(Queensland, Australia) — It would be safe to say that sexual immorality is pervasive in our society. From television shows to movies to print media and even the local park or beach, people are engaging in a level of immorality that is worsening by the year. Although many people may be tempted to believe that their own views and subsequent actions on this topic affect only themselves, it is actually an issue which affects society as a whole.
When God instructed the Israelites to take possession of the land promised to them, He says this in Deuteronomy 7:1-2: “When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Furthermore, in verse 5 He says: But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire.”
As we know from the Biblical record, the Israelites did not follow God’s commandment entirely. Because of their incomplete conquest of the land, worship of a false goddess named Asherah survived and subsequently plagued Israel. In fact, in the Deuteronomy 7:5 passage the phrase “wooden images” is the word “Asherah”. Asherah was represented by a limbless tree trunk. The trunk was usually carved into a symbolic (and often crude) representation of the goddess and because of the association with carved trees, the places of Asherah worship were commonly called “groves”. That is why in the King James Version of the Bible it uses the word “groves” in place of “wooden images”.
So that the Israelites would not be tempted to engage in religious syncretism, God also gave this command in Deuteronomy 16:21: “You shall not plant for yourself any tree, as a wooden image [Asherah], near the altar which you build for yourself to the LORD your God.”
Clearly, not everybody obeyed the command. One of the most wicked acts undertaken concerning Asherah is recorded in 2 Kings 21:7 under the direction of King Manasseh who put an Asherah pole in the Temple: “He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, ‘In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.'”
The worship of Asherah was exceedingly wicked and known for its sensuality and ritual prostitution. Although the Israelites were commanded not to have anything to do with it, the worship of Asherah was a recurring problem. Sadly, under Rehoboam, it became even worse. 1 Kings 14:22-24 records: Now Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images [Asherah] on every high hill and under every green tree. And there were also perverted persons [those practicing sodomy and ritual prostitution] in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
The Israelites were not only warned against worshipping Asherah, but also a particularly heinous false god known as Molech. In Leviticus 18:21, God warned: “And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.” It was not only the people who failed to heed this command. Even King Solomon stumbled as well. In 1 Kings 11:7 we read: “Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.” The sacrifice of children to Molech was particularly cruel. It is said that they were placed on the outstretched arms of the statue of the “god” and burned alive. Around them, worshippers played instruments in order to drown out the screams.
Although we should be rightfully horrified at the thought of these practices, the modern day is not much different. Ritual prostitution is repackaged as “sexual freedom”; child sacrifice is repackaged as “pro-choice” and worshippers (those who drown out the screams of the victims) simply become known as “pro-choice advocates”. In fact, these modern day “worshippers” who beat their drums loudly to drown out the screams of murdered babies and horrified objectors take on three primary forms:
Government
Recently, in my home state of Queensland (Australia), the new State Government has passed a resolution banning debate on abortion for the length of their term in power (four years). This effectively silences conservative voices within the newly formed government which would advocate for the winding back of legislated abortion practices in Queensland. If you live in Queensland, I strongly encourage you to write to the Premier of Queensland and implore him to reconsider. Many babies will continue to be murdered in the womb while our Premier silences those who raise their voices in objection!
Additionally, many governments around the world (including our own) have buffer zones around abortion clinics which prohibit anti-abortion advocates from speaking with or even praying for those attending abortion clinics.
Media
The mainstream media provide constant “drumming” with their endless commentary on a woman’s “right to choose”. Very rarely are news outlets providing a platform for those who hold deep objections to abortion. When they do it is only to ridicule us and label us as “anti-abortion activists”. Additionally, movie and television producers will promote abortion as just another birth-control tool, playing down the murder of the baby and resulting health complications (including emotional trauma) of the mother.
Pro-Abortion Activists
That leads me to the true “activists” – those who vocally (and sometimes violently) shout down those who object to their stance on murdering babies in the womb. On 13 June 2024, the Southern Poverty Law Center in the US even had the audacity to write an article which read in part: “Since 1977, when the National Abortion Federation (NAF) first began gathering statistics on anti-abortion violence, anti-abortion activists have committed 11 murders”. Now, don’t get me wrong, murder is wrong, and I am not excusing the actions of those who committed the 11 murders. But how is it possible that the SPLC is claiming the moral high ground when in 1977 alone, there were 1,079,430 babies murdered in the womb throughout the 50 states and the District of Columbia!?
The Conclusion
Those who worship at the altar of sexual freedom soon find themselves at the altar of child sacrifice. Ideally, both altars should be brought down in unison. In other words, the church should not only be actively praying for and lobbying for the elimination of abortion services, but also teaching the full counsel of God when it comes to matters of sexual morality. May God equip us and strengthen us. Lives literally depend on it.
