1 in 31 Kids Had Autism in 2022 -- Up from 1 in 36 in 2020

 April 15, 2025 › Health Conditions › Toxic Exposures › News

Autism    https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/autism-prevalence-rise-1-in-31-cdc-study/

Breaking: 1 in 31 Kids Had Autism in 2022 — Up From 1 in 36 in 2020

Overall, the prevalence of autism in U.S. children rose approximately 17% between 2020 and 2022, continuing a decades-long trend, the CDC said in its latest study, published today. The number for boys was 1 in 20 overall and as high as 1 in 12.5 in California.

by Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.

April 15, 2025

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An estimated 1 in 31 (3.22%) 8-year-old children had an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis in 2022 — up from 1 in 36 (2.8%) in 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest study, published today.

Overall, the prevalence of autism in U.S. children rose approximately 17% between 2020 and 2022, continuing a decades-long trend.

The condition was 3.4 times more prevalent among boys than girls — 1 in 20 for boys overall and as high as 1 in 12.5 in California. ASD rates were lower among White children than among Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic and multiracial children, continuing a pattern that first emerged in 2020.

“The 1 in 31 number is a testament to the failure of the medical system as we know it,” said Mary Holland, CEO of Children’s Health Defense.

Holland added:

“The level of autism among 8-year-olds has been steadily increasing for decades without unbiased, real research into the likely causes. Tens of thousands of parents have come forward in recent decades to say they believe vaccines triggered their children’s autism. Yet mainstream science, media and government regulators have rejected the idea of even examining this observation seriously.”

However, Holland praised efforts by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to study the problem.

“The only good news here is that we finally have a president and HHS secretary truly committed to looking at all the potential causes and stopping this downward trajectory that is putting our nation at risk,” Holland said.

Kennedy announced in a Cabinet meeting last week that the government has launched a “massive testing and research effort” to determine what causes autism. He said the effort involves hundreds of scientists globally and will be completed by September. Once the environmental causes of autism are identified, “We’ll be able to eliminate those exposures,” Kennedy said.

‘This is beyond an epidemic’

The CDC study is based on data from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, which has used health and education data since 2000 to track autism rates among 8- and 4-year-olds at multiple sites across the country.

The CDC releases a report on the data every two years. The 2022 data come from 16 sites across the country.

Since the CDC started collecting the data, prevalence estimates have skyrocketed from 1 in 150 in 2000 to today’s estimate of 1 in 31 children.

The trend has persisted for decades. Autism prevalence in the 1990s, which was 1 in 1,000 children, already represented a tenfold increase over the condition’s estimated prevalence in the 1970s.

Toby Rogers, Ph.D., a fellow at the Brownstone Institute for Social and Economic Research and co-author of “Autism Tsunami: The Impact of Rising Prevalence on the Societal Cost of Autism in the United States,” said the new numbers were “stunning.”

Rogers said:

“How long is the U.S. public health establishment going to keep pretending there isn’t a problem? An ASD rate of 3.2% nationwide among children aged 8 years in 2022, 4.9% for boys, 5.3% in California, 4.7% in Pennsylvania and autism rates a full percentage point higher in Asian and Black communities than in White communities — this is beyond an epidemic.”

The CDC study also evaluated 4-year-old children, who typically have lower autism rates because many of them have not yet been diagnosed, and found rates among that age group also increased. Four-year-olds born in 2018 had ASD at rates 1.7 times higher than those born in 2014, suggesting that future rates will likely be even higher.

In five of the CDC’s 16 study areas, autism rates are already higher among 4-year-olds than 8-year-olds.

Data don’t support ‘better diagnosis’ theory on rising autism rates

The CDC and mainstream media suggest that increasing rates of autism are a result of improved diagnosis, which has led to the inclusion of many more high-functioning people with autism in the data collection.

However, the data in the latest CDC report contradict that theory.

The latest data show that nearly two-thirds of children diagnosed in 2022 with autism have an intellectual disability or borderline intellectual functioning, meaning they have an IQ of 85 or lower. Those numbers have also increased since the last report.

