I’ve been reading through 1 Kings and 2 Kings the last 6 weeks or so. I had read these books of the bible before in my life but to be honest, these books, along with most of the Old Testament has always been pretty boring to me. Can you relate?
With the exception of the Psalms, Hosea, and maybe one or two others, I have often struggled to find relevance in them and relate them to my own walk with God here and now. But, God has been so sweet the last couple of months to bring new life into the Old Testament for me. He has been showing me things that I had never noticed before and has given me new eyes to see its application. Many times since the start of the race, it has felt as though the stories are jumping off the pages playing themselves out in small ways in people and ministry around me.
Most recently, God has highlighted a reoccurring piece of 1 and 2 Kings to me called the high places. The high places were places of worship that people would go to in order to perform sacrifices or burn incense in worship of idols. They were generally located high on the tops of mountains or hills and contained an altar and some sort of sacred object. In the covenant God made with the Israelites, God expressly commanded them to “have no other gods before [Him]” and to “not make for [themselves] an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them…” (Exodus 20:3-4) But after King Solomon fell into offering sacrifices on the high places, king after king that reigned over Israel and Judah were drawn into the same sin. Most of the kings turned away from the Lord and the old covenant that was made with Him when the Israelites were rescued out of Egypt back in Exodus 24 in more excessive ways than King Solomon. They worshipped many other gods such as El (supreme head of the Canaanite pantheon of gods), Baal (god of earth and rain), Ashtoreth (goddess of fertility) and Molech (Ammonite god to whom children were sacrificed) and did things that were detestable in God’s sight.
But, there were some kings like Asa, King of Judah in 1 Kings and Jotham, King of Judah in 2 Kings who worshipped God and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord by following his commands. Kings like these even went as far as to tear down the altars of Baal and cut down the Asherah poles that were put up by previous kings. However, for about 250 years, not one of these kings, even the ones that claimed to love the Lord and followed what He told them to do, recognized the importance of removing these high places where Israelites were sacrificing to and worshipping other gods. As I was reading through 2 Kings, I found myself getting more and more frustrated waiting for the day that a king would come along and tear them down.
While I was reading through this, pointed out that the high places were not just restricted to the time of 1 and 2 Kings. We too can have metaphorical “high places” in our own lives. As my team, the Impact Africa interns and I have been going out and meeting people in the squatter camps and township communities around Johannesburg, we’ve had the opportunity to spend time with the most incredible people and hear their stories.
Something I have learned while in South Africa is that many people have mixed other things in on top of their belief in God. It reminded me of the second group of kings I mentioned. Many will profess that they love Jesus “too much”. But, when you dive deeper into conversation you may find that they also pray to their ancestors or trust in wearing a string or beaded necklace around their wrist or neck to protect them. They may also rely on teas or water that has been prayed over to heal them of their ailments. These are their “high places”. They idolize these things instead of/ in addition to God. They allow these idols to sit on the throne of their lives where God alone should be seated. They are believing that these other things outside of Jesus will be able to help them, guide them, and/ or protect them. But, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He is it. He is all we need. These excess things in their lives are keeping them from an intimate relationship with their Father. He is the ultimate provider and the greatest physician.
But this idea of “high places” isn’t limited to just African culture or the Israelites back in the time of 1 and 2 Kings. And it certainly isn’t limited to the few examples I gave of what the Lord pointed out to me while in the townships. Porn, abusing alcohol, a girlfriend/ boyfriend, striving for success, money, wanting to look cool, fortune cookies, new age healing crystals etc. are all examples of possible high places that can be found in our lives.
What are your high places? What parts have remained after you have “cleaned house” of the things in your life that weren’t from the Lord? What are you trusting in more than God? What things are you idolizing and finding your worth, identity and power in other than Jesus? What is that one thing/ person that you just can’t seem to shake that you always run back to?
Let me be clear. Whether it is about worshipping a Canaanite god, wearing a special string around your neck for protection or sneaking away to watch porn again, it is the heart we are talking about. In all of these scenarios, it is a heart that fails to fully recognize that God is King, He is all that we need. That’s it.
There is one throne in our life and we need to decide who gets to be on it. Is it going to be us? Other stuff in our high places? Or God?
‘Cause God is a jealous God. He deserves to have all of our love, trust, and sacrifice.
It is time to clean house. No more half-hearted living. It’s time for those high places to go.
