High Places

High Places

Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

Numbers 33:52

IN WORD There were times in Israel’s history when worship at the “high places” was appropriate. Usually, however, the high places pointed to one forbidden, nauseating activity: idolatry. They were shrines and altars on hills and mountaintops designed exclusively for worship of a Canaanite god like the Baals and the Asherim. Chemosh, Molech, Rimmon, Tartak—the pantheon of ancient biblical civilizations was diverse and vast. But regardless of the name, the idolatry was detestable. God always forbade it.

The high places in Scripture are usually written about with contempt, because they were something God had forbidden. They were the temptation of many rebellious kings and the target of many good ones. A good king of Israel or Judah would search them out and destroy them. A bad king would build more and more. But whether the high places were destroyed or built, flourishing or faltering, there was one arena that kings could not reform: the human heart.

We build high places in our hearts. You can probably identify right away which ones are some of your most persistent. When Jesus is on the throne of your heart, those high places have little effect. When you’re going through a spiritually dry time, those high places are easily restored. The altars we build are diverse and vast, just like the ancient Near Eastern pantheon. But there is a King who can deal with them effectively, if we will let Him. The landscape of our souls can be cleansed of worthless altars.

IN DEED What are your high places? False religion? It abounds in our day, though it is often subtle. But most Christians can avoid those. We fall for the seduction of other altars: careers, income, relationships, misused sexuality, highly adored possessions, a purpose and a plan that are not of God’s prompting. Our opportunities for high places on which to kneel are nearly limitless. Learn to recognize them. As God instructs, demolish them and turn to Him alone.

Whenever we take what God has done and put it in the place of Himself, we become idolaters.

—OSWALD CHAMBERS