May 31, 2023

II Kings 18: 4-7 He[Hezekiah] removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. . . . Hezekiah trusted in the Lord . . . There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given to Moses. (NIV)

To be free in Christ, our high places will have to fall. We must be willing to take a stand against idolatry.*

The Bible tells us that among all the kings of Judah, there was not another one like Hezekiah. What was so special about him when we are also told that Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, and Jotham were all kings who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”? The problem lies in a small but mighty exception to their exemplary lives. 

As king, Hezekiah didn’t just worship God and abstain from idolatry – he demolished the places and symbols of idol worship, seeing to it that they were no longer accessible to the young, the impressionable, and the weak of faith. He couldn’t force the people to worship the one true God but he had the power to erase idolatry’s aura of respectability. The other kings – the ones who “did what was right” - they had a more relaxed attitude and allowed the people to keep their “high places.” 

Freedom of religion is a sacred philosophy in America. Our founders wanted to ensure that their new country had no official religion and that everyone was free to practice the religion of their choice. That’s all well and good for a secular nation, but Judah and her religion were intertwined. They were God’s people. And “live and let live” is not a good policy when it comes to sin. 

The high places and the Asherah poles are not issues for us today, but they represent any area of disobedience that we allow or promote. In our homes, we have the power to remove, cut down, smash any form of idolatry. In society, we are free to avoid and to speak against idolatrous practices. Anything that comes between us and God has the potential of becoming an idol. 

As Christians, we should do more than just what is right in the eyes of the Lord. We should confront sin and take a stand against sinful behavior. There is no room for tolerance when it comes to sin.

When we make something other than God an absolute priority – even something good – we have made an idol.*