Removing the high places
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods besides me.” –Exodus 20:1-3 (ESV)
We never sin in isolation – sin always has a ripple effect.
For all the glory of King Solomon, he became a fool in his old age, wrecking his legacy and the future of his kingdom. He built high places and temples for the worship of fake pagan gods as a favor to the numerous foreign wives he had married. For the people, this reinforced an idea that all gods were essentially the same – one was as good as another. Pick your favorite. Better yet, get in good with several. Solomon himself dabbled at the buffet. There would be a price to pay….
Once Solomon was gone, a majority of the people broke away from his son, taking the name of the kingdom with them. The northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom (Judah) went their separate ways, but the precedent had been set. Both nations would remain far too comfortable with their high places.
Spiritual ambiguity creates confusion that leads to depravity.
For those scoring along at home, Israel would last just over 200 years under 19 kings, all of whom led the people away from YHWH, before falling to the Assyrians. Judah would fare somewhat better, lasting not quite 350 years under 20 kings, eight of whom were mostly OK, before falling to the Babylonians. Thirty-nine kings: 31 worthless, 4 good, 4 not terrible.
To be fair, Judah’s four “not terrible” kings tried. Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, and Jotham mostly followed God. They re-established temple worship of YHWH at Jerusalem as the standard for the land. But they failed to remove the high places, leaving the door open to idol worship. Why? Did they get busy and forget? Did they need insurance in case YHWH failed them? Were they seeking higher approval ratings in the urban districts? Maintenance of foreign alliances? Inclusivity mandates? It’s unclear.
What is clear is the end of these kings and the devastating effects of their half-hearted commitment to YHWH. Joash and Amaziah were assassinated by members of their own cabinet. Uzziah died in isolation, stricken with leprosy after pridefully attempting to usurp the role of the priests by offering incense in the temple. Jotham died of natural causes, but handed the kingdom to his son Ahaz who adopted the gods of the Assyrians and sacrificed his son by fire to the pagan god, Moloch.
Don’t make accommodation for sin.
As a personal practice, I must continually ask the Holy Spirit to show me my high places, my blind spots, hidden bunkers in my heart where I justify a pet sin, or allow pride and complacency to dilute my pursuit of Him, then ask His help in destroying those strongholds. And as the people of God, we cannot compromise on clearly-stated Biblical truth. Period. We just can’t.
That should never mean we are disrespectful, obnoxious, or hateful. The gospel is about hope and redemption out of a system we broke a thousand generations ago. The church should be a safe place for sinners, but never a place that turns a blind eye to sin. The offer of salvation without a call to transformative holiness is not loving. It’s not new life and it isn’t the gospel. A church that is afraid to call sin for what it is has ceased to be the church. It’s dangerously close to becoming just another high place. Something may get worshiped, but it won’t be God.
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen. –1 Timothy 1:17 (NIV)