It was on this day in 1944 that Nazis raided the ghetto of Lodz, Lithuania, and removed all of its children for execution. It’s hard to imagine that there are people who could be so cold as to hurt children. But unfortunately, from the beginning, we see that the adversary has always found someone willing to do just that. 

The first villian who comes to mind is the Pharaoh who issued the decree that all male Hebrew children should be thrown into the Nile. Next up in the hall of shame is Herod the Great. He stands out because, in his desire to hold onto power, he was willing to slaughter innocent children in a futile attempt to kill the infant Messiah. There’s no telling how many murders he was responsible for. Then, of course, there’s Hitler – the man responsible for the deaths of millions of children and their parents, as well. In all of them, we see that it was their hatred of Israel that provoked them to do such awful things. Sadly, that hatred for God’s people continues unabated to this day. As awful as it is that there are people who would murder someone else’s children, the Bible informs us that, at certain times in her history, Israel engaged in barbarous actions by offering their own children unto Molech.

“But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 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.” (Jeremiah 32:34-35)

Its hard to imagine the mindset of someone who would do something so terrible as to offer their own children to some lifeless god. Though we are tempted to relegate it to ignorance and the fanciful beliefs of ancient peoples, the reality is these kinds of things are happening today. We may not literally cause our sons and our daughters to pass through the fire and offer them to some idol called Molech but, through the allure of societal trends and pop culture, the enemy has devoured many of our children. Moreover, we are the ones responsible for allowing this to happen.

Let’s face it: the younger generation has been ensnared by the culture because they learned from our example, just as we learned from our parents. In some cases, our children have been driven to worldly things because of our apathy or because of our own obsession with those less important things. While there’s nothing we can do to change the past, we can still affect the future. We do not have to continue relinquishing our children to “Molech.” We can and, with God’s help, will reclaim our children. 

Consider that the first born of Israel was redeemed from Egypt because the blood of a lamb was placed on their doorpost by their father. In other words, their redemption was accomplished because of the obedience of their fathers and not their own, necessarily. Noah’s family was delivered from the flood waters because “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” The Philippian jailer was promised that he and his household could have eternal life because of his belief. There is hope for our children and grandchildren if we will be faithful to serve our Creator. God will work on our behalf when we are submitted to obey Him and can accomplish what we could never accomplish where our children are concerned.

Understanding that, we need to dedicate ourselves to pursue righteousness as never before so that our children will see that the distinctions between clean and unclean are clear. Furthermore, let us consistently petition our Father on behalf of our children, that they may be delivered from the clutches of a very corrupt world. Noah preached righteousness to his generation for 100 years, and in the end, though all others had ignored his appeal, he did convince his family to onboard.

Shalom.