Isaiah 57:5

We must not flinch from this verse's darkness. When a people turn from the living God, there is no logical stopping point. The betrayal deepens. What begins as consulting fortune-tellers becomes erecting idols; what begins with idolatry becomes frantic, feverish 'enflaming' (burning with passion). And what begins as passion for false gods becomes capable of unthinkable atrocities: the sacrifice of children. These were not accidents or lapses. The parents chose the hidden valleys, the rock cliffs, the places where no one would see. They chose to kill their own children as offerings to deaf stone gods. Isaiah does not soften this. He makes us see it.

We live in an age that prides itself on avoiding such extremes. Yet every generation finds ways to sacrifice its children to idols: to ambition, to consumption, to the endless digital scroll, to systems that prioritize profit over life. The specificity of Isaiah's condemnation matters. He does not generalize. He names the trees, the valleys, the cliffs. When we find ourselves drawn to something that requires darkness and hiddenness to continue, we should hear this warning. The path from small compromises to unspeakable evil is shorter than we think.