Isaiah 57:5

Isaiah 57:5

Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?

a. NLT: You worship your idols with great passion beneath the oaks and under every green tree. You sacrifice your children down in the valleys, among the jagged rocks in the cliffs. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: Ye that inflame yourselves among the oaks, under every green tree; that slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: Who are inflamed among oaks, under every green tree, Slaughtering the children in valleys, Under clefts of the rocks. [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Amplified Bible: You who burn with lust [inflaming yourselves with idols] among the oaks, under every green tree, you who slay the children [in sacrifice] in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks? [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Septuagint: who call upon idols under the leafy trees, slaying your children in the valleys among the rocks?

f. Stone Edition Torah/Writings/Prophets: you who indulge your lusts at the elm trees, under every leafy tree, who slaughter children in the valleys, under the crags of the rocks? [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ldt.]

1. “Enflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree…”

a. Enflaming [yourselves] [Strong: 2552 * chamam; to be hot (literally or figuratively):--enflame self, get (have) heat, be (wax) hot, (be, wax) warm (self, at).]

b. [with] idols [Strong: 410 * ‘el:  shortened from 352; strength; as adjective, mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity):--God (god), X goodly, X great, idol, might(-y one), power, strong. Compare names in “-el.”]

1). They are burning with lust as they covert with their idols under the trees.

c. under [Strong: 8478 tachath takh'-ath from the same as 8430; the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of, etc.:--as, beneath, X flat, in(-stead), (same) place (where...is), room, for...sake, stead of, under, X unto, X when...was mine, whereas, (where-)fore, with.]

d. every [Strong: 3605 kol kole or (Jer. 33:8) kowl {kole}; from 3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):--(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-)thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

e. green [Strong: 7488 * ra’anan; from an unused root meaning to be green; verdant; by analogy, new; figuratively, prosperous:--green, flourishing.]

d. tree [Strong: 6086 * ‘ets; from 6095; a tree (from its firmness); hence, wood (plural sticks):--+ carpenter, gallows, helve, + pine, plank, staff, stalk, stick, stock, timber, tree, wood.]

2. “…slaying the children in the valleys under the clifts of the rocks?”

a. slaying [Strong: 7819 * shachat] [Strong:  a primitive root; to slaughter (in sacrifice or massacre):--kill, offer, shoot out, slay, slaughter.]

b. [the] children [Strong: 3206 * yeled;] from 3205; something born, i.e. a lad or offspring:--boy, child, fruit, son, young man (one).]

c. [in the] valleys [Strong: 5158 * nachal; from 5157 in its original sense; a stream, especially a winter torrent; (by implication) a (narrow) valley (in which a brook runs); also a shaft (of a mine):--brook, flood, river, stream, valley.]

d. under [Strong: 8478 tachath takh'-ath from the same as 8430; the bottom (as depressed); only adverbially, below (often with prepositional prefix underneath), in lieu of, etc.:--as, beneath, X flat, in(-stead), (same) place (where...is), room, for...sake, stead of, under, X unto, X when...was mine, whereas, (where-)fore, with.]

e. [the] clifts [Strong: 5585 * ca’iyph; from 5586; a fissure (of rocks); also a bough (as subdivided):--(outmost) branch, clift, top.]

e. [of the] rocks [Strong: 5553 * cela; from an unused root meaning to be lofty; a craggy rock, literally or figuratively (a fortress):--(ragged) rock, stone(-ny), strong hold.]

1). The prophet says in Isaiah 57:3, 4 that those who slay children are “sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore…children of transgression, a seed of falsehood.” Under the Old Covenant these were regarded as apostates, they were not right with God. Ezekiel is another witness of how God feels toward child sacrifice.

a). Ezekiel 16:35, 36 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

16:36 Thus saith the LORD GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness discovered through thy whoredoms with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give unto them;

2). Those who participated in child sacrifice and then came into the temple defiled the temple and profaned it.

a). Ezekiel 23:38, 39 Moreover this they have done unto me: they have defiled my sanctuary in the same day, and have profaned my sabbaths.

23:39 For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house.

3). This verse links those who slay children with those described in the previous verses. The phrase “children of transgression” is almost identical to the phrase, “children of disobedience” used in Ephesians 2:2 to describe those who live their lives, “according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh” in them. They are her “seed”. This in effect links them with “the great whore” of Revelation 17. There are hundreds of thousands of believers who attend churches within denominations where the official position of that work is pro-abortion. In that case I would obey Revelation 18:4 that says, “…Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” This helps answer the question of, ‘Has the church placed herself under a curse by advocating abortion?’ Yes! and the church will be judged as a result! If we are attending a church that supports abortion rights and we are giving tithe and offerings to that work, we are partakers of her sins. It is an abomination for someone to claim to be a follower of Christ and be pro-abortion. That is why they need to be expelled from the Church. They are not right with God and the system they are associated with is a religious whore. These passages put those who engage in child sacrifice exactly where God has said they are, in a group of people out of covenant with God. In a whore or harlot church, and therefore they need to be excommunicated out of the Body of Christ, until they repent.