a frat party worshipping that good Christian
God MOLECH
http://www.ancientroute.com/religion/Godsname/molech.htm
"MOLECH
mo' lek
THE GOD
Molech was an ancient fire deity, of a
common type worshipped throughout Canaan
generally, and Phoenicia particularly. Under
various names, depending upon the city or
country, Molech is essentially identical
with Chemosh of Moab, and probably Melqart
of Tyre. The general name for this type of
fire god used throughout Palestine was Baal,
meaning ‘lord.’ Molech was the national
deity of the country of Ammon, east of the
Jordan, or the Ammonites. Molech was also
worshipped by the Israelites on many
occasions, much to the distress of the
prophets.
According to Jewish tradition, the cult idol
of Molech was made of brass, hollow, and
with hands so positioned that something laid
therein would fall to the fire below. The
practice of laying a child across the hands,
and thus committing them to the fire, was
termed ‘pass through the fire to Molech.’
The priests of Molech, called Chemarim, were
held in high esteem, much like priests were
in other cults throughout the ancient world.
The position of priest was held by men of
high rank and noble birth, and they surely
wielded much influence over their flock.
While there have been several attempts to
associate Molech with the god of the
Israelites, Yahweh, this is most improbable.
Whenever the ancient texts speak of Molech,
he is always termed as a foreign deity
relative to the Israelites. The conclusion
that they were two different deities is
inescapable. That the Israelites
occasionally became enamored with the cult
of Molech is also inescapable. There are
many passages in the Bible where the
prophets do verbal battle against the
influence of these foreign gods.
During the early days of the Israelite’s,
when they were first taking possession of
Palestine, the worship of various sun- or
fire-gods was common throughout Canaan.
Offerings were often made by fire [called holocaust by the Jews], and
there were many similarities between deities
from different neighboring countries. As
time passed, these deities were assimilated
into Israel, with various traditions
retained, and others discontinued.
RITES
As mentioned before, Molech was a fire-god
and many things were sacrificed to him by
burning. Ancient sources mention food and
drink, birds and animals, and of course,
humans occasionally. However, the practice
most spoken of was the sacrifice of young
children to the fires of Molech. This
practice was especially abhorred by the
ancients, and not just the Jews. The Greeks
and Romans also mention this inhuman rite in
derogatory terms.
From the position of those who worshipped
Molech, the sacrifice of one’s first born
child, or any child, was the ultimate
sacrifice. It was done only at times of
extreme hardship, and not necessarily
willingly. And the practice was not unusual
to the deity of Molech. We see the sacrifice
of children in other cults also; Chemosh of
Moab, Melqart of Tyre, and Yahweh of the
Israelites. However, what seemed to be so
abhorred was the practice of sacrificial
burning. While the Israelites occasionally
slit the throat of their first-born, they
never committed them to the flames of the
holocaust. Early in the history of the
Israelites, after seeing the rites of
Molech, they passed laws among themselves
that if any man made or permitted his
children to "pass through the fire" he was
to be put to death.
Diodorus gives an account of the rite,
concerning the bronze statue of Molech. He
mentions that the relatives caressed the
infants to prevent them from crying. This
would imply that they were sent through the
flames while still alive. If this be true,
then one can readily see why others would
detest the practice.
THE TOPHETH
The sacred precinct of Molech is called the
topheth in the Bible. The area is a
graveyard of sorts, where the ashes of
victims are placed in an urn. Examination of
the remains of bones indicate that most of
the victims are young children, although
occasionally as much as twelve years old.
There are also instances of adults. It is
know that the immolation of an adult each
year in the fall was a normal practice in
the fire-god cults.
There are also many animals and birds
represented as substitute, but apparently
human victims under two predominate. They
were the ones afforded special burial in the
sacred precinct of the god Molech. Some of
these graveyards run into the thousands of
victims. Finally, the site would be
indicated by a stele in many cases, and some
were inscribed. This practice went on for a
very long time; many centuries, judging from
the size of the topheth.
The original appearance of the topeth is
unknown, and the word is interpreted as
‘place of fire’ or ‘hearth.’ We know of
several of these sanctuaries, some from the
literature and a few from archeological
work. The most famous would be that
mentioned in the Bible, said to be in the
valley of Hinnom, just outside of Jerusalem.
