Modern Molechianism

by Paul Wolff

The Holy Scriptures are clear and consistent in their condemnation of abortion and similar infanticide. One of the strongest condemnations of abortion is found in Jeremiah 32:35, “They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.” 

God is not capricious, nor uncaring when it comes to dealing with sinful humans. For example, divorce occurs as a result of sin, but God allows divorce in recognition of the sinful hearts of people and in order to minimize further sin. However, when it comes to child killing God says that it never even entered His mind. This shows how far people had gone away from God that they would do something so completely foreign to God that it is never even the lesser of two evils as divorce may sometimes be.

Some people may object to using the condemnations of Molechianism as an argument against abortion by saying that absolutely none of the one million (!!) abortions done in the United States every year are done to seek the favor of Molech. This is true, as far as it goes, but is does not negate the Biblical condemnation of Molechianism for at least two reasons that I can think of off the top of my head. First, God knows that Molech is nothing, but He is just as angry that the people are murdering their children as He is angry that they are doing it in honor of a god who can’t save them or help them in any way. At other times (2 Kings 16:3 & 21;6; Psalm 106:37-39; Isaiah 57:5; Ezekiel 16:20-21; and others), God condemns infanticide without mentioning Molech. 

Another reason we should not dismiss the Biblical condemnations of Molechianism is that although the method and technology of infanticide has changed, the result (the death of children) is exactly the same, and the wicked motivations are exactly the same today as in ancient times. People want to have their pleasure and avoid the consequences, even if it takes murder to do it.

We like to believe that ancient people were primitive and superstitious, and that we are sophisticated and advanced. This feeds our pride and makes us feel superior. However, this is another one of the many lies of Darwinism. A close reading of history shows that although technology and culture differs through time and place, people have been the same since the very beginning. 

Darwinists have a fascination with primitive cultures, but they don’t recognize that modern primitive people have long since removed themselves from the greater society. Primitivism is a dead end. Civilization doesn’t spring from primitivism, instead primitivism comes from a breakdown of civilization. Whatever civilization the ancestors of modern primitive people brought with them was lost through war, or false theology, or other disaster. Yet, even the most primitive people on earth are still human and still retain some cultural practices that no animals have. 

So when we read the Biblical condemnations of Molechianism we shouldn’t dismiss that as the actions of primitive superstitious people who didn’t know any better. Ancient people loved their children as much (and as little) as modern people do. They also knew that Molech wasn’t a real god. 

I suspect that ancient Molechianism started in a time of famine when parents felt they had to choose between their survival and their children’s, and someone invented Molech to ease the murderous parents’ guilty consciences. However they may have justified it, it was still an evil practice, but once the practice was established in extreme cases sinful people surely found new uses for Molech. Prostitutes and other adulterers could call on Molech to dispose of the fruits of their wickedness and so the evil expanded. Once this happened it was easy to call on Molech to discard children for any reason. Children have always been the most vulnerable members of society because they must rely on their parents or guardians to protect them and provide for their needs. When parents are unwilling to care for their children then those children are in great danger. 

I see ancient Molechianism as the same pathological narcissism that causes modern women to abort their babies for reasons of personal convenience. 

The most compelling (though still false) argument for abortion is in a case where the life of the mother is in danger. Yet those who propose abortion as a solution still seek to murder the baby rather than try to deliver the child and save both mother and child. These situations are exceedingly rare. There are probably only a couple hundred such cases (or less) each year in the U.S. which is a microscopic fraction of over one million babies killed each year by abortion. 

One case in the news recently was a mother who was diagnosed with cancer and chose to forgo chemotherapy until her baby could be delivered safely. That mother chose to risk (and ultimately sacrifice) her life in favor of her child’s life. That mother demonstrated the true love and self-sacrifice that we only find in Christ. Now, I know that although we hope that all people would come to faith in Christ and obey His Word gladly it is unrealistic to expect that to happen. Nevertheless, we still ought to encourage people not to murder their children even through making and enforcing laws against such things.

Remember the story in Genesis 22 where God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac. Abraham went and was going to do as God had asked, even though it seemed out of character for God to ask such a thing, but God stopped Abraham before he harmed Isaac. Instead, “God did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for us all.” (Romans 8:32) It would have been much more convenient and comfortable for Jesus to let us suffer the consequences of our sin, but He chose the path of self-sacrifice and suffered and died on the cross in order to redeem us from our wickedness and save us from sin and death. 

Because of Jesus there is certainly forgiveness even for those who murder their children. However there is still great pain and guilt and consequences for this great wickedness. We should work hard to end the terrible slaughter of modern Molechianism out of love for our neighbor, but we should also be there to offer Christ’s forgiveness to those who have succumbed to the spirit of the age but who repent of their sins and seek healing.

Don’t Trash the Dress

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Window from Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois

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Galatians 3:26-27

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Isaiah 61:10

“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

Revelation 7:13-14

Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes – who are they, and where did they come from?’

