I gotta have my orange juice.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?” (John 3)

Let’s see how Nicodemus ought to have derived this from Genesis. We know that God intended to give every gift to mankind, but he held one gift in temporary reserve until they matured:

And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. . . .”

And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 1-2)

The serpent accused God of withholding a good gift, reserving it for himself:

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3)

Let God be true but every man a liar. In order to receive God’s good gifts, there is now no other possible pathway except for mankind to pass through the the death that God prescribed.

One man passed through this death and was reborn from the grave: “even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” (John 3) This is the birth that Jesus tells “you” (Nicodemus, singular) that “you” (mankind, plural) can now participate in by means of union with him. We are reborn by believing in him (John 3:16)—that is, by entrusting ourselves to him, allying ourselves to him.

On the face of it, it is easy to recognize that the purpose of the gift of tongues was to bring God’s kingdom, in the words of Revelation, to every nation, tribe, tongue and people. You can see this in Acts 2 mentioning “every nation under heaven” and in the fact that Pentecost is a mirror image of Babel. Instead of reversing Babel, Jesus subverts it, or in the words of Michael Heiser, “infiltrates” it; without destroying nations as such, he orchestrates to bring every nation and language under his rule.

There are a few less obvious ways in which Scripture highlights this. Michael Heiser points out that God is not simply bringing the gospel into every language, but also transferring every nation from the elementary principles and powers back to Jesus. In doing so, Luke presents a litany of nations that mirrors the exhaustive list of seventy nations of Genesis 10. Of course, it is “every nation,” but it is also structured from east to west just as it is in Genesis 10. And while Heiser does not call attention to this, Luke’s list covers a total of seventeen nations and people groups. This is significant because seventeen (10+7) is often a Biblical analog for seventy (10*7). The number seventeen is significant in the structure of the Psalms, and is the backdrop for the 153 fish of John 21, since 153 is the triangle of 17. This is another way of indicating that the purpose of the gift of tongues was to thoroughly distribute the wonderful works of God to every human language and nation.

Heiser also suggests that the word for “divided” in verse 3 is a significant allusion to this fact, since it can also be taken to mean “distributed.” The gifts of the kingdom are distributed to every language.

I heard it suggested that a straightforward way of reading “tongues of men and of angels” in 1 Cor 13 is referring to Greek and Hebrew. I’m not convinced that Hebrew is special in this way, but if so, this is consistent with my thesis that Paul is referring to Hebrew in the following chapter. It also implies the passing away of Hebrew as angels give way to men in the government of the church and the world. This coincides with the passing away of the language of the stars, as Gentile nations and rulers are called to recognize Jesus as well.

If you had to discern whether the New Testament commended ongoing prophecy only in the sense of foretelling, only in the sense of forthtelling, or both, on what basis could you do so? It does not seem to me that there is a distinguishing principle for this. Likewise for tongues, if you had to discern whether we should expect ongoing flames of fire, ongoing miraculous public speech in known languages, ongoing public speech in supposed unknown languages, ongoing private speech in supposed unknown languages, or some combination of these, on what basis could you do so? In particular: how could you possibly be content with one and not the others? Why would one be considered almost normative, and the others exceptional?

God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush which was not consumed (Exodus 3), and then later lit the fire on the altar himself (Leviticus 9). God thereby inaugurated his church with heavenly fire and expected the fire to be preserved by the faithful ordinary ministry of men (Leviticus 6); and it would have been disobedient and faithless for Moses to seek to re-create his earlier experience. “See, Lord, I let your fire run out. I buried your talent. Show us your power! Descend on us!” It is true that with successive covenant administrations, God re-established this fire, often after the sin of his church had extinguished it (2 Chronicles 7, 1 Kings 18, Acts 2); but each time he expected it to be preserved by the faithful ordinary worship of his ministers and people.

It shall never go out. (Leviticus 6)

My friend James Lawrence pointed out that the date the movie 1917 takes place, April 6, is Good Friday of that year. This is also the date the US entered the war. This brings up some fascinating parallels to Holy Week, many of which seem to me to be clearly intentional.

General Erinmore underscores this parallel in a striking way with his quote from Kipling: “Down to Gehenna, or up to the Throne, He travels the fastest who travels alone.” Jesus’s own journey was one of a descent to the dead and an ascent to the Father’s throne. Tom Blake and Will Scofield’s journey is similar; Blake actually dies, and Scofield travels at night through the town of Ecoust with its burning church, even to the point of traveling underground. Both of these men’s movements are a kind of descent into hell, preceding Scofield’s ascension to the presence of Colonel Mackenzie and then his rest under the great tree.

