Leviticus 20:2
Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.
Giving any of his seed to Molech means sacrificing children to him as a religious act, burning them alive in a grave human sacrifice prized for its lack of natural affection. The command is spoken to Israel yet binds both Israelites and the foreigners sojourning among them, and requires the people of the land to put the offender surely to death by stoning. The practice belonged to the pagan abominations of the nations the Lord cast out before Israel, who had given themselves up to those evils in contrast to the laws God gave His people. God in mercy gave those nations four hundred years of hope before blotting them from the earth as a blessing to future generations, and the commanded stoning belongs to that separation from their abominations. The stoning is one of the civil penalties of the law of Moses under the theocracy to restrain transgression of the moral law and hold back idolatry that would lead the nation away from God, but it was for that people in that place and time and is no part of the moral law itself, so keeping the binding commandments now does not require putting their breakers to death.
The Offense and Setting
To give seed to Molech is to give children to Molech as sacrifices in a religious act, a grave form of human sacrifice in which children — and sometimes adults — were burned alive. Molech-worship prized this very want of natural affection in parents toward their children.
The command is spoken to the children of Israel, yet it binds both Israelites and the strangers who sojourn in Israel, whether native-born or foreigner dwelling among them.
The practice was one of the pagan abominations of the nations around Israel and of those whom the Lord cast out of the Holy Land before Israel, who had given themselves up to such abominations with Satan ruling through the flesh. The laws God gave to Israel stand in contrast to those customs. The evils of Canaan, including the sacrifice of children to Molech, show the danger of Spiritualism and its resistance to God's truth, and severe judgment is prescribed for them.
In mercy God gave those nations four hundred years of hope, sending His servants to sojourn among them to win them to the right way, but they filled up their cup with iniquity. To blot them from the earth was therefore a blessing to future generations, and the putting to death by stoning commanded here belongs to that separation from their abominations. Their human sacrifices justified Israel's conquests, even as the bloody worship of Moloch is like the Aztec sacrifice of young people.
The putting to death of Molech worshipers by the people of the land was probably carried out in Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom, where the image of Molech was placed.
Since giving children to Molech is condemned as an abomination, the sacrificing of Jephthah's daughter would have violated God's law and could not have been a lawful offering to the Lord.
The Law and Its Lessons
Leviticus 20 belongs to the civil laws given under Israel's theocracy, including prohibitions concerning incestuous unions and marriages violating the laws of affinity, which may explain the restricted sense of bastard in Deuteronomy 23:2. It stands as an example of the penalties and covenant curses attached to violating the requirements of the law of Moses, which was given to restrain transgression of the moral law. Giving a child to Molech is made a capital offense, whether the offender is an Israelite or a foreigner living in Israel, with the people of the land to stone the offender, as an example of another commandment whose violation carried the death penalty. The same stoning penalty applied to both Israelites and resident foreigners because this worship of a false god was treated as especially demoralizing to the people. The chapter describes the evils practiced by the nations that lived in Canaan, including sacrifice of children to Molech, and the severe judgment prescribed for those practices.
The death penalty for giving a child to Molech was meant to restrain idolatry and other evil that could lead the nation away from God and bring destruction. The individual's duty not to kill remained distinct from the government's duty to punish such crimes. Under the former dispensation breaking the other commandments was punished with death by stoning at the hands of the people of the land, just as breaking the Sabbath was. The death penalty was no part of the great moral law itself but a subsequent enactment for that people in that place and time. Keeping the seventh-day Sabbath now therefore does not require stoning the Sabbath-breaker, any more than keeping the other admittedly binding commandments now requires putting their breakers to death.
The command forbidding Israelites and resident foreigners from giving children to Molech on pain of stoning is evidence that the nations were held accountable for violating the first commandment. Treating a command as a small matter can bring severe consequences, for God destroyed those who disobeyed, showing that people should correct their ways when they recognize they are wrong. The record of the evils associated with the practices of the nations in Canaan illustrates the danger of Spiritualism and its resistance to God's truth. Anyone of Israel or of the strangers in Israel who gave his seed to Molech was to be surely put to death by stoning at the hands of the people of the land. That killing of Molech worshipers was probably carried out in Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom where the image of Molech was placed, which proves Gehenna was a place of punishment by burning and destruction, not a place of keeping the wicked alive forever.