The modern practices of abortion and infanticide echo the ancient pagan rituals of child sacrifice, such as the abhorrent idolatry of the Canaanites in Old Testament times. Pagans would sacrifice their children to their gods, making them pass through the fire to Molech, an act strictly forbidden by God as stated in Leviticus 18:21, to gain blessings like fertile fields or victory in battle. God condemns this horrible sin in Jeremiah 32:35, declaring that the people of Judah built high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom to cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, an abomination He neither commanded nor considered, leading Judah into sin. As a result of such practices, Jerusalem faced punishment, being delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, famine, and pestilence, as noted in Jeremiah 32:36. When such acts become commonplace, a society stands ripe for destruction, as God intimates in Genesis 15:16 and Leviticus 18:24-29; 20:22-23.

In the mountains, remnants of the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom persisted after their captivity, allowing idol worship to flourish under Josiah, including altars to Baal and sacrifices to Molech. This syncretism and idolatry had endured for hundreds of years, far longer than many modern nations have existed. The false god Molech was depicted as a bronze statue with a bull's head and a man's body, its arms positioned to receive a child for sacrifice, or with an opening for the same purpose. Some representations showed seven chambers for offerings, with fires heated inside the statue while priests used drums and trumpets to mask the cries of the infants and the anguish of their mothers. Such a horrific practice was beyond what God Himself could have imagined. In Jeremiah 7:31, it is recorded that Judah built a high place in Tophet, in the Valley of Hinnom, just outside Jerusalem, to burn their sons and daughters in the fire as offerings to Molech. Medieval Jewish commentators noted that the name Topheth may derive from the Hebrew word for drum, reflecting the use of drumming to drown out the screams during these sacrifices. Though Josiah later turned the Hinnom Valley into a garbage dump, after his death, Judah resumed these gruesome rituals, sacrificing their children once more in that place.

For Israel and Judah, the high places led the people away from God and toward Molech, among other gods. These high places facilitated idolatry, serving as instruments by which the people were drawn into beliefs and ways of worship contrary to the abundant life God intended for His people. Leaving such outposts intact welcomed spiritual weakness and estrangement from God, a danger that persists as we face similar influences of the world in our lives today.