High places — A complete understanding
High places — A complete understanding
A breakdown of the "high places", mapping its understanding the the real world and how it fits into your life.
The term “High Places” is used throughout the scriptures, but its meaning is unclear. This post unlocks its meaning and illuminates many unrevealed scriptures for those diligently studying. The aim is to unquestionably present the understanding of high places stated throughout the scriptures, applying it to the world and your life.
The Priesthood
The Levitical priesthood sat above all else in the kingdom. This point is often missed when considering that kings ruled over Israel since the days of Samuel. Despite these earthly kings, the priests were placed by God in his stead on earth to lead by example and teach the people. The priests were the anointed leaders of the earthly nation governed by the heavenly kingdom of God.
Their inheritance was God (Deuteronomy 18:1-2)
The following two references from The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs highlight the understanding of the position of the Levites and their commander, God.
As the heaven is higher than the earth, so is the priesthood of God higher than the earthly kingdom, unless it falls away through sin from the Lord and is dominated by the earthly kingdom.
The Testament of Judah 21:4-5 (See also: The Testament of Levi 8:11-19)
The Temple
The Tabernacle (temple) is a place of service for God, where the priests taught the people and instructed them in the ways of God. They could be found when needed by the people in this place. They executed their duties here, such as judgment, sacrifices, declaring clean or unclean (leprosy), addressing suspicions of adultery, etc.
The priest performed the daily sacrifices (1 Chronicles 16:39-40) and sacrificed on behalf of the people when atoning for their sins or even offering a peace sacrifice. In their duties, the Levites and the priests, the descendants of Aaron (a Levite), were distributed throughout all the tribes of Israel. This necessity is likened to today’s services, which are placed in available places to serve the population.
1. And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
2. Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.
3. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
4. And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
Satan’s High Places
Although Jesus has trampled on the devil (Colossians 2:15, Luke 10:18-19) and destroyed his kingdom, his reign is realised in the future (Revelation 22:12, Daniel 2:34-35 + 44-45). This means that satan currently exercises considerable control on earth (Matthew 4:8-11, 1 Peter 5:8) and has deceived the entire world (Revelation 12:9).
8. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
11. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
The passage indicates that Satan had control of the world (Ephesians 2:2, John 14:30) by the fact that he offered it to Jesus. Considering that Satan is a liar, we can look around us today to see the world engulfed in sin. The following further indicates that dark forces control those who run the world.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
If we are not wrestling against flesh and blood but against powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world, spiritual wickedness in high places, then we wrestle against the one who exercises power over the world’s rulers. This wickedness sits in “high places”, those places of power on the earth. The evidence can be seen from the constant degradation and depravation in the world.
The visibility of control could be taken back to the days of Daniel under Persian rule. Here, the Prince of Persia withstood Gabriel for twenty-one days. That prince was made to step aside by Michael, the only one who understood the scriptures better than Gabriel. This shows that the Prince of Persia is a force to be reckoned with in heaven (not against God), never mind on earth.
High Places
The previous information shows that a high place is a place of power—rulership, influence, and control. As seen in 1 Kings 3:1-4, there are great high places, thus implying there are ones smaller.
As with many biblical precepts, this term can be used on several levels, including physical, personal and spiritual.
Your High Places
Your body is the temple of God (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). We do not worship God in temples made with hands but in Spirit and truth (Acts 7:48, Acts 17:24, John 4:21-24). We worship by having the testimony of Jesus and keeping the commandments of God.
When anything becomes of more value and occupies a place of power, influence and rulership in our lives, it occupies our temple—our high place reserved for God. This becomes our idol and sacrificial altar—the thing we bow down to and rules our lives.
A High Place On Every Street
21. That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?
22. And in all thine abominations and thy whoredoms thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.
23. And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe unto thee! saith the Lord GOD;)
24. That thou hast also built unto thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in every street.
25. Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy whoredoms.
26. Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbours, great of flesh; and hast increased thy whoredoms, to provoke me to anger.
Israel departed from the ways of God and established idols of greed, debauchery, deceit, dishonesty, religion and material possessions (Ezekiel 6:13). They established another value system and chased after (Hosea 2:1-12) the way of the other nations. They forgot who was behind their successes and began to value their success over the one who gave it to them.
There is no success without God, and all material possessions are vanity. Everything is vanity (Ecclesiastes 12:8). Even the idolised King James Version of the protestant Bible is vanity and has become an idol to many.
Conclusion
Solomon, as did Israel, turned away from God (1 Kings 11:7) in favour of the powers and principalities of the other nations. They forgot that God made them the head, not the tail (Deuteronomy 28:13), and all good things come from God (James 1:17).
The Prince of Persia (Daniel 10:12-13), the spiritual wickedness that rules in high places in this world, creates a world of abominations.
The perpetual chasing of money and material possessions.
Open hedonism without shame, but rather glorified.
Cheating and false balances at every turn. Normal practices of deceit both in low and high places.
Adultery and fornication in every crevice with the destruction of the marriage union created by God.
The poisoning of foods and monetisation of health.
The rampant destruction of war for profit.
Everyone has their idols and polluted their bodily temples with high places on every corner. Those of sports, money, drunkenness, gossip, religion, wars, greed, deceit and many abominations infesting the earth. All these abominations sink the world further into destruction.