Connect Psalm 106:38 with other scriptures condemning idolatry and its consequences. Psalm 106:38 in context “They shed innocent blood—the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. So the land was polluted with blood.” (Psalm 106:38) • Israel’s darkest moments are rehearsed in Psalm 106. • Verse 38 pinpoints child sacrifice—literally giving sons and daughters to false gods—as the climax of their idolatry. • God records it as “innocent blood,” a violation that stains both people and land. Idolatry always costs innocent life Scripture repeatedly links false worship with violence and death. • “They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.” (Deuteronomy 12:31) • “Any Israelite…who sacrifices any of his children to Molech must surely be put to death.” (Leviticus 20:2–3) • “They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire…So the LORD was very angry with Israel, and He removed them from His presence.” (2 Kings 17:17-18) When idols rule the heart, the weak pay the price. The Lord’s clear warnings against child sacrifice God had spoken plainly generations before: 1. Leviticus 18:21—“You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God.” 2. Deuteronomy 18:10—“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire.” 3. Jeremiah 7:30-31—“They have built the high places of Topheth…to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I never commanded, nor did it even enter My mind.” Ignore these safeguards, and judgment follows. Blood pollutes the land: consequences spread wide • “Bloodshed pollutes the land…atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.” (Numbers 35:33) • “The land was polluted with blood.” (Psalm 106:38) • “Because of all the evil of the children of Israel…the land is an object of horror and scorn.” (2 Chronicles 29:8) Spiritual sin produces physical fallout—crop failure, invasion, exile. The earth itself groans (Isaiah 24:5-6). Historical fulfillment: exile and national collapse • 2 Kings 21:11-15 records Judah’s slide under Manasseh: “He has filled Jerusalem with innocent blood.” • Jeremiah 19:4-6 predicts the Valley of Ben Hinnom would be renamed the Valley of Slaughter. • By 586 BC the Babylonian armies leveled Jerusalem; God’s warnings proved literal. New Testament echoes: idolatry remains deadly • “Do not be idolaters, as some of them were…twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.” (1 Corinthians 10:6-8) • “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.” (1 John 5:21) • “The cowardly, unbelieving, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters…will have their place in the lake that burns with fire.” (Revelation 21:8) The cross has not softened God’s stance toward idols; it has provided rescue from them. Hope after idolatry: repentance and restoration • “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves…then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14) • “You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven.” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10) • “Such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (1 Corinthians 6:11) God’s grace reverses the pollution and gives a purified people—and land—a new beginning. |
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