SHRINES ON THE HILLS

A Response to "Why Didn't the Good Kings Destroy the Shrines on the Hills?"

The Persistent Question

Many times we notice that the Bible records the good things that good kings did, and it pleased the Lord. They brought reform, renewed the covenant, restored the temple, and led the people back to God. Yet, almost without exception, they left something undone. They did not destroy completely all the things that the Lord asked them to. They always left the shrines on the hills untouched. This persistent pattern raises a question: Why? Why did even the good kings fail to tear down the high places? Joash, king of Judah, did what was right because Jehoiada the High Priest instructed him. Yet even so, he did not destroy the shrines on the hills—people still sacrificed and burned incense there. Amaziah was a good king in the Lord's sight, though not quite like his ancestor David, but he was as good a king as his father Joash. However, he did not destroy the shrines on the hills, so the people still sacrificed and burned incense there. The pattern is repeated again and again. Good kings, but incomplete obedience.

What Were the High Places?

The shrines on the hills were located on high places, elevated pieces of ground where people worshiped. These high places were originally dedicated to idol worship, especially among the Moabites and other Canaanite nations. They often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the object of worship—animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities. When the Israelites first entered the Promised Land, they were told to destroy the high places, idols, and molten images of the Canaanite inhabitants. They were also instructed not to worship at high places that were Canaanite sites. God wanted to be worshiped in a different way, at the place He would choose to put His name and make His habitation.

The Complication of the High Places

However, not all high places were dedicated to idol worship. They played a major role in Israelite worship as well. The earliest biblical mention of a site of worship, later called a high place, is found in Genesis 12:6-8, where Abram built altars to the Lord at Shechem and Hebron. Abraham built an altar in the region of Moriah and was willing to sacrifice his son there—a site traditionally believed to be the same high place where the temple of Jerusalem was built. Jacob set up a stone pillar to the Lord at Bethel, and Moses met God on Mount Sinai. Joshua set up stone pillars after crossing the Jordan and considered this a high place of worship. The high places were visited regularly by the prophet Samuel. These were not places of idol worship; they were places where the patriarchs and prophets had encountered God. They carried a sacred history, a sense of tradition, and a connection to the past.

The Danger of Mixed Worship

This is where the danger lay. The high places had a mixed history. They were sites of both true worship and idolatry. The Canaanites had used them for their abominable practices, but they were also places where God had met His people. Over time, the people began to blur the distinction. They continued to worship at these sites, but their worship became corrupted. They combined the worship of Yahweh with the practices of the Canaanites. They offered sacrifices, but they also offered incense to idols. They honored God, but they also honored the gods of the nations. The high places became a symbol of compromise, a place where the pure worship of God was mixed with the pollution of idolatry. And the good kings, for all their reforms, could not bring themselves to destroy them.

The Compromise of Convenience

Why did they leave them standing? Perhaps it was political expediency. Tearing down the high places would have been unpopular. The people had grown accustomed to them. They had become part of the religious landscape. Perhaps it was economic pragmatism. The high places were centers of commerce and trade. Destroying them would have disrupted the local economy. Perhaps it was religious sentiment. The people had attached sacred memories to these sites. They had been places of prayer, of encounter, of tradition. To destroy them would have seemed like destroying part of their heritage. And so the good kings compromised. They did what was right in many ways, but they stopped short of complete obedience.

The Cost of Incomplete Obedience

Incomplete obedience is still disobedience. The high places remained, and they continued to be a snare to the people. They were a constant reminder that God's commands could be accommodated, that His standards could be lowered, that His exclusive claim on worship could be shared with other things. The high places were not just physical structures; they were spiritual footholds. They were places where the enemy could maintain a presence, where the people could be drawn away, where compromise could be normalized. And the good kings, by leaving them standing, opened the door for future generations to fall into deeper idolatry. It was only King Josiah, generations later, who finally destroyed them all.

The Application for Us

What are the high places in our lives? What are the areas of compromise that we tolerate, even while we seek to follow God? What are the shrines we have left standing—the habits, the attitudes, the relationships, the pursuits that we know are not pleasing to God, but that we have grown comfortable with? We may be good people. We may be doing many things right. But there may be high places in our hearts that we have not torn down. And as long as they remain, they are a foothold for the enemy. They are a constant temptation to compromise. They are a barrier to complete obedience. God wants all of us, not most of us. He wants our whole heart, not just the parts we are willing to give. He wants us to tear down every high place.

Final Reflection

The good kings of Judah were commended for their reforms, but they were not fully obedient. They left the high places standing, and those high places continued to draw the people away from God. The lesson for us is clear: incomplete obedience is not enough. We must be willing to tear down every high place in our lives, no matter how familiar, no matter how comfortable, no matter how long they have been there. God deserves our complete devotion, our undivided loyalty, and our full obedience. Let us not stop short of the finish line. Let us tear down the high places.

Prayer for Complete Obedience

Lord, search my heart and reveal the high places I have left standing. Show me the areas of compromise I have tolerated and the shrines I have been unwilling to tear down. Give me the courage to destroy every foothold of the enemy in my life. I want to be fully obedient to You, not just in the big things but in the small things as well. Help me to give You my whole heart, without reservation, without compromise. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.