“These children face lifelong challenges with learning, communication, and independence,” said Rebecca Estepp, longtime autism advocate and mother of an adult son with autism. “Many will need specialized care, educational supports, and social services for decades — services that are already stretched thin in many communities.”

Research shows the costs of those services are rising exponentially and impacting the entire society.

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Autism industry ‘too big to fail?’

Over the past several decades, as autism rates skyrocketed among U.S. children and concern has risen among parents, researchers have looked to the role environmental risk factors might play in compounding underlying genetic factors that may make some children more susceptible to autism.

Environmental risk factors include metals like aluminum and mercury in vaccines, glyphosate exposure, use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and infancy, heavy metals in baby food and other organic pollutants.

Studies also link industrial chemicals, including lead, arsenic, copper, selenium, iron and magnesium, to the disorder.

Despite growing evidence that environmental factors play a role in the development of ASD, the CDC report did not mention environmental exposures as a potential cause.

“Words that do not appear anywhere in the report: toxic, vaccine, environment,” Rogers said. “We need better researchers who aren’t afraid to challenge corporate power.”

“Autism is an industry in the U.S. that has become ‘too big to fail,’” Rogers said. “Causing and treating autism generates hundreds of billions of dollars in profits every year for Big Pharma and various professions, from doctors and hospitals to ABA [applied behavioral analysis] providers and university researchers. With a few notable exceptions, the autism industry does not want the autism epidemic to end, ever.”

Related articles in The Defender

• We Can End the Autism Epidemic — By Telling the Truth
• RFK Jr. Launches ‘Massive Testing and Research’ Into Autism Epidemic
• CDC Will Study Possible Link Between Vaccines and Autism, Pledges to ‘Leave No Stone Unturned’
• ‘Autism Tsunami’: Society’s Cost to Care for Expanding, Aging Autism Population Will Hit $5.54 Trillion by 2060
• 1 in 36 Kids Have Autism, CDC Says — Critics Slam Agency’s Failure to Investigate Causes
• Gaslighting Autism Families: CDC, Media Continue to Obscure Decades of Vaccine-Related Harm

Brenda Baletti, Ph.D.

Brenda Baletti, Ph.D., is a senior reporter for The Defender. She wrote and taught about capitalism and politics for 10 years in the writing program at Duke University. She holds a Ph.D. in human geography from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Is Trump Like King Josiah in the Bible? - Part 2

Dennis Edwards Part 2.  To Go Back to Part 1 Click HERE.

2 Kings 22:1-2 “Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty and one years in Jerusalem...And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.”

It was during the 18^th year of the reign of King Josiah, when he was approximately 26 years of age, that the book of the law was found in the house of the Lord by the workers who were repairing parts of the temple compound.

2 Kings 22:8 "And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 

2 Kings 22:10 "And Shaphan the scribe showed the King, saying, Hilkiah the priest has delivered me a book, And Shaphan read it before the king.

2 Kings 22:11-13 “And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes. The king commanded the priest to, “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.”

2 Kings 22:14-17 “Hilkiah the priest went and communed with Huldah the prophetess and the Lord spoke thus: Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read: because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.”

We, too, have burned incense to other gods. We have loved and worshipped the god of materialism, wealth, material things, money, and the things or pleasures that money can buy. We have sacrificed our sons and daughters on the altars of worship to these idols and, or to others. We have drunk from the fountain of man’s wisdom, from the tree of knowledge, and have filled our hearts and minds with man’s theories and affirmations that there is no God.

In our culture today, we believe that the universe created itself out of nothing. We believe that life formed spontaneously, on its own,  without the need of a creator. As a results of these ideas, we conclude, that there is no true purpose in life. We need only live for ourselves and follow our dreams, come what may. Tomorrow we may die, and when we do, it’s all over. Kaput. That’s it. When we are dead, we are dead. There’s nothing more. We have become our own gods.