I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’

And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’

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There is a fad among some wedding photographers to schedule a photo session with a new bride some days or weeks after the wedding ceremony where the bride gets dressed up in her wedding gown once again and then proceeds to “trash the dress”. From what I have seen this usually involves the bride ending up swimming in the ocean or river or pond or pool, but the effect is that it ruins the dress. Visually it often looks like a baptism gone wrong, though I suppose that if this fad catches on sinful minds will come up with all sort of terrible ways to destroy a beautiful dress.

Jesus and the woman at the well from Emmanuel Lutheran Dearborn, Michigan

I do not like this practice on several levels. First, the Seventh Commandment forbids us from stealing, which includes destroying anyone’s property, including our own. Many times when I have taught this commandment I have heard objections stating that people can do as they please with the things that belong to them. This is not a Christian way of doing things. If we have more than what we need then we should share with others who are lacking, not wantonly destroy our possessions so that neither we, nor others can use them. Because of this I do not like the destruction of anything that can be put to further use, even if that use is simply to remind the bride of her wedding day and marriage vows.

Second, it used to be the practice for the bride to preserve and protect her wedding gown so that the dress would look as good on the couple’s 50th anniversary as it did on their wedding day. This was done in recognition that marriage was for life and something generally only done once in a lifetime. A wedding gown, like marriage itself, was treasured as something valuable worth preserving. This is less common in our society, and out of this comes the “trash the dress” practices. If marriage is not something to be preserved at great cost, then what is a dress? This destructive fad reinforces the belief that marriage is something easily discarded and this is another reason why I do not like it.

Window from Trinity Lutheran Church in Herscher, Illinois

Third, the Holy Scriptures often portray the Christian’s relationship with God with the metaphor of the bride and groom. Christ is the perfect, loving groom who cherishes His bride, the Church, so that He gives His life to redeem her from sin and death. The effect of Christ’s sacrifice is to wash away the stain of our sins and to clothe us with pure white robes of His perfect righteousness. These pure righteous robes are not like clothing that covers up something shameful, but they reveal the righteousness of Christ which is given to His people by faith to purify them inside and out. This scriptural imagery of marriage to describe God’s gracious relationship with us is the main reason why I do not like the “trash the dress” practice.

All people at some point in our lives treat Christ’s righteousness as if it were some raggedy old garment which could be thrown in the trash at will. We do this whenever we think that our own attempts at righteousness are somehow more pleasing in God’s sight than the redeeming work of Christ on our behalf. In the Parable of the Wedding Banquet (Matthew 22:2-14) the man who is found not wearing the wedding garment (i.e. Christ’s righteousness) is thrown out of the feast. Here Jesus teaches that we will never receive salvation if we rely on our righteous acts to clothe us in preparation for God’s eternal wedding reception. Only Christ’s righteousness can properly clothe us so that we may receive the gracious gifts of eternal salvation from our beloved God.

Because of this Scriptural imagery of the wedding garment, let us encourage one another to avoid the practice of “trashing the dress” and instead encourage one another not only to treasure marriage and the traditional wedding practices which view marriage as a lifelong gift from God, but even more let us treasure the gift of Christ’s work of salvation which clothes us in an eternal robe of Christ’s own righteousness that we may, by His grace, feast with Him at His eternal wedding banquet.

When Patriotism Becomes an Idol

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Whenever the patriotic celebrations come around there is temptation to display our patriotism in the worship service by singing patriotic songs and saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Some try to sanctify the secular pledge to the flag by combining it with a pledge of allegiance to the cross and/or the “Christian flag”. There may be a place for patriotism, however, the Christian worship service is neither the time nor the place for this.

The problem is not with patriotism nor with the Pledge of Allegiance. I love my country and I do not hesitate to say the Pledge of Allegiance with my hand over my heart on nearly all occasions, but not during the worship service. The divine service was instituted by God for the purpose of delivering forgiveness and salvation to us through His Means of Grace (i.e. the Word and Sacraments). Whenever we add elements to the worship service which don’t deliver the Means of Grace we take our attention away from Christ, which makes these added elements idols.

Not only is nationalistic patriotism NOT a Means of Grace, it isn’t even commanded by God. Though God rules in the secular world (the Kingdom of the Left Hand) and in the Church (the Kingdom of the Right Hand), He doesn’t require patriotic pledges. If you look in the Small Catechism under the Table of Duties for Citizens you will find that what is required of Christians for good citizenship is to pay our taxes and submit to those in authority out of love (except where such authorities require us to break God’s commandments, then we must obey God rather than men). This is another reason why it is inappropriate to require the Pledge of Allegiance in the worship service.

One more thing to consider is that not all Christians are Americans. Most Christians are not Americans and have no desire nor reason to pledge allegiance to the American Flag. God’s Word and Holy Baptism are universal. They are for everyone. Communion fellowship is restricted to those of the same confession (Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, etc.), but while an African Lutheran (for example) can commune in an American Lutheran church, he would not pledge allegiance to the American Flag.