At the opening of the movie, Blake and Scofield are chided and woken from sleep, much like the disciples at Gethsemane. Echoing Jesus’s cries at Gethsemane, Scofield later laments, “Why in God’s name did you have to choose me?”

Various times seem significant in the movie: the men are told to expect no resistance in daylight; the afternoon is “bloody quiet;” Scofield experiences a time of darkness as he passes out; and the denouement takes place at dawn. Some of the names are also significant. We see Blake and Scofield passing through Church Avenue, and they later make their way to Paradise Alley, where they meet Lieutenant Leslie, whose name means “holly garden.” Croisilles Wood recalls the cross. The men climb several hills.

There are significant mentions of food. Scofield shares a piece of bread with Blake. Later Scofield recalls trading a medal for a bottle of wine. Significantly, he drank this wine because “I was thirsty.” Later, Scofield shares his food with Lauri and the baby, a kind of midnight Passover meal.

There are telling injuries. Blake tells the story of a man named Wilco who loses his ear entirely, much like Malchus. You could also say that, in a manner of speaking, Wilco had been anointed with oil. Blake’s brother Joseph also has an ear injury, and the town of Ecoust is named for hearing. Scofield is wounded in his hand by a kind of a nail; Blake is pierced in his side. There are several other occasions where hearing and word are significant: the men have a direct order to convey; Scofield is exhorted to ensure there are witnesses. Blake is remembered by Scofield as always telling funny stories—parables.

Scofield experienced a kind of resurrection in the German bunker, where “they wanted to bury us.” He was temporarily blinded; recall that Jesus heals two blind men on his way to Jerusalem, one of which is healed by means of mud in his eyes. Blake urges Scofield to “wake up” and “stand up;” this calls to mind Ephesians 5:14, which has long been a part of the church’s Easter reading and song.

There are further deaths and resurrections. Scofield experiences a second resurrection after he is shot. He is tended-visited by a woman after this. In a manner of speaking, you could say that he gives this woman and the baby that she has found to one another, much like Jesus with Mary and John.

Most significantly, the two men together by their work save Joseph Blake and 1,600 men at sunrise. There is a more subtle resurrection in that we see chopped down cherry trees on Friday, but Scofield encounters cherry blossoms after his third death and resurrection in the river. Remember, too, that the earlier cherry trees were without fruit, just as the fig tree that Jesus encountered. Blake remarks that the trees will grow again when the stones rot; by comparison, Jesus, weeping over Jerusalem that is about to be cut down, proclaims that the stones will praise him if it will not.

In spite of these many resurrections, the significance of this day is hidden from most of the weary men who participate in it. Colonel Mackenzie had “hoped today might be a good day,” not realizing that this day not only secured the life of his men but also, from a great distance, the end of the war.

You could say that the two men do the work of their father; Erinmore is a fatherly figure, and Major Hepburn commends Scofield at the end with a “well done, lad.”

There are some less likely allusions as well, or ones that are more broadly Christian and not necessarily tied to Holy Week. For better or worse, the name of Jesus appears ten times in the movie. Blake and Scofield give water to their enemy. There is a “bowing chap;” Blake jokes that he considered entering the priesthood; nearly angelic helpers carry the body of Blake; and Lieutenant Leslie offers pardon for Blake and Scofield’s sins. As Blake and Scofield pass through the bunker, they are lights shining in darkness. In Croisilles Wood, a significant wind passes through the trees, and the men sing of their passage to heaven.

Some have suggested that the movie intends to mirror Dante’s Divine Comedy. In terms of the division of time, this does not at first glance seem very compelling, as Scofield’s beatific vision is very condensed. However, it is significant that the Divine Comedy itself mirrors Easter. And we also see at several points that Scofield is profoundly moved and motivated by his wife and daughters. So this motif also has some merit.

Christos anesti!

Paul—the same Paul who wrote Romans—doesn’t merely want you to believe this:

The mercy of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, ​
And his righteousness to children’s children,
​​To such as keep his covenant,
​And to those who remember his commandments to do them. (Psalm 103)

No, he also wants you to sing it (Ephesians 5, Colossians 3). To the one with understanding, this Psalm is not a provocation to—but a protection from—self-righteousness, presumption, legalism, or any other kind of spiritual pride.