Huldah the prophetess sent word to the king,

2 Kings 22:19-20 “However, because King Josiah’s heart was tender, and he humbled himself before the Lord, when he heard the word of the Lord from the book of the law, and how they should become a desolation and a curse; and the king rent his clothes and wept, therefore, the Lord promised to gather him unto his fathers in peace and he would not see all the evils the Lord would bring upon the nation.”

Josiah had the right response to God’s word. He allowed it to prick his conscience. He allowed God’s word to change the way he thought and acted. In Isaiah we read, “But to this man will I look, says the Lord, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word,” Isaiah 64:2b. We should tremble at God’s word. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,” Hebrews 10:31. Solomon concluded in his writings, “Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man,” Ecclesiastes 12:13.

Josiah, as a good leader, did not just keep these things to himself. He gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, and the people together.

2 Kings 23:1-2 “And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of God.”

Josiah made all the people listen to God’s word. “For the word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart,” Hebrews 4:12.

2 Kings 23:3 “And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.”

Josiah made a covenant with the Lord that he would follow His word and all the people agreed to the covenant, that they, too, would follow it. Josiah would need their approval to successfully make the cultural revolution he was planning.

2 Kings 23:4 “And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.”

On hearing God’s word, Josiah implemented his idol-smashing campaign, his cultural revolution. He began to cast down all the false idols and items of worship in the land. 

2 Kings 23:5 “And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.”

Josiah removed from office those who were following false gods and leading the people astray.

2 Kings 23:6 “And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.”

Josiah made what he did a public spectacle that all might see and learn and turn from their wicked ways.

2 Kings 23:7 “And he broke down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.”

Just like today, during the time of Manasseh, the sodomite community had gained great influence within the Jewish society, in so much so, that their houses were, “by the house of the Lord.” Josiah broke down their houses. He removed their influence in Jerusalem upon the religious and cultural issues. The same sodomites may have been among the idolatrous priests in charge of the pagan religious practices that had been incorporated into the Jewish culture.

2 Kings 23:8 “And Josiah brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.”

2 Kings 23:9 “Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.”

2 Kings 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.”

Josiah actively participates in the stopping of Judah’s infanticide practice, and made it illegal. He shut done the “abortion clinics” of the day, saving the lives of hundreds or thousands of Jewish babies. 

In a similar manner, Trump’s influence on the Supreme Court during his first Presidency led to the change of interpretation of the law. The Court struck down Rode vs Wade and returned the question of abortion to the individual states, eliminating the Federal government’s mandate, and saving thousands of American babies' lives in the process.

2 Kings 23:11 “And Josiah took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.”

Josiah got rid of every semblance of falsehood and false worship that the Lord had commanded to children of Israel to not observe.

2 Kings 23:12 “And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.

2 Kings 23:13 “And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.”

The seeds of evil had been planted some 350 years earlier, way back when King Solomon, in his later years, yielded to his foreign wives and built the temples to their gods.

1 Kings 11:1-2 “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

Solomon’s father David had had at least 8 wives and many concubines. In 1st Samuel, 2nd Samuel, and in 1st Chronicles, the Bible records the names of eight women whom David had married. Although David had these eight wives, he generally is recorded as being a man after God’s own heart. However, God had warned His people not to take multiple wives when they increased in riches. It was back in the time of Moses some 400 years earlier.

Deuteronomy 17:14-15 “When you are come unto the land which the Lord your God gives you, and shall possess it, and shall dwell therein, and shall say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; you shall in any wise set him king over you, whom the Lord your God shall choose: one from among your brethren shall you set king over you: you may not set a stranger over you, which is not your brother.

God told them first, when they would enter the Promised Land and get settled there; when they would decide to choose a king, he must be of their brethren, not a foreigner.

Deuteronomy 17:16-17 “But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the Lord has said unto you, you shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”

God told them specifically that the king over them should not multiply to himself wives. David did not obey the Lord’s commandment. Although, it seems he manage to keep the Lord in first place, his multiple marriages and sexual exploits caused much suffering in his family, with constant conflict between the sons of his different wives. In fact David's sexual misconduct "had given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme," 2 Samuel 12:14a. 

