Angels-MOLOCH

Moloch refers to a Near Eastern deity to whom children were sacrificed
as burnt offerings. While this practice, even among the Hebrews,
considerably antedated the emergence of a concept of an evil antidivinity,
later generations read a diabolical identity into the Bible’s
Moloch passages. This transformed Moloch into a demon, a fallen
angel, or sometimes into Satan himself.
Comparatively little is known about Moloch beyond a few biblical
references. Although the modern world has difficulty imagining
that people could take the lives of their own offspring, child sacrifice
was widespread among ancient Canaanite peoples. The basic idea
underlying such practices was that, as the most precious of possessions,
the sacrifice of one’s own offspring was especially powerful for evoking
the favor of a divinity.
The Hebrew term Molek (Moloch) occurs eight times in Hebrew
scripture (Lev 18:21, 20:2, 3, 4, 5; I Kgs 1:7; II Kgs 23:10; and Jer
32:35) and once in the New Testament (Acts 7:43). The debate over
the meaning and etymology of this term has consumed considerable
scholarly ink. It has, for instance, been variously suggested that Molek
derives from the name of a Near Eastern chthonic deity, the Semitic
word for “king,” a term for sacrifice, and so on.
Despite some attempts to place other kinds of interpretations on
the Bible’s Moloch passages, it is almost certain that the ancient
Israelites engaged in such practices, particularly at a ritual site immediately
south of Jerusalem known as Tophet. Scholars have speculated
that giving Moloch (or even Yahweh) children as burnt offerings did
not finally stop until after the Babylonian conquest. The practice was
condemned in no uncertain terms as early as the Book of Leviticus:
Say to the people of Israel, Any man of the people of Israel, or
of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who gives any of his
children to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the
land shall stone him with stones. I myself will set my face
against that man, and will cut him off from among his people,
because he has given one of his children to Molech, defiling
my sanctuary and profaning my holy name. (Lev 20:2–3)
The practice of child sacrifice was also regularly condemned by
the Hebrew prophets, and it is mentioned as late as the time of the
prophet Ezekiel in the eighth century BCE.