Deuteronomy 18:10: "Never shall there be found among you one who causes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire."
O. Palmer Robertson comments:
"By offering human sacrifice, the Canaanite worshiper attempted to convince the gods of the depth of his devotion and to coerce them to fulfill his personal desires. The worshiper actually expected to determine the course of the future through this repulsive practice of offering human sacrifices to the gods.
"Scripture does not provide a great amount of detail about this practice of causing a son or daughter to 'pass through the fire.' But the procedure was followed widely among ancient peoples. The Carthaginian god Moloch took the form of a human figure with a bull's head. His arms were outstretched to receive children offered in sacrifice. This metal image was heated red hot by a fire kindled inside the idol. Children were laid on the idol's arms and rolled into the fiery belly of the god. Flutes and drums drowned out the cries of the victims. Mothers stood by without shedding a tear to display their willingness to make these offerings. This abominable practice shows the extent to which humanity will go in attempting to determine the course of the future.
"It might be assumed that modern man has gotten well beyond these ancient brutalities. Yet the modern practice of abortion, particularly partial-birth abortion, is often not far from those earlier ways of sacrificing children in order to satisfy personal desires. An effort to determine the course of the future by abominable actions contrary to the will of God may lie at the root of a great deal of the modern practice, just as much as it did in ancient days."
O. Palmer Robertson, The Christ of the Prophets (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R, 2004), pp. 49-50
