In the Bible, high places refer to elevated sites that were used for pagan worship and sacrifice. They were prevalent in ancient Israelite society and represented a syncretism between the worship of Yahweh and pagan gods. The building of high places for worship was expressly forbidden by God, as He commanded the Israelites to destroy the altars and images associated with false gods (Exodus 34:13). However, high places continued to be a problem through much of Israel’s history.
Some of the key things the Bible reveals about high places include:
- High places were situated on hills, mountains, or other natural high areas. They afforded good views and were thought to be closer to the heavens and pagan gods (1 Kings 11:7).
- High places often contained altars and poles dedicated to false gods like Baal and Asherah. Shrines, idols, and graven images could also be found at high place sites (1 Kings 14:23).
- Both pagan sacrifices and sacrifices to Yahweh were offered at high places. Sacrifices to idols were forbidden, while sacrifices to Yahweh were permitted only at the Temple in Jerusalem (Leviticus 17:1-9).
- High places flourished in the Promised Land before Israel occupied it. Local Canaanite peoples used high places to worship their gods (Numbers 33:52).
- The Israelites were commanded to destroy the high places of pagan worship upon entering Canaan (Deuteronomy 12:2-3). But they failed to do so and adopted syncretic worship practices.
- Many kings of Israel and Judah were condemned for failing to remove high places, including Solomon, Jeroboam, and Manasseh (1 Kings 11:7-8; 2 Kings 21:3).
- Good kings like Hezekiah and Josiah worked to abolish high places and centralized worship in Jerusalem as God required (2 Kings 18:4; 23:5-20). But later kings reversed their reforms.
- The prophets condemned both the idolatry of high places and improper sacrifice to Yahweh at local high places rather than the Temple (Ezekiel 6:3-6).
- Even after the Babylonian exile, the returned remnant struggled with improper high place worship (Ezra 9-10).
The prevalence of high places demonstrated Israel’s proclivity to idolatry and religious syncretism. Rather than driving out pagan worship sites as God commanded, they absorbed pagan practices into their worship of Yahweh. As a result, high places led the people away from true devotion to God and the centrality of worship He required in Jerusalem. The struggle against high places traced the spiritual decline of Israel and Judah prior to their exile. While high places afforded convenient local worship, they undermined pure worship of Yahweh.
God expressly prohibited high place worship because it:
- Introduced pagan idolatry into Israelite society
- Distracted from the worship Yahweh commanded in the law of Moses
- Undermined centralized worship in Jerusalem as God prescribed
- Led to syncretism between Yahweh worship and pagan rituals
- Displaced devotion from God to idols
- Encouraged religious pluralism and compromise of spiritual convictions
The presence of high places testified to Israel’s incomplete obedience and inclined the people toward idolatry. Even though some high places were nominally dedicated to Yahweh, they violated the sacred space God set aside for worship in Jerusalem. Hence most kings in the Bible receive condemnation for failing to abolish high places and leading the people into spiritual adultery.
In summary, the high places discussed frequently in the Bible refer to raised spaces originally designated for pagan worship. High places proliferated in Israel due to incomplete conquest of Canaan and religious syncretism. They demonstrate the powerful tendency toward idolatry even among God’s covenant people. The struggle against high places traces Israel’s fitful spiritual history prior to exile. While high places were convenient and popular, they embodied compromise and spiritual adultery. God insisted upon centralized worship in Jerusalem to preserve loyalty to Him alone.
Examples of High Places in the Bible
1. High Places Built by the Canaanites
When Israel entered the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, the Canaanite peoples had already erected many high places to worship their false gods. God commanded Israel to destroy these high places entirely and not adopt their detestable practices (Deuteronomy 12:2-3). However, Israel failed in this mission. They did not fully drive out the Canaanites or tear down their altars and images. As a result, many high places remained active centers for idol worship.
Numbers 33:52 – “You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places.”
The incomplete conquest left temptations to idolatry that tripped up Israel throughout its history. The high places established by the pagan Canaanites led Israel away from exclusive loyalty to God.
2. High Places Built by Solomon
Early in his reign, Solomon was devout and God-fearing. He constructed the Temple in Jerusalem according to God’s specifications. However, later in life Solomon turned away from wholehearted devotion to God. He built high places and altars to pagan gods like Molech and Chemosh to please his foreign wives (1 Kings 11:1-8). Though wise, Solomon failed to remove high places and even constructed new ones in defiance of God’s law.
1 Kings 11:7-8 – “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.”
Solomon’s unfaithfulness demonstrated that even the wisest and most blessed leaders can be led astray by high places.
3. High Places in Northern Israel
The breakup of Solomon’s kingdom was precipitated by the idolatry he introduced in Jerusalem. Under Jeroboam, the northern kingdom of Israel almost immediately fell into the sin of worshiping at illegal high places (1 Kings 12:25-33). State promoted idolatry at Dan and Bethel set the pattern for Israel’s later history. The biblical record shows that not one of Israel’s kings eradicated high places or turned the people back to true worship.
1 Kings 13:32-33 – “For the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria shall surely come to pass.”
The dominance of high places in the northern kingdom displayed their ingrained propensity for idolatry and false worship. It was one of the chief sins that eventually led to their national downfall and exile by Assyria.
4. High Places in Judah
The kingdom of Judah struggled with high places as well, though they enjoyed seasons of reform under righteous kings like Hezekiah and Josiah (2 Kings 18:4). However, other kings like Rehoboam, Jehoram, Ahaz, and Manasseh erected high places, built pagan altars, and led the people into religious adultery (1 Kings 14:22-24). Good kings removed high places only to have later kings permit their return.
2 Chronicles 28:25 – “In every city of Judah he made high places to make offerings to other gods, provoking to anger the Lord, the God of his fathers.”