The book of Job is, in effect, an immense psalm. (René Girard, I See Satan Fall Like Lightning, 117)

The interpretive key to the book of Job is that he is a type of Jesus.

Even among those who recognize this, Elihu is often seen as an enigma, partly because God does not call him out in Job 42. Obviously some of the things Elihu says are true—as with Job’s other accusers—but I think that that a close reading of how he applies these principles to Job makes it obvious that Elihu is among the bulls and dogs of Bashan that surround Job. Consider:

• Elihu’s burden is like wine ready to burst (32:19), and trips all over himself in his rush to judgment (“and Elihu answered [Elihu] and said . . .”), just as wine was thrust in Jesus’s face on the cross
• Elihu accuses Job of being unrighteous (32) or in relying excessively on his own righteousness (34, 35). Jesus on the cross was recognized as righteous (Luke 23), and in his high priestly prayer Jesus petitions his righteous father (John 17) for his well-deserved glorification—which is obviously a kind of vindication.
• Elihu observes that Job drinks scorn with water (34:7); Jesus is subject to all kinds of mocking on the cross
• Elihu accuses Job of going in the company of the workers of iniquity (34:8); Jesus is crucified with brigands
• Elihu accuses Job of complaining that righteousness is not profitable (34:9). Although this is not explicitly echoed on the cross beyond “why have you forsaken me,” such a complaint is within the scope of righteous speech. All we have to do is follow Girard’s pointing finger and examine Psalm 77.
• Elihu wishes for Job to be tried for rebellion (34:36-37). This is exactly what happened to Jesus.

Elihu is perhaps spared the worse condemnation because he is a young man imitating Job’s older counselors, who have a greater responsibility; or else because he repented while their hearts remained hardened.

There are a surprising number of references to the practice of child sacrifice in the Bible, to its demon-idols, and to the places of sacrifice. I’ve tried to collect here all those that I can find. I have left off occurrences of Gehenna, but the background is obviously a strong one.

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 Yahweh. (Leviticus 18:21)

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile my sanctuary and profane my holy name. And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, then I will set my face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech. (Leviticus 20:1-5)

For fire went out from Heshbon,
A flame from the city of Sihon;
It consumed Ar of Moab,
The lords of the heights of the Arnon.
​​Woe to you, Moab!
You have perished, O people of Chemosh!
He has given his sons as fugitives,
And his daughters into captivity,
To Sihon king of the Amorites. (Numbers 21:28-29)

“When Yahweh your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship Yahweh your God in that way; for every abomination to Yahweh which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)

“When you come into the land which Yahweh your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to Yahweh, and because of these abominations Yahweh your God drives them out from before you. You shall be blameless before Yahweh your God. For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not appointed such for you. (Deuteronomy 18:9-14)

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of Yahweh your God, . . . they shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you. You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your daughters whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. The sensitive and very refined man among you will be hostile toward his brother, toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the rest of his children whom he leaves behind, so that he will not give any of them the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground because of her delicateness and sensitivity, will refuse to the husband of her bosom, and to her son and her daughter, her placenta which comes out from between her feet and her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of everything in the siege and desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you at all your gates. (Deuteronomy 28)

And the border [of the tribe of Judah] went up by the Valley of the Son of Hinnom to the southern slope of the Jebusite city (which is Jerusalem). The border went up to the top of the mountain that lies before the Valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the Valley of Rephaim northward. (Joshua 15:8)

Then the border [of the tribe of Benjamin] came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to En Rogel. (Joshua 18:16)

‘And now Yahweh God of Israel has dispossessed the Amorites from before His people Israel; should you then possess it? Will you not possess whatever Chemosh your god gives you to possess? So whatever Yahweh our God takes possession of before us, we will possess. (Judges 11:23-24)

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of Yahweh, and did not fully follow Yahweh, as did his father David. 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. And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. So Yahweh became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from Yahweh God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what Yahweh had commanded. (1 Kings 11:7-10)

And [Ahijah] said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken me, and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the people of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do what is right in my eyes and keep my statutes and my judgments, as did his father David. (1 Kings 11:31-33)

In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of Yahweh, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun. (1 Kings 16:34)

Then [the king of Moab] took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great indignation against Israel. So they departed from him and returned to their own land. (2 Kings 3:27)

And it happened after this that Ben-Hadad king of Syria gathered all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria; and indeed they besieged it until a donkey’s head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and one-fourth of a kab of dove droppings for five shekels of silver.