We remember that it was David’s lust for Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, that caused David to fall from grace in God’s eyes. He committed adultery and afterwards had Uriah purposely killed in battle. Nevertheless, through David’s confession and repentance we have some beautiful penitent psalms, like Psalm 51 and Psalm 32, which have been a comfort and help to many a lowly sinner seeking the grace of God in light of some grave moral failure, iniquity or sin.

Back in the Garden of Eden, God had reproved Adam after the fall, because he had hearkened unto the voice of his wife, and had eaten of the tree, of which the Lord God commanded him, saying, You shall not eat of it, Genesis 3:17a. The man was to be the head of the wife and lead her in devotion to the Lord. Instead, Adam hearkened more to his wife than to the commandment of God, leaving a bad example, but a good warning to future generations.

Adam sinned and brought death into the world. David multiplied wives, contrary to God’s commandments. Solomon, David’s son, would afterwards allow his wives to pull him away from God and into building temples to the false gods or demonic forces of the nations whom God had told them to drive out.

1 Kings 11:3-4 “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

1 Kings 11:5-6 “For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.

1 Kings 11:7-8 “Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.”

1 Kings 11:9-10 “And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.

Solomon’s sin led the nation further and further from God. It led to the nation being divided in two with the ten northern tribes breaking off. The southern kingdom, Judah, has a few good kings. As a result, Judah and Jerusalem maintained their freedom as a nation longer. Finally, after the death of Josiah, the last good king of Judah, Jerusalem and Judah got ready to face God’s judgments.  

To go to Part 3 

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Trump é como o Rei Josias da Biblía? Parte 2

Dennis Edwards      Para voltar à Parte 1

2 Reis 22:2 “E Josias (648-609 a.C.) fez o que era reto aos olhos do Senhor, e andou em todos os caminhos de Davi, seu pai, e não se desviou nem para a direita nem para a esquerda.”

Foi durante o 18º ano do reinado do rei Josias, quando este tinha aproximadamente 26 anos de idade, que o livro da lei foi encontrado na casa do Senhor pelos trabalhadores que estavam a renovar partes do complexo do templo.

2 Reis 22:13 “E sucedeu que, ouvindo o rei as palavras do livro da lei, rasgou as suas vestes. E o rei ordenou ao sacerdote: Vai, consulta ao Senhor por mim, e pelo povo, e por todo o Judá, acerca das palavras deste livro que foi encontrado; porque grande é a ira do Senhor, que se acendeu contra nós, porque nossos pais não deram ouvidos às palavras deste livro, para fazerem conforme tudo o que está escrito a nosso respeito.”

2 Reis 22:16 “O sacerdote Hilquias foi e falou com a profetisa Hulda, e o Senhor disse assim: Eis que trarei mal sobre este lugar e sobre os seus moradores, todas as palavras do livro que o rei de Judá leu; porque me deixaram e queimaram incenso a outros deuses, para me provocarem à ira com todas as obras das suas mãos; portanto, a minha ira se acenderá contra este lugar e não se apagará.”

Também queimamos incenso para outros deuses. Amamos e adoramos o deus do materialismo, da riqueza, das coisas materiais, do dinheiro e das coisas ou prazeres que o dinheiro pode comprar. Sacrificamos os nossos filhos e filhas nos altares de adoração a esses ídolos e/ou a outros. Bebemos da fonte da sabedoria humana, da árvore do conhecimento, e enchemos os nossos corações e mentes com as teorias e afirmações humanas de que não existe Deus.

Na nossa cultura atual, acreditamos que o universo se criou a si próprio a partir do nada. Acreditamos que a vida se formou espontaneamente, por si só, sem necessidade de um criador. Como resultado destas ideias, concluímos que não existe um verdadeiro propósito na vida. Precisamos apenas de viver para nós próprios e seguir os nossos sonhos, aconteça o que acontecer. Amanhã podemos morrer e, quando isso acontecer, tudo estará acabado. Acabado. É isso. Quando estamos mortos, estamos mortos. Não há mais nada.

