There are some well meaning Christians who are totally against divine determinism and use Scripture passages such as (Jeremiah 19:1-5, 32:34-35) to assert that God does not decree all things, however they sadly misinterpret these text and seemingly ignore the further context of the subject at hand - which is child sacrifice. A careful study will show that God did actually decree/determine for Israel/Judah to eat the flesh of their sons and daughters as punishment for their disobedience; God had given them over to their sinful desires. Some attempt to ascribe the word DECREE among these two passages in question to argue their point that there is no such teaching involving divine determinism that is taught in scripture - but a more accurate interpretation of the Hebrew word [dabar 1696] would preferably be SPEAK IT or MENTION IT; while also considering and not neglecting the ENTIRE context regarding the subject of child sacrifice throughout the rest of the Old Testament scriptures. For the meaning of particular words are always derived by it's context of which it is being used. For example, a more accurate rendering of this particular verse of scripture in question should read as such - "I did not command it or mention it, nor either did it enter my mind".
The Scripture declares God did not COMMAND the children of Israel nor the sons of Judah NOR did it ENTER GOD'S MIND as a GOOD and HOLY THING of SPIRITUAL SERVICE for His people to offer sacrifices of their children to Himself and especially other god's; this desire was never expressed by God - in fact, it was rightfully FORBIDDEN (Leviticus 18:21, Leviticus 20:1-5, Deuteronomy 12:31, Deuteronomy 18:9-14, Jeremiah 32:34-35) !!!
Decidedly, God had given his people over to the Customs/Laws of Pagan nations such as (child sacrifice) as punishment for Israel and Judah's PREVIOUS SINS (disobedience as to not keeping the Sabbath holy and having set their eyes on their father's idols) in order that they may ultimately come to the realization that He is indeed a Holy and Just God (Leviticus 26:27-33, Ezekiiel 20:18-26, Deuteronomy 28:53, Jeremiah 19:9, Ezekiel 5:10). God DID NOT EVER "decree" such a thing - such as [child sacrifice] AS GOOD to cause Judah to sin BUT he did give the children of Israel and the sons of Judah over to sinful desires for previous sins to HORRIFY and DEVASTATE them in order that they may know he is the true and living God apart from the other false gods the other nations had imagined in their hearts and worshipped. So in this regard, God DID DECREE the sacrifice of Israel's children as PUNISHMENT for adhering to the sinful customs of the other nations (Ezekiel 20:26; 42-44).
Furthermore, however, I would also argue that God DID ultimately decree and/or predetermine the judicial punishment for Israel and Judah beforehand as it relates to child sacrifice as part of his OVERALL ULTIMATE PLAN for the nation (jeremiah 30 and 31); not only to tear down and destroy because of their sin and disobedience to the Mosaic Covenant (Law of Moses) that was made with them but to also build and plant regarding a future restoration of Israel according to the New Covenant - Deuteronomy 30:1-10, Ezekiel 36:22-38, Hebrews 8:8-12]. In other words, child sacrifice by the people of God was the overall plan of God (Determinism) to bring to pass a specific end goal in order that the remnant of Israel in the latter days may understand the workings of God throughout Israel's history and bring them to faith in the One true God through His Son that they and their ancestors had rejected. This is why the scriptures testify that in the latter days Israel will then understand all that God had done (jeremiah 23:20 and jeremiah 30:24).
SCRIPTURE VERSES AND CONCLUSION TO PROVE MY ARGUMENT.
1) God warned Israel/Judah beforehand about potentially giving their children sacrificially to Molech and sharing in the abominations of the other nations
(A) Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech. - Leviticus 20:1-5
(B) You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods. - Deuteronomy 12:31
(C) When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this. - Deuteronomy 18:9-14
(D) You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the LORD. - Leviticus 18:21
(E) They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. - Jeremiah 32:34-35
(2) As discipline, God determined to punish Israel and give them over to their sinful desires for not obeying His rules or keeping the Sabbath Holy. God gave them over to the laws and customs [child sacrifice] of the other nations and deemed it so that they shall eat the flesh of their own sons and daughters.
(A) But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will [DISCIPLINE YOU] sevenfold for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste. - Leviticus 26:27-33
(B) And I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules, and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’ But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. Moreover, I gave them [over to] statutes [of the heathen nations] that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the LORD. - Ezekiel 20:18-26
(C) During the siege and hardship that your enemy will impose on you, you will eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters whom the LORD your God has given you. - Deuteronomy 28:53
(D) I [the Lord] will [make them] eat the flesh of their sons and daughters, and they will eat one another's flesh in the siege and distress inflicted on them by their enemies who seek their lives. - Jeremiah 19:9
(E) As a result, fathers among you will eat their sons, and sons will eat their fathers. I will [execute judgments against you] and scatter all your remnant to every wind. - Ezekiel 5:10
(3) God gave Israel/Judah over to their sinful hearts because of disobedience in order that He might horrify them with the fear of God.
(A) because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers’ idols. Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might [devastate them]. I did it that they might know that I am the LORD. Ezekiel 20:24-26
(B) And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD. - Ezekiel 20:42-44
(4) The overall plan of God for Israel was to eventually fall into grave sin; even apostasy - only to restore them in the latter days; so that they may come to know the true living God by way of all His attributes being revealed. God used Israel's sinful disobedience as a means to this end for His glory.
(A) For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands - DEUTERONOMY 29:31:29-30
(B) But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear - DEUTERONOMY 29:4
(C) The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand it clearly - JEREMIAH 23:20
(D) The fierce anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. In days to come you will understand this - JEREMIAH 30:24
(E) When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them - DEUTERONOMY 4:30-31
(F) “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass that as I have watched over them to pluck up and break down, to overthrow, destroy, and bring harm, so I will watch over them to build and to plant, declares the LORD. - Jeremiah 31:27-28
(G) ......... “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” - Hebrews 8:8-12
(H) I will no longer hide my face from them [Israel], for I will pour out my Spirit on the people of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD. - EZEKIEL 39:29
(I) And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son - ZECHARIAH 12:10
(J) Then I will gather [the remnant] of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the LORD. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch [JESUS CHRIST], and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land - JEREMIAH 23:3-8
(K) Thus saith the Lord: As if a grain be found in a cluster, and it be said: Destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole. And I will bring forth a seed [remnant] out of Jacob, and out of Juda a [possessor of my mountains]: and [my elect] shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there - ISAIAH 65:8-9
CONCLUSION:
God did NOT decree that His people would participate in Child Sacrifice as something good regarding spiritual service as to honor Him; in fact, He had forbid such sinful practices beforehand. However, God did ultimately decree beforehand that the punishment for His people sins would be to give them over to depraved mind as to offer their children for sacrifice because they did not keep the Sabbath holy and their idolatry as to worship the false gods of the other nations; seeing that God gave His people fair warning a head of time. God's "decree" was for them to disobey what he had forewarned them about to bring about His plan and a greater purpose although His revealed will was clear to which he warned them beforehand as to not adopt the sinful ways of the Gentile nations. The ultimate end of God's decree as to whether obey or disobey is for His glory!
By Aaron Fisher
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