The valley of Hinnom runs out into the
Kidron valley in the south of Jerusalem.
Hinnom became Gehenna to the Greeks, which
is the Greek word for Hell. This is the
sanctuary destroyed by Josiah.
Other topheth sanctuaries have been found at
Nora, Motya, and several sites in north
Africa. A topheth at Hadrumetum near
Carthage in north Africa is very large,
proving the practice went on for an extended
time. This sanctuary lasted throughout the
life of the Punic city. Urns, thousands of
them, were buried under stone cairns, and
contain the burned bones of young children.
Many burials are marked with little stele, a
few inscribed. This site lasted throughout
the life of Carthage, remaining in use from
c.812 till 145 BCE, when Carthage fell to
the Romans.
Etymology
Hebrew Molech, king (mo' lek); The name
Molech presents many problems to the
interpreters of the original texts. The word
means king, and there several variations,
using the familiar terminations om and am.
Hence, the word is also rendered as Milcom,
or Malcam, and are then proper names. It is
possible that Melqart is another such
variation. In short, it is difficult to
decide if Molech is a simple appellative
meaning king, and therefore a variation of
lord, or is in fact a proper name.
HISTORY
Solomon (King of Palestine, 973 – 933 BCE )
Solomon is well known for the building of
the great Jewish Temple. But he apparently
got carried away with his building projects,
because in his old age he also built a
temple for several other deities, notably
Chemosh and Molech, in the valley of Hinnom.
This he did to console several of is many
wives, who were from these foreign
countries. While it is occasionally said
that Solomon introduced these cults to
Israel, in reality, he simply gave an
existing cult an official stamp. The cults
had existed in the land of Canaan for many
centuries before the Israelites came to
Palestine.
Ahaz (King of Judah, 736 - 720 BCE)
After the disruption, the worship of the
fire-gods became common in both Israel and
Judah. Israel drifted the farthest from the
Jewish Yahweh, but Judah also strayed often.
Ahaz was the first king of Judah to
sacrifice children to Molech, at the altar
in the Valley of Hinnom. With the example
set by royalty, the cult of Molech became
the bane of Judah.
Manasseh (King of Judah, 693 - 639 BCE)
The king Manasseh has the distinction of
being the first king to cause his own son to
‘pass through the fire to Molech’ and was
forever condemned by the prophets. He was
later carried to Assyria, and when he
returned, he was reformed. He condemned the
foreign deities, and worshipped only Yahweh.
This, however, gave little comfort to the
son who was previously sacrificed…
Meanwhile, the northern tribes in Israel
were also performing this hideous rite, but
little was written about it.
Josiah (King of Judah, 639 - 608 BCE )
Finally, the Bible tells us, Josiah
destroyed these foreign cults and idols. He
defiled the sanctuary in the valley of
Hinnom, and the many other high places. He
destroyed the altar made by Solomon and the
prophet Jeremiah predicted that the valley
would e called the ‘valley of slaughter.’
The name Hinnom became the general term for
Hell.
While the cult of Molech was suppressed
under the early reign of King Josiah, what
is also important here is that Josiah became
king at the age of eight. Thus it was
Jeremiah who led the purge throughout Judah.
One can only imagine the slaughter during
the religious reformation, when anyone
connected with the foreign cults was
declared in violation of the laws of Yahweh
and condemned.
Jehoiakim (King of Judah, 608-597 BCE)
King Jehoiakim reinstated the foreign cults,
and Molech was probably among them although
it is not specifically mentioned. The
prophet Jeremiah, now an old man, wrote a
letter condemning the changes, and Jehoiakim
had the letter burnt before being read in
full. The rift between royalty and the
prophetic party was now deep and permanent.
The kingdom of Judah remained idolatrous
until the captivity in Babylon."
But, worshipping Molech in the Cremation of
Care ceremony is OK...cuz Bush is a good
Christian.... < wink >
Tom Barger
DemandRelevance
gdZiemann
CodeWarrior
goldenpi
sorry.
(Hunt had predicted that the 1988 
autodidact