2 Reis 22:19-20 “Porém, como o coração do rei Josias se enterneceu, e ele se humilhou perante o Senhor, quando ouviu a palavra do Senhor no livro da lei, e como eles se tornariam uma desolação e uma maldição; e o rei rasgou as suas vestes e chorou, por isso o Senhor prometeu reuni-lo em paz com os seus pais, e ele não veria todos os males que o Senhor traria sobre a nação.”

Josias deu a resposta certa à palavra de Deus. Deixou que isso lhe pesasse na consciência. Permitiu que a palavra de Deus mudasse a forma como pensava e agia. Em Isaías lê-se: “Mas eis para quem olharei, diz o Senhor, para o pobre e abatido de espírito, e que treme da minha palavra”, Isaías 64:2b. Devemos tremer diante da palavra de Deus. “Horrível coisa é cair nas mãos do Deus vivo”, Hebreus 10:31. Salomão concluiu nos seus escritos: “Teme a Deus e guarda os seus mandamentos; porque isto é o dever de todo o homem”, Eclesiastes 12:13.

Josias, como bom líder, não guardou estas coisas para si. Reuniu todos os anciãos de Judá e de Jerusalém, e o povo.

2 Reis 23:2 “E o rei subiu à casa do Senhor, e com ele todos os homens de Judá e todos os habitantes de Jerusalém, e os sacerdotes, e os profetas, e todo o povo, tanto pequenos como grandes; e leu aos seus ouvidos todas as palavras do livro da aliança, que se achara na casa de Deus.”

Josias fez com que todo o povo ouvisse a palavra de Deus. “Porque a palavra de Deus é viva e eficaz, e mais cortante do que qualquer espada de dois gumes, e penetra até à divisão de alma e espírito, e de juntas e medulas, e é apta para discernir os pensamentos e intenções do coração”, Hebreus 4:12.

2 Reis 23:3 “O rei pôs-se junto a uma coluna e fez uma aliança perante o Senhor, para andarem após o Senhor e guardarem os seus mandamentos, os seus testemunhos e os seus estatutos de todo o coração e de toda a alma, cumprindo as palavras desta aliança, que estavam escritas naquele livro. E todo o povo permaneceu firme na aliança.”

Josias fez uma aliança com o Senhor de que seguiria a Sua palavra e todo o povo concordou com a aliança. Ele precisaria da aprovação deles para realizar com sucesso a revolução que estava a planear.

2 Reis 23:4 “O rei ordenou ao sumo sacerdote Hilquias, aos sacerdotes da segunda ordem e aos guardas da porta que tirassem do templo do SENHOR todos os utensílios feitos para Baal, para o ídolo do bosque e para todo o exército dos céus; e queimou-os fora de Jerusalém, nos campos de Cedrom, e levou as cinzas deles para Betel.”

Ao ouvir a palavra de Deus, Josias implementou a sua campanha de destruição de ídolos.

2 Reis 23:5 “E derribou os sacerdotes idólatras, a quem os reis de Judá tinham constituído para queimarem incenso nos altos nas cidades de Judá e nos lugares ao redor de Jerusalém; e também os que queimavam incenso a Baal, ao sol, e à lua, e aos planetas, e a todo o exército dos céus.”

Josias afastou do cargo aqueles que estavam a seguir deuses falsos e a levar o povo para o caminho errado.

2 Reis 23:6 “E tirou o bosque da casa do SENHOR, para fora de Jerusalém, até ao ribeiro de Cedrom, e queimou-o junto ao ribeiro de Cedrom, e o reduziu a pó, e lançou o seu pó sobre as sepulturas dos filhos do povo.”

Josias fez do que fez um espetáculo público para que todos pudessem ver, aprender e converter-se dos seus maus caminhos.

2 Reis 23:7 “E derrubou as casas dos sodomitas que estavam junto à casa do SENHOR, onde as mulheres teciam cortinas para o poste sagrado.”

