Leviticus 18:21, Pass through the fire.In the juxtapositioning of this passage directly after the Torah’s prohibition of illicit sex, it would appear that YHVH is broadcasting a clear message to his people. Extra-marital sex often results in unwanted babies. In our day, many choose to murder their unwanted offspring through abortion. In ancient times, some of these undesired children were likely sacrificed to the pagan Canaanite god Moloch by being burned alive. That is certainly the implication in this passage. Whatever the case, YHVH hates the murder of children for any reason!

This passage (along with Exod 21:22) is one of the strongest pro-life, anti-infanticide verses in the Scriptures. The penalty for those who sacrificed their children to Molech (or Moloch) was that the land of Israel would vomit the people out of it (vv. 25 and 28.) Could any clearer statement be made about how the Creator feels about the sanctity of life? 

The murder of the innocent children is perhaps the greatest sin that a nation can commit. Abortion is a form of child sacrifice, which is something many ancient cultures practiced (the Aztecs, Incas, Phoenicians, pre-Islamic Arabs, and the biblical Canaanites). In the Bible, YHVH condemns the practice of heathens and apostate Israelites who made their children pass through the fire in worship of the demon-god Moloch (See Lev 18:21; 20:2–5; Deut 12:30–31; 18:10.) What judgment did YHVH place on the Jewish nation for sacrificing its children to Moloch? (See Jer 7:30–34; 32:35–36.)