I was shocked when my kids told me how horrible Columbus was to the natives here in the Americas. I had been simply taught that he accidentally ran into some Carribean islands while trying to make it to China. But after coming across an excellent modern biography about Queen Isabella, written by Kirsten Downey, I saw that much of what my kids had been taught was true.
Queen Isabella asked Columbus to treat the natives respectfully. He was to recognize them as the rulers of a foreign nation equal to Spain, and to seek to set up trade relations with them. She also had priests go along to share Christianity, but everything was to be done carefully and diplomatically. Because Columbus botched things so badly, he was pulled from voyaging to the new world after just a few trips, but the damage had been done. Wave after wave of Europeans came to the Americas, wreaking havoc and destruction on the native peoples.
“Why, God?” I questioned. “Why did you allow such atrocities to come to the Americas through Columbus and the following onslaught of European explorers?”
A number of months later, I noticed this National Geographic article in the sidebar of my browser:
Exclusive: Ancient Mass Child Sacrifice May Be World’s Largest
More than 140 children were ritually killed in a single event in Peru more than 500 years ago. What could possibly have been the reason?
The ritual killing was dated to 1450, not even 50 years before Columbus made it to the Americas. Immediately, I knew this was the answer to my question of why.
My family had recently read Leviticus 18. Most of the chapter is about laws governing sexual relations. But the following verse is thrown in there:
Leviticus 18:21 “‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.”
At the end of the list of things not to do are these verses: Leviticus 18:24-25 “‘Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.'”
No one is certain why these children were killed, but archaeologists believe it may have something to do with El Nino. Research shows that weather had been tough for some years before the sacrifice, so most likely the people were trying to negotiate with their gods. The children were killed for the economic benefit and comfort of the adults. Innocent lives were snuffed out for selfishness. And God could stand by no longer.
This civilization in Peru was actually demolished by another South American people in 1475. But the Aztecs were also known for their child sacrifices.
God allowed the Europeans, who were at least trying to fear Him, as imperfectly as they did, to conquer the Americas. The land had become defiled with the blood of innocent children, so the land vomited out its inhabitants, some of whom are my ancestors, making room for the past 500 years of immigrants.
Which brings us to today and the toppling of Columbus statues around the nation.
Leviticus 18:26-28 says, “‘But you must keep my decrees and my laws. The native-born and the foreigners residing among you must not do any of these detestable things, for all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you.”
We are defiling the land with the blood of the innocent children we are aborting for the economic benefit and comfort of adults. And don’t forget all of the people of color being killed by those who are supposed to protect them. The land is now trying to vomit us out.
The day that China shut down 80 of its cities at the beginning of the pandemic, I happened to be reading in Job and ran across this verse: Job 37:7 “So that everyone he has made may know his work, he stops all people from their labor.”
God is trying to get our attention. He loves us and wants to bless us. Let’s stop defiling the land. Let’s protect the life of everyone. Young, old, white, black, brown, everyone.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
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