Does God honor the pagan sacrifice of a child in 2 Kings 3.27?

‘What is going on?’ you might have asked this morning after reading 2 Kings 3!

This chapter tells about the revolt of the king of Moab against Israel. God does a remarkable and miraculous work for the Israelites so that they are able to soundly defeat Moab. Verses 26-27 are the confusing ones.

Verse 26 says the king of Moab tried a military strategy to gain the upper hand against Israel, but it didn’t work. That leads to drastic measures in verse 27 — he sacrifices his oldest son, the heir to his throne.

Verse 27 then says: ‘And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.’ What is this verse saying? Does the sacrifice of the boy work? Does God respond to the sacrifice by showing his wrath against Israel? Or is the writer saying that the pagan gods of the Moabites are the ones who show wrath against Israel?

I don’t believe either of those interpretations are correct. The phrase ‘great wrath came against Israel’ is vague. Rather than referring to wrath coming from God or the Moabite gods (the writer of 2 Kings doesn’t believe they are real gods) it most likely refers to the wrath of the Moabites against Israel. In other words, the Moabites become angry because of the lengths to which their king has been forced to go; it renews their determination to fight against Israel.

There are certainly mysteries that remain in the passage — for instance, does Israel not then complete their victory over Moabite? Why do they withdraw if they’re still at such an advantage and God is helping them? The passage doesn’t give us the answer to these questions. But it seems clear to me that this passage is not saying that God honors a pagan child sacrifice. We know he would never do that. Just read Leviticus 20.1-5.

Posted by Stephen Witmer on Jul 25, 11:36 AM