Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"Slaying the children in the valleys"
Text: Isaiah 57:5
IDOLATROUS PRACTICES
The LORD went on to describe the idolatrous practices of Israel. These words described how far Israel had corrupted itself.
“Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree,
Slaying the children in the valleys,
Under the clefts of the rocks?
Among the smooth stones of the stream
Is your portion;
They, they, are your lot!
Even to them you have poured a drink offering,
You have offered a grain offering.
Should I receive comfort in these?”
Isaiah 57:5-6
1. “Under every green tree”
a) Israel came under the influence of idolaters.
b) They offered worship:
i) Wherever they believed there was “a deity”.
ii) It could be under a green tree.
iii) It could be among smooth stones of a stream.
iv) Under the cleft of a rock.
2. How worship was offered.
a) There was the pouring of a drink offering.
b) A grain offering was also made.
c) Sometimes, children were offered as a sacrifice to a deity.
These were common practices of worship in Israel!
3. Some even believed that such expression of worship was pleasing to God.
a) Israel had strayed far from God.
b) Idolatry was a major cause of ruin for Israel.