Human Sacrifice

I was reading yesterday in Hosea 13:2 and realized that the ESV and NIV have interesting translations:

ESV: It is said of them, "Those who offer human sacrifice kiss calves!"

NIV It is said of these people, "They offer human sacrifices! They kiss calf-idols!"

Undoubtedly the translators had good reasons for choosing this translation, but as I am accustomed to reading other translations, I had not seen this before. Looking at the Hebrew text does not convince me that theirs is the best translation, and the NET explanation about the lack of evidence for human sacrifice in the northern kingdom is also questionable.

But the translation is certainly arresting. Whether or not it is the best translation of this verse, we know that Israelites did worship a calf idol and did sacrifice their sons and daughters (2 Kings 17:16-17), both of which are abominations in the sight of God.

I cannot help but think of the parallels today in our modern, "civilized" nations. I put "civilized" in quotes because we are hardly civilized when we aborted 1.1 million children in 2025, and similarly in years prior. We are now so "advanced" we provide 1 in 4 abortions via telehealth, with a total of around 65 million abortions since 1973.

This is to our great hurt, for our population could be 50+ million souls larger right now. With a birth rate around 1.6, we are not replacing our aging population. In the end, we are sacrificing our children and killing ourselves in the process.

On the other hand, the very people who would coldly kill an innocent child in her mother's uterus "kiss the calf" of environmentalism. They are concerned about fossil fuels and carbon dioxide emissions and animal rights. They have made mother earth their goddess, worship it, and sacrifice their children to it to "save the planet." It does not make sense—saving the planet but killing its future inhabitants. It is kind of like killing the thing you worship. Strange.

Dear friends, we have things so backwards. Pray God "will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children...let [he] come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6). Human sacrifice was wrong in ancient Israel, and it is wrong today.