20150911 Friday, September 11 2015
Jeremiah 19: The Valley Of Hinnom Proclamation

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"Go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee"

The Hinnom Valley of Bible history was a deep, narrow ravine in Jerusalem. It was located along the south side of Mount Zion (as shown and marked on the map below; see also When Zion Awakes and What Is Jesus Going To Do In Zion?). It was named after a "son of Hinnom" who owned or had some significant association with the valley at or before the time of Joshua (see Israel In History and Prophecy: Joshua). It was later referred to as the "valley of the children of Hinnom."

"15:8 And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward" (Joshua 15:8 KJV)

Whether coincidence or not, the ancient Hebrew word, pronounced hin-nowm, means a cry of sorrow and grief (see also The Two Ways That Weeping Will End). The Valley of Hinnom had a very horrendous history in ancient times. It was used as a degenerate gathering place where Sodomites and other idolaters (the Hebrew word for Sodomite literally means male idolater) did all sorts of vile and wicked things - including burning children alive as sacrifices to the Satanic idols Moloch and Baal. One section of the valley was called Tophet, or the "fire-stove," where the children were slaughtered. Josiah, a relatively righteous king of Judah, put a stop to it, albeit temporarily during his reign (see Josiah's Restoration Of The Covenant).

"23:7 And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. ... 23:10 And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech." (2 Kings 23:7,10 KJV)

After their return from the Babylonian exile (see Zerubbabel's Return, Ezra's Journey From Babylon and The Arrival Of Nehemiah's Cavalry), the people of Judah turned the Hinnom Valley into the city dump where garbage and anything deemed unclean (including the bodies of executed criminals) was incinerated. For that purpose, a fire was kept constantly burning there. Even though it was no longer used for evil worship, during that time, with all the filth and thick smoke it remained a very dark and dreary place.

The Hebrew name Hinnom, when translated into New Testament Greek, is (pronounced) gehenna, from which the translated word and concept of a burning "hell" originated. By the time of the Messiah, the deep, constantly-burning Valley of Hinnom was also known as the Valley of Gehenna, or Hell, and had taken on a popular image as the place "down there" where the wicked would eventually be cast into the flames for destruction.

In the time of Jeremiah, just prior to the fall of Judah to Babylon because of their horrendous idolatry, the LORD (see The Identity Of The LORD God and The LORD God Our Saviour) gave the prophet to deliver a proclamation from the Valley of Hinnom: "Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter."

"19:1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests; 19:2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, 19:3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. 19:4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; 19:5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind: 19:6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.

19:7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. 19:8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof. 19:9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

19:10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, 19:11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. 19:12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet: 19:13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

19:14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD'S house; and said to all the people, 19:15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words." (Jeremiah 19:1-15 KJV)

Fact Finder: When did idolatry begin? When will it end?
See The History Of Idolatry and The Idols Of The Old Country