How exclusive does God expect us to be in our worship? It may seem like a dumb question, but if we were answering with our own lives, we might be forced to say, "Close is good enough."
The "good" kings of Judah certainly seemed to think that close was good enough. About one out of every two kings “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” (2 Kings 12:2; 14:3; 15:3; 15:34; 18:3; 22:2). And yet of most of these good kings of Judah, the text records this refrain, “Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away…” (12:3; 14:4; 15:4; 15:35).
The “high places” were unsanctioned locations of worship—unsanctioned even for worshiping Yahweh (Deut 12:5). They were most often connected with idol worship (1 Kings 11:5-8; 12:28-33; Jer 17:1-4). So 2 Kings records that most of the better half of the kings of Judah, while doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord, still tolerated false worship in the land.
Certainly, God is long-suffering, but is He okay with this? Is God okay with our tolerance of false worship, our “high places?” As long as we are mostly faithful, does God shrug his shoulders as if to say, “whatever”?
The narrative of Kings indicates that God desires and expects wholehearted, single-minded devotion from all people. We should never mistake God's patience for approval.
While the kings of Judah were playing both sides in the south, Israel in the south had already been deported by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17), who repopulated the land of Israel by bringing in people from other countries to settle there. This allowed for an interesting experiment: now that non-Israelites were living in the land of Israel, would God care about who or what these foreigners worshiped? After all, they weren’t in a covenant with Him…
And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them (2 Kings 17:25). Apparently, covenant or not, God expects to be worshiped. These settlers were no dummies. They realized the problem…
26 So the king of Assyria was told, “The nations that you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the god of the land. Therefore he has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them, because they do not know the law of the god of the land.”
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, “Send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there, and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the god of the land.”
28 So one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord (2 Kings 17:26–28).
That should fix the problem, right? Just start worshiping Yahweh and everything will be fine. The problem is that these settlers already had their own gods…
29 But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities in which they lived.
30 The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.
33 So they feared the Lord but also served their own gods, after the manner of the nations from among whom they had been carried away (2 Kings 17:29–33).
So the foreign settlers of Israel established a pattern similar to the southern kingdom of Judah, worshiping Yahweh and other gods side-by-side. Perhaps Yahweh will be okay with it? No. Consider how the following verse characterizes the situation…
To this day they do according to the former manner. They do not fear the Lord…(2 Kings 17:34).
Fearing the LORD + serving other gods = Not fearing the LORD
This whole scenario—the northern kingdom (Israel) being exiled and the land being repopulated with another people trying to serve Yahweh alongside other gods on the high places—perfectly sets the stage for reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah (southern kingdom), of whom it is written:
3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
4 He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan).
5 He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.
6 For he held fast to the Lord. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses.
7 And the Lord was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered (2 Kings 18:3–7).
After a string of kings in Judah who were close but not quite faithful, Hezekiah goes all the way and eradicates false worship from Judah. In the context, the author indicates THIS is what God desires.
All this is not to say that Hezekiah was perfect, but in dire times he trusted Yahweh alone. Two of the most remarkable answers to prayer in all of the Bible came in response to Hezekiah’s petitions—one for national deliverance and one for personal deliverance (2 Kings 19:1-37; 20:1-11). Hezekiah worshiped Yahweh alone and saw the amazing power of Yahweh at work on his own behalf and on behalf of the people of Judah.
Sadly, Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, was perhaps the most evil king of all. He rebuilt the high places in addition to other atrocities (2 Kings 21:1-9). It was then essentially too late to save Judah from its own exile. All the many years that Judah tolerated idolatry, God was showing patience, not approval.
On this side of the cross, we do not stand in exactly the same situation. Those who have trusted in Christ are in no danger of exile. Further, we have resources for faithfulness at our disposal that the Israelites did not have, not the least of which are regenerate hearts and the indwelling Holy Spirit. What we do have in common with Israel is that God desires and expects our wholehearted, single-minded devotion, while we often mistake His patience for approval.
So what are your high places—those areas of false worship that you tolerate, perhaps taking advantage of God’s kindness and patience? No matter where in salvation history we find ourselves, Psalm 16:4 is still true: “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply…”
How should we respond to these high places?
- Put in their rightful place good gifts that have become inordinately important to us. These could include climbing in our career, raising godly children, preserving a good reputation, saving for retirement… Good things that have become so central to us we will sin in order to get them or sin if we don’t get them.
- Cut off altogether ungodly attitudes, practices, thoughts, and desires. Inherently sinful attitudes and practices don’t have a “rightful place” as do good gifts. They must be jettisoned completely. The biblical key to accomplish this is to replace these things with godly alternatives (Ephesians 4:22-32).
- Prioritize growing in the worship of God in Christ. A steady diet of gospel truth is crucial here. It can come in the form of corporate worship, personal Bible intake in all its forms, Christian fellowship, theologically-sound reading, and Christ-centered worship music.
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