Tal como hoje, no tempo de Manassés, a comunidade sodomita tinha conquistado grande influência na sociedade judaica, tanto que as suas casas ficavam “junto da casa do Senhor”. Josias destruiu as suas casas. Afastou-lhes a influência em Jerusalém sobre questões religiosas e sociais. Os mesmos sodomitas podem ter sido líderes nas práticas religiosas pagãs que foram incorporadas na cultura judaica.

2 Reis 23:8 “Tirou todos os sacerdotes das cidades de Judá e profanou os altos onde os sacerdotes queimavam incenso, desde Geba até Bersabé, e derrubou os altos das portas que estavam à entrada da porta de Josué, governador da cidade, as quais estavam à esquerda da porta da cidade.”

2 Reis 23:9 “Contudo, os sacerdotes dos altos não subiram ao altar do Senhor em Jerusalém, mas comeram dos pães ázimos no meio dos seus irmãos.”

2 Reis 23:10 “E profanou a Tofete, que está no vale dos filhos de Hinom, para que ninguém pudesse fazer passar o seu filho ou a sua filha pelo fogo a Moloch.”

Josias participa ativamente na interrupção da prática do infanticídio de Judá e torna-a ilegal. Fechou as “clínicas de aborto” da época, salvando a vida a centenas ou milhares de bebés judeus. De forma semelhante, a influência de Trump no Supremo Tribunal durante a sua primeira presidência levou à mudança de interpretação da lei. O Tribunal revogou o caso Rode vs Wade e devolveu a questão do aborto aos estados individuais, eliminando o mandato do governo federal e salvando milhares de vidas de bebés americanos no processo.

2 Reis 23:11 “E tirou os cavalos que os reis de Judá tinham dado ao sol, à entrada da casa do SENHOR, perto da câmara de Natã-Meleque, o eunuco, que estava no arrabalde, e queimou os carros do sol.”

Josias livrou-se de toda a aparência de falsidade e de falsa adoração que o Senhor ordenara aos filhos de Israel que não observassem.

2 Reis 23:12 “E o rei derrubou os altares que estavam no terraço da câmara alta de Acaz, que os reis de Judá tinham feito, e os altares que Manassés tinha feito nos dois átrios da casa do SENHOR, e os derribou dali, e lançou o pó deles no ribeiro de Cedrom.

2 Reis 23:13 “O rei profanou também os altos que estavam diante de Jerusalém, à direita do monte da Destruição, que Salomão, rei de Israel, tinha construído para Astarote, a abominação dos sidónios, e para Camos, a abominação dos moabitas, e para Milcom, a abominação dos filhos de Amom.”

As sementes do mal foram plantadas cerca de 350 anos antes, quando o Rei Salomão, nos seus últimos anos, cedeu às suas esposas estrangeiras e construiu templos para os seus deuses.

1 Reis 11:1-2 “Mas o rei Salomão amou muitas mulheres estrangeiras, além da filha de Faraó, mulheres moabitas, amonitas, edomitas, sidônias e heteias, das nações a respeito das quais o SENHOR disse aos filhos de Israel: Não entrareis a elas, nem elas entrarão a vós; porque certamente desviariam o vosso coração para seguir os seus deuses. A estas se apegou Salomão com amor.

O pai de Salomão, David, teve pelo menos 8 mulheres e muitas concubinas. Em 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel e em 1 Crónicas, a Bíblia regista os nomes de oito mulheres que se casaram com o rei David. Embora David tivesse muitas esposas, é geralmente registado como um homem segundo o coração de Deus. Entretanto, Deus tinha avisado o Seu povo para não tomar várias esposas quando as suas riquezas aumentassem no tempo de Moisés, cerca de 400 anos antes.

Deuteronómio 17:14-15 “Quando tiveres chegado à terra que o SENHOR, teu Deus, te dá, e a possuíres, e nela habitares, e disseres: Porei sobre mim um rei, como todas as nações que estão ao redor de mim, certamente porás rei sobre ti aquele que o SENHOR, teu Deus, escolher; dentre teus irmãos, porás rei sobre ti; não poderás pôr sobre ti um estranho, que não seja teu irmão.

