Russell Moore has released a new, short book on adoption. It has a fascinating title: Adoption: What Joseph of Nazareth Can Teach Us about This Countercultural Choice. It is available from Crossway here, and in Kindle (and paperback) format from Amazon.
In “Adoption and Spiritual Warfare,” an article taken from the book, Dr. Moore makes some dramatic observations:
The protection of children isn’t charity. It isn’t part of a political program fitting somewhere between tax cuts and gun rights or between carbon emission caps and a national service corps.
It’s spiritual warfare.
Our God forbids Israel from offering their children to Molech, a demon-god who demands the violent sacrifice of human babies (Lev. 20:1–5). Indeed, he denounces Molech by name. He further warns that he will cut off from the people of God not only the one who practiced such sacrifice but also all who “at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech” (Lev. 20:4). Behind Molech, God recognizes, there is one who is “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).
The spirit of Molech is at work among us even now.
My colleague at FRC, Pierre Bynum, once observed to me regarding abortion: “Satan wants to kill and destroy all human beings because each person is endowed with the image of God.” Each human being is an intrinsic enemy – before or after birth.
So, if adoption is inherently an act nurturing human life and expressing love, then Satan believes it must be opposed and eradicated. The Church, however, is commanded to care for orphans and widows, so we have marching orders in this fight. As Moore notes, the protection of innocent life isn’t about politics, it lies at the core of Christian obligation.