March 15
“And the high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and filled their places with human bones.” (2 Kings 23:13-14)
This verse describes the actions of good king Josiah, a young king who had great zeal for the Lord after the book of the law was discovered in the temple and read to him. (His father, Manasseh was the worst king the southern kingdom Judah had, and as a result of his evil, the law of God was so scarce in those days that the king didn’t even know it existed until they accidentally discovered a copy of it in the temple.) Josiah began a purging campaign in both the lands of Judah and Israel (Judah was the southern kingdom, and Israel was the northern kingdom which had already been taken away into exile by the Assyrians at the time of Josiah) unlike any before him.
When we read through 1 and 2 Kings, we read time and again of kings, even good kings, who did not remove the “high places.” The “high places” were altars that were built by Solomon and other kings on mountains and hills that were places to worship other gods. Perhaps in some cases the God of Israel was worshipped on these altars, but God had said that He was to be worshipped in Jerusalem, at the temple, not just anywhere. The failure to remove these “high places” was a negative commentary and an enduring defeat for the kings of Judah until Josiah. Even Hezekiah is said to have removed the high places, but apparently he didn’t remove them all, as the verse quoted above seems to indicate.
Isn’t it amazing that the kings of Israel allowed the stumbling blocks that Solomon put up to continue all those years? Perhaps they felt like they were ancient landmarks and needed to be preserved. Perhaps there was a strong lobbying effort from the “protect our high places” organizations of the day. Whatever the reason, personal, spiritual, or political, the kings failed to remove the things from the nation that continually made the people stumble.
What about the stumbling blocks in our lives that we decline to get rid of and make excuses for? The internet, cable TV, friends who make you stumble, people to are leading you astray? Who in your family or what voices in your head are lobbying you to keep them in place and not get rid of them? What are your “high places” and why are you not getting rid of them from your life? Why do you knowingly allow the devil to use them to make you stumble time and time again? What will it take for you to do right in God’s eyes and deal with these “high places,” which in reality are low places and stumbling blocks, once and for all, even if it is politically costly to do so?
It finally took a young king who was just learning the law of God himself to have the courage to finally put an end to those disastrous stumbling blocks in Judah and Israel. Do you recall the zeal you had when you were a young Christian? You were on fire for the Lord and would do anything for Him!
Reclaim that zeal against sin and evil you know you need to have to overcome sin. Identify the stumbling blocks and “high places” in your life that you need to purge. Don’t make excuses, and don’t give in to the political pressures to keep them. If you are making decisions that affect others, consult with them and try to be reasonable, but things that are clearly sinful must go. Be firm. Do it thoroughly. Purge them now.