High Places

Throughout 1 and 2 Kings we encounter this refrain: “The High Places were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.” This phrase is often provided as a counterpoint when evidence is given that a king of Israel or Judah has been a good king. “He was a good king, but…” One of many such examples is Joash, king of Judah. What are we told about Joash?
In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. (2 Kings 12:1-3)

What are these high places, anyway? In the life of Israel and Judah, a “high place” is any local place of worship. The pagan nations Israel had supplanted when they entered the Promised Land established shrines to their gods on every hill and high point of land (under the assumption that the higher the ground, the closer to the divine). When the Israelites moved in, they tore down the shrines and altars at God’s command. What they failed to do is tear down the notion that by setting up worship stations in these high places they could get themselves closer to God. Over time, especially following the centralizing reigns of David and Solomon, the countryside once again became dotted with shrines and altars – the “high places.” Some of these high places are condemnable because they are shrines to pagan idols such as Baal and Asherah – gods of the Israelites enemies. But some are shrines to Yahweh – the God of the Israelites. God condemns them all - including the ones that have been set up, ostensibly, to honor him. Why?

The answer can be found way back in Deuteronomy 12. When the Israelites enter the Promised Land God commands his people to worship in one place, at one temple. The reason is that God wants to curb in his people the human tendency to pursue worship on their own terms. Idolatry is characterized by human efforts to set the terms for a relationship with the divine. Idol worship consists of words and actions intended to manipulate the divine for human purposes. Setting up a shrine on every high place is a way of saying, “We’ll worship when and where and how we want, and the divine will come to us.” By the time of king Joash, Israel and Judah have gotten so used to worshiping this way that they don’t even realize that they’re violating God’s law. The high places have become part of the landscape.

What are your high places? What are the gods you’ve enshrined in your living room or your street corner or in your heart? What gods have we enshrined as a community or a nation – gods we’re so used to we don’t even notice them anymore? What are the ways we have said, “We’ll worship God when and where and how we want, and God will come to us?” If we want to be drawn into close fellowship with the one true God, we have to identify – and tear down – the high places that stand between us.