Removing the High Places (Pt. 2)

So, last time I was talking about how during Kings and especially Chronicles, many kings followed God's laws, but most didn't get rid of the high places. I thought it odd that the Bible would mention that. Now it's Application time.

Naturally, I thought to myself, "Bob (you thought I was going to say self, huh? What kind of hack do you take me for?), have you removed your high places?"” And I thought about it, and no, I haven'’t either. There are still some little sins, that are more like comfort sins, ya know? They are so deeply ingrained within me, that they're like a high places... hard to get rid of. But I am trying. It's a daily struggle to get rid of even one of the comfort sins.

What exactly is a high place? Well, I did a little research. It took time, time away from my TV, and it took loads of effort. Well... not really. Yeah that was another lie. Sorry, told you these things were hard to break. Anyway, I googled it and pretty much read the first entry. And this is from the Easton Bible Dictionary, and it says that a high place is "an eminence, natural or artificial, where worship by sacrifice or offerings was made" (1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 17:29).”

And if you read on, it says stuff like God didn'’t want people to sacrifice on high places even if it is for him, He wants them to do it only on the official altar. Hmm, well that's something I didn'’t know. I always thought the Israelites sacrificed to other gods on the high places, but He doesn'’t even want them to sacrifice to Him over there. I guess he doesn'’t want copycat altars or something... you know, cheapens His branding.

So, even if you got good intentions, you still shouldn'’t sin. That'’s pretty much it, in a nutshell. What God says, goes: no ifs, ands, nor buts. And you can see why it is so hard to get rid of the high place worship as well. I mean, who wants to pack, travel 5 days behind some smelly camel ass, to go to the official temple to give your sin offering?!? Man, if I lived back then, I'’d be going to the temple more often then eating. And the commute those days! Whew, if you thought Silicon Valley commute in the pouring rain is bad... wait till you see a line of camels stuck in some desert mud while flocks of sheep and cattle are milling all around. So much easier to find the nearest tall place, I mean, it'’s a desert, there must be tons of tall rocks, and then go sacrifice to God there. Kinda like a ATM altar.

Man, lost my point again. This is getting quite long, so to sum up: God doesn't like the High Places. But they're hard to remove because they are convenient and made of rocks. Man has learned to accept that and move on, but God won'’t. High places=sins. So everyone has their own secret high places, and although they may be well-intentioned, it'’s still a sin. Luckily, God forgives all things, but only if you confess.