Then, as the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”

And he said, “If Yahweh does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you?”

And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.” (2 Kings 6:24-29)

But [Ahaz king of Judah] walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had cast out from before the children of Israel. (2 Kings 16:3)

And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger. Therefore Yahweh was very angry with Israel, and removed them from His sight; there was none left but the tribe of Judah alone. (2 Kings 17:17-18)

Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear Yahweh. However, every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt. The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. (2 Kings 17:28-31)

Also [Manasseh king of Judah] made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger. (2 Kings 21:6)

And [Josiah] defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. Then he removed the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun, at the entrance to the house of Yahweh, by the chamber of Nathan-Melech, the officer who was in the court; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of Yahweh, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men. (2 Kings 23:10-14)

[Ahaz king of Judah] burned incense in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh had cast out before the children of Israel. (2 Chronicles 28:3)

Also [Manasseh king of Judah] caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger. (2 Chronicles 33:6)

And as for the villages with their fields, some of the children of Judah dwelt in Kirjath Arba and its villages, . . . in Azekah and its villages. They dwelt from Beersheba to the Valley of Hinnom. (Nehemiah 11)

They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
​​And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood. (Psalm 106:37-38)

For through the voice of Yahweh
Assyria will be beaten down,
As He strikes with the rod.
​​And in every place where the staff of punishment passes,
Which Yahweh lays on him,
​​It will be with tambourines and harps;
And in battles of brandishing He will fight with it.
​​For Tophet was established of old,
Yes, for the king it is prepared.
He has made it deep and large;
Its pyre is fire with much wood;
The breath of Yahweh, like a stream of brimstone,
​​Kindles it. (Isaiah 30:31-33)

For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,” says Yahweh. “They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it. And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.

“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says Yahweh, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away. Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate. (Jeremiah 7:30-34)

“Because they have forsaken me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents (they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into my mind), therefore behold, the days are coming,” says Yahweh, “that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.

And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. I will make this city desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair.” ’

“Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, and say to them, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts: “Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury. Thus I will do to this place,” says Yahweh, “and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to other gods.” ’ ”

Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where Yahweh had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord’s house and said to all the people, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.’ ” (Jeremiah 19)

And they have turned to me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 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 32:33-35)

Against Moab.
Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: . . .
​​“Moab is destroyed;
Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard; . . .
​​For because you have trusted in your works and your treasures,
You also shall be taken.
And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity,
His priests and his princes together. . . .
​​Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh,
As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. . . .
​​Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh perish;
For your sons have been taken captive,
And your daughters captive.
​​“Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab
In the latter days,” says Yahweh.
Thus far is the judgment of Moab. (Jeremiah 48)

Against the Ammonites.
Thus says Yahweh:
“Has Israel no sons?
Has he no heir?
Why then does Milcom inherit Gad,
​​And his people dwell in its cities?
​​Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says Yahweh,
“That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war
In Rabbah of the Ammonites;
It shall be a desolate mound,
And her villages shall be burned with fire.
Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance,” says Yahweh.
​“Wail, O Heshbon, for Ai is plundered!
Cry, you daughters of Rabbah,
Gird yourselves with sackcloth!
Lament and run to and fro by the walls;
For Milcom shall go into captivity
With his priests and his princes together. (Jeremiah 49:1-3)

“Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter, that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire? (Ezekiel 16:20-21)

“Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live; and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am Yahweh.” ’ . . . Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Are you defiling yourselves in the manner of your fathers, and committing harlotry according to their abominations? For when you offer your gifts and make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “I will not be inquired of by you. (Ezekiel 20)

Yahweh also said to me: “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. For after they had slain their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house. (Ezekiel 23:36-39)

“Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
​​In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
​​You also carried Sikkuth your king [alt: tabernacle of Molech]
And Chiun, your idols,
​​The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves. (Amos 5:25-26)

“I will stretch out My hand against Judah,
​​And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place,
The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests—
​​Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops;
Those who worship and swear oaths by Yahweh,
But who also swear by Milcom;
​​Those who have turned back from following Yahweh,
And have not sought Yahweh, nor inquired of Him.” (Zephaniah 1:4-6)

Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets:

‘​Did you offer Me slaughtered animals and sacrifices during forty years in the wilderness,
O house of Israel?
You also took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
And the star of your god Remphan,
Images which you made to worship;
And I will carry you away beyond Babylon.’ (Acts 7:42-43, quoting Amos 5)