We read concerning Manasseh, (2 Chronicles 33:6) that "he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom." And it should seem, from the positive precept which the Lord gave by Moses to Israel to refrain from such horrid customs, that the thing itself was very common in the east, and of great antiquity. (See Leviticus 18:21) Indeed, even to the present hour, if we may give credit to modern historians, the funeral burnings which many make of themselves in honour to the dead, serve to shew that the minds of men are not by nature better than from the first.
We are told that there is still a custom observed in the east, where at an annual feast, called the Feast of Fire, many voluntarily engage to walk barefoot over a vivid fire of burning embers, and of great length. This horrid custom, at this dreadful fair, is kept for near three weeks, during which time the wretched creatures which engage to this service pass through the element when stirred up and quickened to burn more lively; and they who walk with the slowest pace are thought the highest of. When the carnival is finished, those who survive are crowned with flowers.
Oh, thou blessed Jesus! what unspeakable mercies hast thou bestowed upon thy people in bringing life and immortality to light by thy gospel! To what a deplorable state is our nature universally reduced by the fall; and how great are our privileges in the Lord in having raised up our poor nature from such gross ignorance and sin! See Moloch