The recurring problem of high places in Judah demonstrated that exclusive loyalty to God was tenuous. Even after exile, the returning remnant still struggled with improper worship on high places.
Major Themes About High Places
Looking across the Bible’s treatment of high places, several important themes emerge:
1. Idolatry and Syncretism
A key association of high places was idolatry. While often intertwined with Yahweh worship, the pagan origins and elements of high places made them centers of religious syncretism. The prevalence of high places exposed Israel’s underlying spiritual adultery even while outwardly serving Yahweh. High places bore witness to divided hearts.
2. Disobedience to God
Building high places directly disobeyed God’s commandments. God explicitly required the destruction of pagan high places in Canaan and centralized worship in Jerusalem. But Israel’s failure to eradicate idolatry opened the door to compromise. High places represented willful disobedience of God’s law.
3. Spiritual Adultery
The prophets commonly portrayed high places as evidence of Israel’s spiritual adultery. Though bound to God through covenant, the allure of pagan gods ensnared their hearts. High places vividly symbolized this adulterous betrayal of loyalty to God alone.
4. Convenience over Conviction
High places also demonstrated that convenience frequently wins out over conviction. Though aware that high places violated God’s commands, people embraced them for ease of local worship. High places traded pure worship for pragmatism and reflected weakened spiritual commitment.
5. Incomplete Conquest
Israel’s failure to fully conquer Canaan by eradicating high places was foundational to their proliferation. God warned that pagan remnants would ensnare Israel if not eliminated entirely. The convenience of high places triumphed over completing the mission God assigned.
Lessons and Applications
The recurring struggle against high places in the Bible provides several important lessons and modern applications:
- No spiritual leader, however great, is immune to compromise. Even after building the Temple, Solomon erected high places, showing that all are prone to wander from God.
- Disobedience, even in small matters, has consequences. Failing to remove Canaanite high places opened the floodgates to generations of idolatry in Israel.
- Syncretism and religious pluralism dilute true faith. Attempts to blend God’s worship with cultural practices only corrupt Biblical faith.
- Right theology matters. High places led people to believe God could be worshiped in multiple places and ways, straying from Scripture.
- Half measures in obedience are ultimately disobedience. Compromise over high places stemmed from incomplete conquest of Canaan as God commanded.
- Purity in worship requires constant vigilance. Periodic reforms could not make up for long eras of tolerated high places.
In modern application, high places represent any beliefs, practices or institutions that lead God’s people astray into idolatry, compromise and religious pluralism. Though often appealing for their pragmatism or cultural relevance, they undermine loyalty to God through His revealed Word. As seen in Israel’s history, anything short of wholehearted obedience leaves a foothold for corruption. God’s call to His people remains removing the “high places” in order to worship Him alone in spirit and in truth.
Importance and Legacy
The extended narrative arc about high places forms a core storyline across much of the Old Testament. More than just a religious concern, high places shaped the history, identity and ultimate exile of God’s people. The rise and fall of high places mirrored their political fate and exposed their half-hearted obedience to God. Even in periods of revival, high places proved nearly impossible to eradicate entirely. Hence they left an enduring mark on Israel’s spiritual landscape.
The legacy of high places reminds believers in every age of the need for undivided hearts toward God. Even small compromises in loyalty and obedience bear bitter fruit over time. The allure of cultural accommodation and religious pragmatism is strong. But the sobering lesson of Israel’s high places calls God’s people back to the old paths of uncompromised devotion to Him alone.
Though seemingly minor matters, high places had an outsized impact in Israel’s history. They represented rival gods ever crouching at the nation’s door. As the Proverb says, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23). The same vigilance is needed today to tear down modern “high places” that compete with sole allegiance to God and His Word.
High Places and False Gods in the Bible
Two of the main false gods associated with high places in the Old Testament were Baal and Asherah.
Baal
Baal was a Canaanite storm and fertility god who was believed to control the rain and agricultural productivity. Israelites would worship and make sacrifices to Baal at high places, appropriating his name into their worship of Yahweh. The prophets especially condemned syncretistic worship of “Baal” at local high places.
Hosea 2:13 – “And I will punish her for the feast days of the Baals when she burned offerings to them and adorned herself with her ring and jewelry, and went after her lovers and forgot me, declares the Lord.”
Asherah
Asherah was a Canaanite mother goddess associated with fertility. At high places, stylized poles or trees represented Asherah along with altars to other idols. Worship of Asherah was tied to ritual prostitution and sensuality. Like Baal, Asherah worship became intermixed with Israel’s worship of Yahweh.
Judges 3:7 – “And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.”
These false gods exemplify how high places introduced paganism. But beyond specific deities, high places themselves became the objects of worship through idolization of place and ritual. God insisted true worship was not confined to sacred places or shrines.
By removing high places, righteous kings reoriented the focus back to Yahweh alone in the Temple. This foreshadowed the new covenant’s liberation from localized worship and prefigured the sanctuary access believers now enjoy through Christ (Hebrews 10:19-22).
Conclusion
High places occupy an important place in the biblical narrative as centers of false worship that ensnared Israel. While attempting to accommodate cultural practices, they embodied compromised loyalty to God and His commands. The struggle against syncretism and idolatry tied to high places recurred for centuries prior to exile. This reveals the powerful tendency toward religious adultery even among God’s covenant people.
Christians should learn from Israel’s example not to tolerate any rivals to complete devotion to God. Things that may seem harmless like cultural adaptation can subtly lead to diluted conviction and divided hearts. Only wholehearted obedience to God’s Word and commands preserves true worship and loyalty to Him. The call to tear down “high places” in our lives remains vital for maintaining pure worship and allegiance to the one true and living God.