Deus disse-lhes primeiro que, quando entrassem na Terra Prometida e aí se estabelecessem, quando escolhessem um rei, este deveria ser um dos seus irmãos, e não um estrangeiro.

Deuteronómio 17:16-17 “Mas ele não multiplicará para si cavalos, nem fará o povo voltar para o Egito, a fim de multiplicar cavalos; pois, como o Senhor vos disse, nunca mais voltareis por este caminho. Nem multiplicará para si mulheres, para que o seu coração não se desvie; nem multiplicará grandemente para si prata e ouro.”

Deus disse-lhes especificamente que o rei sobre eles não deveria multiplicar as esposas para si. David não obedeceu ao mandamento do Senhor. Embora pareça que conseguiu manter o Senhor em primeiro lugar, os seus múltiplos casamentos e proezas sexuais causaram muito sofrimento na sua família, com conflitos constantes entre os filhos das suas diferentes esposas.

Lembramos que foi a luxúria de David por Betsabé, esposa de Urias, o heteu, que fez com que David caísse em desgraça aos olhos de Deus. Cometeu adultério e depois mandou matar Urias propositadamente em batalha. No entanto, através da confissão e do arrependimento de David, temos alguns belos salmos de penitência que têm sido um conforto e uma ajuda para muitos pecadores humildes que procuram a graça de Deus em vista de alguma falha moral grave, iniquidade ou pecado.

No Jardim do Éden, Deus reprovou Adão após a queda, porque este deu ouvidos à voz da sua mulher e comeu da árvore da qual o Senhor Deus lhe ordenou, dizendo: Não comerás dela, Génesis 3:17a. O homem deveria ser o cabeça da esposa e liderá-la na devoção ao Senhor. Em vez disso, Adão deu mais ouvidos à sua mulher do que ao mandamento de Deus, deixando um mau exemplo, mas um bom aviso para as gerações futuras.

Adão pecou e trouxe a morte ao mundo. David multiplicou as esposas contrariamente aos mandamentos de Deus. Salomão, filho de David, permitiu que as suas esposas o afastassem de Deus e o levassem a construir templos para os falsos deuses ou forças demoníacas das nações que Deus lhes tinha ordenado que expulsassem.

1 Reis 11:3-4 “E teve ele setecentas mulheres, princesas, e trezentas concubinas; e as suas mulheres lhe perverteram o coração. Pois sucedeu que, quando Salomão já era velho, as suas mulheres lhe perverteram o coração para seguir outros deuses; e o seu coração não era perfeito para com o Senhor, seu Deus, como o coração de David, seu pai.

1 Reis 11:5-6 “Pois Salomão seguiu Astarote, deusa dos sidónios, e Milcom, a abominação dos amonitas. E Salomão fez o que era mau aos olhos do Senhor, e não seguiu fielmente o Senhor, como fizera David, seu pai.

1 Reis 11:7-8 “Então Salomão construiu um altar para Camos, a abominação de Moabe, no monte que fica defronte de Jerusalém, e para Moloque, a abominação dos filhos de Amom. E fez o mesmo para todas as suas mulheres estrangeiras, que queimavam incenso e sacrificavam aos seus deuses.”

1 Reis 11:9-10 “O SENHOR indignou-se contra Salomão, porque o seu coração se desviara do SENHOR Deus de Israel, que duas vezes lhe aparecera e lhe ordenara que não seguisse outros deuses; porém ele não guardou o que o SENHOR lhe ordenara.

O pecado de Salomão levou a nação cada vez mais longe de Deus. Isto levou à divisão da nação em duas, com as dez nações do norte a separarem-se. O reino do Sul, Judá, tem alguns bons reis. Como resultado, Judá e Jerusalém mantiveram a sua liberdade como nação durante mais tempo. Finalmente, após a morte de Josias, o último rei bom de Judá, Jerusalém e Judá preparam-se para enfrentar os juízos de Deus.

Para Part 3

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