HIGH PLACES 2 | WHAT WERE THEY?

1. High Places

a) During Bible History, high places were usually natural (e.g. hills and mountains) but sometimes man-made (e.g. towers) places where people worshiped or made sacrifices. 

b) The only True God often appeared, or was sometimes worshiped, atop mountains (e.g. Mount Sinai) or hills (1 Samuel 9:19).

c) The Canaanite "high places" were notorious for pagan worship where various heathenistic idols, altars or buildings were located, and where some of the most wicked and horrendous behavior imaginable went on. As such, when the Israelites entered the Promised Land they were commanded by God not only to have nothing to do with high places, but to destroy them because they would be corrupted by their presence - a command that was largely disobeyed, to their regret.

2. What were High Places?

a) Used for idolatrous worship.

1 Kings 11:7-8 
Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

b) God sometimes worshiped on.

1 Samuel 9:12 
And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place.

1 Kings 3:2
Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

1 Kings 3:4
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

2 Chronicles 33:17
Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only.