I was reading “The End Times According To Ezekiel, Part 1” , and came upon something that you had written. I wanted to get your opinion on this because not only is it confusing for me but possibly for many others who may have read this article. Below I have listed the verse and then after that I have pasted your comment.
And they built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin. (Jer. 32:35).
“Here’s a reminder of the cause of Israel’s judgment. The shedding of blood refers to their practice of child sacrifice, a form of idol worship so abhorrent to God that He said it never entered His mind that they would do such a detestable thing.” (Jere. 32:35)
I know that God knows everything and that verse confused me. Thank you for taking the time to explain this.
I guess I didn’t give it much thought because when I was growing up this was a commonly used figure of speech among adults, especially when criticizing the behavior of their children. Whenever we did something particularly bad or thoughtless our parents or grand parents would often say “It never entered my mind that you would do such a thing.” This wasn’t meant to imply that they had never seen or even thought of behavior like that before. They were just trying to make the point that it was a really bad thing to do and we should have known better than to do it.
Since we know that God knows everything and can’t be surprised by our behavior, I view His comment here in the same way. He was trying to make the point that sacrificing one’s own child by throwing them live into a fire was a really bad thing to do and they should have known better than to do it.