TEACHINGS FROM GOD | 03 | Destroy All The High Places

We must be ready to let go of anything that poses as a threat to our relationship with God.

Hello,

Welcome to Teachings from God, a section where I share lessons the Lord teaches me during my Bible Study. It is my prayer that as you read this, His Spirit illuminates the eyes of your understanding so that you know Christ more and more. If this is your first time on Bud and Blossom, feel free to check for older posts here.

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The story of Israel starts with a man whom God called out of his family to serve Him. God established His covenants with this man, Abraham and his children, Isaac and Jacob (Israel). Knowledge of these covenants have and continue to be passed from one generation to the next in the Jewish race. Regardless of being a chosen people, the Israelites seldom obeyed God and His statutes. Throughout the Old Testament, we see how their idolatry and unstable worship of Yahweh led to negative consequences in their land and history.

In this teaching, we shall examine high places, a phrase prevalent in the Old Testament, how it is linked to Israel’s sin of idolatry and lessons to be applied in our today as believers.

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What are High Places?

High places are places of worship on elevated piece of ground, that were originally dedicated to idols. Depending on context and reference in Scriptures, you may find words such as high hills, high mountains and green trees associated with this phrase.

These places contained carved (stone and wood) images and other objects consecrated to false deities (Baal, Molech, Chemosh, Milcom etc.). Rituals, incense offerings, burning of children in the fire and human sacrifice were practised in these places by the Canaanites, Ammonites and Moabites. However, as Israel drew nigh to their promised land, God warned them to abstain and not imitate these demonic practices.

The Intricacy of God

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments to serve as the foundation of living after delivering Israel from Egyptian bondage. Apart from these commandments, there were other laws given that governed aspects such as food, marriage and mode of worship. God gave intricate details on the kind of altars they were to build for His worship and instructed them not to carve stones if they decided to make altars of stone for Him.

And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. Nor shall you go up by steps to My altar, that your nakedness may not be exposed on it. - Exodus 20:25-26, NKJV.

It is interesting that God never commanded them to build stone altars for His worship. In the text cited above, “if” implies that although stone altars were not His mandate, there was a possibility that the Israelites would consider it as a choice. God then decided to give instructions that would guide their choices in a bid to prevent them from making errors or assumptions.

The first two commandments emphasize God's hatred for idolatry. It is a grave offence that has repurcussions extended to generations. Because God is clear on this subject, He was willing to give Israel boundaries regarding their tendencies (assuming they wanted to make Him an altar of stone) so that they would not fall into error or temptations and commit idolatry.

This shows us that God is extremely consistent with His Word. We live in a culture where different sects try to attack or invalidate the authority, infallibility, inerrancy and supremacy of the Scriptures and our Creator. It is essential for every believer to study the Word for themselves and seek God's Spirit for revelation and truth, lest we are deceived in these end times.

The Problem: An Incomplete Destruction

When the Israelites were close to the Promised Land, God told them to carry out specific actions that were tied to the inheritance of Canaan. One of those actions was a total destruction of all places consecrated to pagan worship and false deities of the land.

These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. - Deuteronomy 12:1-3, NKJV

Cross References: Deuteronomy 7:1-16, 12:4-14 & Numbers 33:50-56

Israel failed to keep their part of this covenant, and destroy all the Lord asked them to. Judges 1 give a detailed account of their incomplete destruction of the heathen altars, possessions and people, which left an opening for sin to creep in as seen from Judges 2.

Future Times for Israel

This incomplete destruction was the entrance to a serious harlotry that continued as generations passed by. As kings changed in Israel, some made efforts to tear down these pagan altars which proved successful (David, Josiah, Hezekiah). Others could not record a complete success in this mission as they omitted certain high places which led to the reinstitution of idolatry amongst the people. See 1 Kings 3:1-4, 15:9-15, 2 Kings 14:1-4.

Though the Israelites did not have the type of personal relationship we have with God today, (at that time, God raised leaders to serve as intermediaries between Himself and the nation) nor the capacity to keep a perfect relationship with the Lord through the help of His Spirit (the Holy Spirit was not dwelling in man till after Jesus' resurrection), they had a responsibility in the choices they made. Their inability to fully detach from idolatry gave way to continous backsliding that is evident across other books of the Bible.

Partial Obedience and Incomplete Destruction Lead to Compromise

True and complete obedience to God demands our all. Many times, God will nudge or ask us to carry out an action without giving the in-betweens and reasons to our obedience. The Christian walk is one of trust; a trust that does not always understand God’s ways immediately. Trying to negotiate His instructions or obey them partially gives the devil legal ground to slip in and bite.

All God’s children have been called to higher standards and affiliations with the world open the doors of compromise. James stated this in the fourth chapter of his book where he emphatically stressed that friendship with the world is enmity with God. Irrespective of our perception, incomplete obedience to God’s Word is actual disobedience and a step to a decline in our spiritual journey. We must be careful to hearken to all He says no matter the price lest we make ourselves target for the enemy.

Compromise Leads to Death

Using Solomon as an example, we see how following his emotions led to a compromise in his marriage choices and separation from God. God had warned Israel of their affairs with the ungodly people and disapproved them marrying foreigners from heathen nations. Yet, Solomon went after the women of his heart and soon after joined them in idolatry worship. See 1 Kings 11.

Scriptures reveal that the first occurrence of death in mankind began when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s instruction and ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. Death is separation from God and though we have come into God’s family through the New Birth as believers, we must be very careful and wary of situations that can lead us away from His will. Regardless of our emotions or ideologies, God's Word must always take center-stage in our lives. We must be willing to let go of anything (or person) that can hinder our walk and love for Him. Compromising our worship leads into a slow fade and eternal death.

Partial Destruction of High Places Lead to Incomplete Deliverance

The New Birth starts our salvation journey and as we progress with God, He transforms our spirit, soul and body. God is very particular about the total deliverance of His children as it is an aspect that has been catered to by the sacrifice of Christ. It is expected that we must play our part in appropriating His gift of deliverance by putting away things that serve as high places in our lives.

Hebrews 12 encourages us to drop every weight and sin that seeks to entangle us, as we pursue our calling to God. Though some may not be directly engaged in worship of carved images like ancient times, most of us are guilty of having gods in our hearts outside Christ. Such things range from relationships, family ties, careers, lifestyles, ungodly associations, and may exist as idols whether we are aware or not.

Anything or person exalted above the knowledge and place of Christ in our lives need to go. The more intimate our walk with God becomes, the more we must be ready to forgo things that can threaten our true love of Him. No matter how painful it currently is, a temporary discomfort that results from adhering to God's instructions is better than a permanent disaster of our souls. As God reveals our hearts to us, we must willingly destroy every high place that occupies our lives lest we are lured back into darkness through the craftiness and schemes of satan.

May the God of our salvation strengthen our wills to walk with Him. Amen.