years of practicing medicine, “Never once did a case come across my practice where abortion was necessary to save a mother’s life.”
I have a cousin Karen, she was pregnant with her second child, and about her 2nd month, she had a brain aneurysm. She became paralyzed on her left side and blind in her left eye. The doctors feared if she went full term she would die. They monitored the baby and the baby was fine, yet Karen’s health continued to fall. About her 5th month she could hardly stand, yet she would not give up. The doctors also feared the child would be severely handicapped as a result. Entering her 6th month, the doctors performed a C-section and delivered the baby. Today, Karen is completely healthy having fully recovered from her aneurysm, and her daughter Kara is a beautiful 20-year-old lady, fully healthy, a singer, dancer and gymnast. She thanks her mother everyday for giving her life
A recent poll of couples in New England revealed that if they were able to know the future 1% would abort a child on the basis of sex, 6% would about a child likely to get Alzheimer’s disease, and incredibly 11% would abort a child predisposed to obesity.
Abortions happen in America, a nation founded under Godly principles for all people. The preamble to the Declaration of Independence calls for the pursuit of Life, Liberty and happiness. It calls these three God given inalienable rights. Well maybe you heard it said, “It is a fetus, it is not alive yet” Medical authorities determined a person to be “alive” if the is either a detectable heartbeat or brain-wave activity. It is eye opening to realize that a heartbeat is discernable less than 18 days after conception, and there are detectable brain waves in less than 45 days after conception. What is so shocking is that essentially all abortions occur after the seventh week or 50 days after conception.
How many babies are aborted? Worldwide about 55 million babies are aborted every year. And those are the reported cases. You might sit back and say well that is mostly in those third world countries or communists’ countries where they do not value life as we do. In the US over 1.6 million babies are aborted every year and that number is climbing. That is about 3% of all abortions are done here in America, a land founded on Godly principals, whose declaration of Independence declares that all people have the God given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
What we need to look at is what God did in Israel because of this grievous sin.
31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. 32 But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33 I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molech the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in my ways, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my statutes and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.
God handed them over to their enemies; they became a divided nation that was eventually carried off into captivity. God removed his blessing on Israel; he made them a poor nation that would continually be overrun by others. (Assyria, Babylon, Greek, and Romans) Eventually they became a dispersed nation and for nearly 1900 years they were a people without a home, wanderers around the earth, like Cain. That could be our future as well.
What could we do?
1. Teach our children right and wrong, don’t wait until something happens
2. Educate ourselves
3. Talk to our neighbors about the sanctity of life
4. Work at Prevention centers, open our homes
5. PRAY
This holocaust is going on, these unborn children need us to speak for them; we may never get that law changed. But we can educate people and show them there is a choice, and help them choose life. No longer sacrificing children to the god of convinence. In Israel, Josiah tore down the altars to Molech and the other gods, we can do the same by simply teaching others the truth of life and the gift we have in Jesus.
Abortion is not the unforgivable sin. Those who have had abortions and those who performed them can and will be forgiven, if they likewise repent. Let us teach our children and others, there are alternatives and show them the Love that God shows for them and the children.
