Oh the High Places We Keep

For about a year and half now I have been on a quest to read through the entire Old Testament. For as long as I’ve been walking with the Lord, I’m sad to say this is a first of my faith. I’m certainly familiar with the highlights. I’ve read key passages. If I really dug deep, I could probably sing to you the order of all the books!

But I have never actually read through it in its entirety or studied these books in depth. Oh do I wish I would’ve started sooner! The book of Deuteronomy? Breath-taking. The book of Judges? Heartbreaking. So many stories that give breadth and depth to the narrative of our faith!

Now it has been slow going. Most people try to read the whole Bible in a year. I’ve been at this for a year and half and just finished Ezra. To be fair, my quest has been interrupted by other Bible Studies I’ve done with my church, but I couldn’t argue with you if you called me out on going at a snail’s pace.

From time to time I would like to write about some of the things that stand out to me as I journey through these precious books. Having recently finished 1&2 Kings and 1&2 Chronicles, there is one overarching theme that has stuck with me – the high places.

What are the high places, you may ask? Let’s take a look back at Deuteronomy 12:2-5:

“You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there.”

The high places have roots in pagan religions, a shrine to foreign gods. God was to be worshiped differently. He had plans to build a temple for Himself where He would take up residence and His people would worship Him. The temple was built during Solomon’s reign and the Lord blessed it saying “I have consecrated the house you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time.” (1 Kings 9:3)

That would’ve been a great place to put an “and they all lived happily ever after”, but alas, that is not where the story ends.

“Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.” 1 Kings 11:7-8

Ah, Solomon! So close! You had one job! Swayed by the religions of his many, many foreign wives, he tainted his legacy of building a glorious temple by leaving a foothold for future sin.

Many kings would come after him, some that followed the Lord and others that chose not to, but all would be affected by the high places Solomon allowed.

“But the high places were not taken away…” 1 Kings 15:14

“…Yet the high places were not taken away…” 1 Kings 22:43

“Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.” 2 Kings 12:3

The high places were only removed twice in the records of these books, with kings Hezekiah and Josiah. They followed the Lord and tore down these abominations and directed people to the Lord during their reign.

What I find so interesting in all of the records of these kings is this: there were several kings mentioned that loved the Lord and followed him yet they did not tear down the high places. It makes sense for the kings who completely turned their backs to God. Of course they would leave the high places up. But what about the kings who truly loved the Lord like Jehoshaphat who was recorded as “doing what was right in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 22:43) but he didn’t take down the high places? King Asa before him was the same way, as was Jehoash, Azariah and Jothan. What kept them from tearing down the high places?

Could it be that they forgot to take all sin seriously? Because their stories sound familiar. So often I think we live the same way – devoting our lives to God, living for him, all the while holding on to that one sin because it’s not that big of a deal right? Everyone else does it and it’s fine. Sure, it’s not in accordance of God’s word but we’re doing everything else right so who cares if we leave the “high places” untouched.

Right?

Wrong.

“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” Isaiah 59:2

God hates sin. There are not (or should not be) acceptable sins and the really bad ones you should avoid. As one of the songs we sang on Good Friday pointed out, “every bitter thought, every evil deed, crowning your bloodstained brow”. Bitter thoughts? I’ve had quite a few of those. Evil deeds? Yep I can check those off the list. There is not one of us who stands righteous before God…apart from Christ. Because of his glorious work on the cross, our debt has been paid and we are free!

But the gift of salvation is not the finish line of our faith. For as long as the Lord allows us life in this world, we are called to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (Romans 13:14)

Make no provision for the flesh. The daily, sometimes hourly, sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is meant to mold us to reflect our Savior more and more. Our call as Christians begins at the cross and continues in the daily walk we take with our Lord.

So what about these high places? They were very real places in the times of the kings. They are not figures of speech for someone like me to come and purely apply the idea to my own American life. They were real stumbling blocks for real life kings who lived thousands of years ago. But they do show us that the folly of man has not changed. It was easy for the kings to leave the high places right where they were. It was costly work for Hezekiah and Josiah to have them removed. But just as their reigns were marked as glorifying to the God they served, ours too can reflect that same glory when we offer all of our lives to him.

I’m preaching to the choir here. There are many areas of my life that I would love to leave boxed up and untouched by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, but that is not what we are called to do. May God give us his strength to daily take up our cross and may our lives reflect this wonderful God we serve.