Arkansas City United Methodist Church

06/08/2026

Happy 51st anniversary, Jeff & Peggy Musson!

06/08/2026

Happy 68th anniversary, Howard & Shirley Griffin!

06/07/2026

2026.6.7 “Sixth Sense” Rev. Dr. Stephen Rankin, Pastor

06/07/2026

06/07/2026

Happy birthday, Brian Wise!

06/06/2026

Happy 39th anniversary, Darin & Darla Mann!

06/05/2026

Happy birthday, Carl Morgan!

06/03/2026

If you're doing the Read through the Bible in a Year program, today's Old Testament reading from 2 Kings 3 is one of those really difficult passages. Israel's king, Judah's king, and Edom's king all team up to go to war with Moab's king, Mesha. There's a prophecy from Elisha. Most troublingly, it appears that Mesha offers his son, the crown prince, as a sacrifice (v. 37), which apparently causes the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom, to withdraw from the battle.

There is much to unpack in this passage. It's hard to read and, in certain ways, is very confusing. I'll try to address only one thing - the whole business of child sacrifice. Scholars have many different views about the meaning of it, but it seems well-established that it was practiced. It's one of the reasons why Genesis 22, where Abraham almost sacrifices Isaac, but God prevents him, and a couple of places in the Old Testament law forbidding child sacrifice, are so important.

Generally, it seems that child sacrifice was done in other nations on occasion for one of three reasons, one of which is called "crisis sacrifice." In this case, in 2 Kings 3, the crisis for King Mesha of Moab is that he is about to lose his kingdom. Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures, I suppose. Anyway, I simply want Bible readers to understand that there is substantial background and historical information showing that child sacrifice was an actual thing.

06/03/2026

Happy 20th anniversary, Mark & Kayla D***s!

06/02/2026

Happy 57th anniversary, Kirby & Linda Neal!