Throughout the bible we find instances where the high places where false gods of the Canaanites, Ammonites, and Hittities, and many other groups are mentioned. A high place is nothing more than a place of worship to a god that is revered and often feared and must be sacrificed to.
There are over 20 false/pagan gods for the Canaanites alone, that the people built altars, shrines, pillars and temples to, to worship and perform sacrifice rituals.
One of the most egregious is moloch or molech, Ba'al, the god of fire, is where children were burned alive on the altar, as a sacrifice to this God. Others used these false God's to perpetuate prostitution and sex slavery, and the list goes on. My blog isn't about the many false God's of ancient times, but of the false Gods we live with every day and the altars we worship them on.
What made these false God's power of interest to me, was a scripture I came across during a study about King Jehosaphat!
1 Kings 15:14 But the high places were not removed. Nevertheless Asa’s heart was loyal to the LORD all his days. This scripture is speaking about Jehoshaphat's Father, King Asa.
Next we see the scripture that speaks of the end of the reign of Jehosaphat....
2 Chronicles 20:31-33 NKJV
So Jehoshaphat was king over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32 And he walked in the way of his father Asa, and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. 33 Nevertheless the [h]high places were not taken away, for as yet the people had not directed their hearts to the God of their fathers.
So we know the Hittites and the Canaanites were enemies of Israel, so why wouldn't both of the Kings mentioned above tear down these high places? They must have known how awful these practices were. How could they love God and yet let these things as Kings, no less, go unhindered? Could it be that the societies, cultures, religions, etc were so intertwined that they didn't view them as we the reader thousands of years later does?
How could they love and follow after God (Yahweh) and not insist the sacrifices and atrocities stop?
Wouldn't that be like our President, the Queen of England or any other ruler in any other nation allowing the sacrifice of children via abortions and the promotion of sexual perversion through sex trafficking to run rampant and unchecked? Is it really that different? It breaks my heart to say No, No it is NOT, that different!
It is easy for us to look back and say "King Asa and King Jehoshaphat what was your problem? How could you let this go on?" As it turns out the People of Israel also participated in child sacrifice while they worshiped the false gods of the Canaanite people. Over time they denied the truth, left the one true God, Yahweh and assimilated and adopted customs, traditions and religions of other groups! They stopped knowing who they were.
Haven't we done the same in our own lives? Don't we have the high places passed down to us from our fathers and mothers families? Addiction. Abortion. Perversion. Abuse. Adultery and the list goes on and on.....
The Lord has been speaking to me about these high places in my own life. Many of them have been torn down and replaced with HIM. Although undesired by me, some remain and I'm working on ridding them with the Lord. The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I'm convinced the first thing that needs to happen is for God to change our desires, before any work or any lasting change in our behaviors can occur. This happens by the renewing of our mind.
Afterall, I did not know that a life of "rage and depression, rejection and regret" wasn't normal, nor did I know I had an inheritance of abundant life, fruit and gifts that countered all I had ever learned. This is where fellowship with other believer is so important. We need Godly men and women to speak into our lives, share truth, correction when needed and sometimes just to be a mirror.
What is lingering in your life, that does not represent the abundant life Christ died to provide for us? Aren't high places just false gods that lie to us and say " I can do for you, what YOUR GOD cannot?"
Challenge what you think by submitting it to the word of God. The high places need to be exposed before they can be expelled.
Love,
Tammi