In the historical books we read the details of the tragedy of Israel. There are certainly moments of victory, but most of the developments and pivots in Israel’s story are, sadly, defeats. The book of judges depicts a tribal confederation that all but falls apart with an entire tribe (Benjamin) being nearly annihilated by the other tribes. The books of Samuel and Kings recount the events of the monarchy (both united and divided). While there are some good kings, most are disobedient.
Just to get an idea, there were forty-four kings total between the united and divided monarchies. There are only eight, yes eight, of these were said to have been “good” (Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah). That’s an eighteen percent success rate. But even the good kings, just about all of them failed to “take down the high places”. What does this mean exactly? In the Torah it is mandated that there should be only one central place of worship. This is to represent the singularity, the oneness of the God of Israel. The Israelites, as far as history tells us, were the first monotheists. Their monotheism was set in strong contrast against the culture of polytheism in the Ancient Near East. The patron deity of Israel, Yahweh Elohim, was adamant in revealing to Israel that he was not like the other “gods” of Israel’s neighbors in that he was One. In fact, the oneness of God is arguably the most important divine attribute of the Torah, and possibly even the entire Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:4). This was to be the testimony of Israel. Again, this was to be reflected in the central place of worship for Israel.
This is critical. For Israel to have more than one place of worship is to ruin their testimony as the chosen race of the One True God. This is precisely why getting rid of the high places was so important. To keep the high places was to testify that the God of Israel wasn’t sufficient to bring life.
Note here the missional dimension of the Mosaic Law. God is adamant about the Law of Moses because it is the testimony of the covenant people of God to a lost, confused, broken, corrupt, and decaying world. Lose the Law, lose the testimony. Lose holiness, and lose witness.
From Holiness in Fresh Perspective: Covenant, Cross, and Kingdom. Wipf & Stock, expected 2014. All rights reserved.