Patriotism, too, can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the actions of the State. When Patriotism is used to support truth, justice, and a benevolent government, then it is a good thing. When Patriotism is used to support wicked and unjust governments then it is a great evil. An example of the latter is the German army in World War II. They were not all Nazis, but their patriotic support for the National Socialists (Nazis) was a great evil. This particular example does not necessarily explain the “why” or “why not” of patriotic pledges in the worship service, but it just shows that some discretion is necessary.

Not all Americans are Patriots, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Many people just want to live their lives in peace and fulfill their Godly vocations, and there is nothing inherently sinful about that. Because of this, and the fact that patriotism is not commanded by God, we ought not make anyone feel guilty for not being particularly patriotic, nor should we make anyone feel as if they are a better Christian just because they are patriotic. This view is unpopular in some circles, I know, but I am a minister of the Gospel of Christ, and I am much more concerned about the Spiritual well-being of God’s people than their patriotic feelings. I do not wish anyone to confuse the Gospel for patriotism, because they are not the same, nor are they related. There is no salvation to be found in national patriotism. Salvation is only found in Christ Jesus.

In the First Commandment God says, “You shall have no other Gods before me.” When we add practices to our worship service which God has not commanded, and which do not deliver the Means of Grace, we are placing a false god before the True God. This also applies to the Pledge of Allegiance. While the Pledge is not necessarily idolatrous in its proper context (though it can be), it does become an idol when we place it in the worship service. It does no good to try to sanctify the Pledge with a pledge to the Cross and/or the “Christian Flag.” These also are not commanded by God. We confess our faith in God’s work of salvation when we confess the creeds, and there is plenty of Biblical examples encouraging us to do this, but nowhere in Scripture is there a separate requirement to pledge allegiance to the cross. As to the “Christian Flag,” I am not even sure where that comes from. Christianity is not a national identity like being a citizen of the United States. Christians are citizens of every nation on earth (even where it is illegal to do so), so I don’t know what it means to pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag, but if there can be a proper context for doing this, the worship service is not it.

You may well find me pledging allegiance to the U.S. flag on patriotic holidays like Independence Day, September 11th, etc. but it won’t be in Church. I look to Christ alone for forgiveness and salvation, and the worship service is where these precious gifts are delivered to Christ’s people. There is no salvation apart from Christ even in the greatest country on earth. Some may accuse me of being a hypocrite, but that just shows their misunderstanding of God’s rule in the Kingdom of the Left (secular society) and the Kingdom of the Right (the church). God rules in the world as well as the church, but salvation is not found in the world, but only in the Word and Sacraments as administered in faithful Christian worship services, and we are well served when we keep this distinction clear.

Are Christians Insane?

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The Sower sowing the seed

Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop – a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:1-9)

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“Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing and expect different results.” This is one of many pithy sayings that unbelievers in the church use to discredit Holy Scripture as the only source and norm of doctrine. This saying is assumed to be true and rarely questioned. I suppose whoever questions the validity of this proverb is also assumed to be insane. However, with people’s short attention span these days many only hear the first part of the saying which goes, “Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing.”

Jesus teaching from the boat

What does Jesus say? “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Baptizing and teaching aren’t new. They are the same wonderful things that have been leading people to follow Christ into heavenly Paradise for thousands of years now, but the world says that to make disciples by baptizing and teaching is insane.

What else does Jesus say? In the parable of the Sower (above), Jesus does one thing: sow the seed of the Word; yet this one action brings about at least two, and as many as four different results. For the sake of argument let’s assume the seeds that fall on the path, and among the rocks, and among the weeds all lead to the same result, which is death, or unbelief according to Christ’s interpretation of the parable (Matthew 13:18-23). Those who quote the “insanity proverb” above say it is impossible that one thing (such as proclaiming the Gospel of Christ) can have two different results (such as belief and unbelief). They would say that the only possible result is unbelief because that is their experience. They do not believe the Gospel so they are unable to believe that the “Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16)

The Word of God is powerful. It works to bring life to unbelievers simply through their hearing the message: “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17) The world (and worldly unbelievers in the church) think that because they have taken the opportunity to reject the blessings of the Gospel that the Gospel is weak, and because they have resisted the “power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” they think they are more powerful than Christ Himself. This is one of the reasons why false teaching is so seductive. Yet to all who believe the Word of God they have full forgiveness, life and eternal salvation for Christ is the Word who has redeemed us through His life and death. Let the world call us insane. Sooner or later the world will know that the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

The birds eating the seed

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Disclaimer: The pejorative reference to insanity above is in no way intended to impugn those who, by illness or injury (physical or emotional), are not on a first-name basis with reality. I have the greatest respect for those who struggle with mental illness and yet who continue to trust in Christ Jesus for their forgiveness and salvation.