High Places

Of High Places

What are "High Places"?

High Places

Almost without exception, "high places" referrs to a place (perhaps usually a structure or complex of some kind, which was built in all different locations such as cities and sometimes mountain or hill tops.) where false gods were worshiped (for example: Jer 7:31 "And they have built the high places of Tophet, which [is] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded [them] not, neither came it into my heart."). There is one intersting use of high places as referred to God's temple, etc, by a pagan king, Isa 36:7 (perhaps because he did not distinguish the true God from his gods, or perhaps he confused God with the gods of the high places Hezikiah had broken down 2Ch 32:12, 2Ch 33:3). Other exceptions are obviously referring to places that are literally, physically, higher (eg: Isa 41:18)

The combination of "high" AND "places" occurs in 91 verses in the KJV. 90 times in the Old Testament:

Lev 26:30 30And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

Num 21:28 28For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, [and] the lords of the high places of Arnon.

Num 22:41 41And it came to pass on the morrow, that Balak took Balaam, and brought him up into the high places of Baal, that thence he might see the utmost [part] of the people.

Num 33:52 52Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

Deu 12:2 2Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:

Deu 32:13 13He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;

Deu 33:29 29Happy [art] thou, O Israel: who [is] like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who [is] the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Jdg 5:18 18Zebulun and Naphtali [were] a people [that] jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high places of the field.

1Sa 13:6 6When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.

2Sa 1:19 19The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!

2Sa 1:25 25How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, [thou wast] slain in thine high places.

2Sa 22:34 34He maketh my feet like hinds' [feet]: and setteth me upon my high places.

1Ki 3:2 2Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

1Ki 3:3 3And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

1Ki 12:31 31And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

1Ki 12:32 32And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that [is] in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.

1Ki 13:2 2And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.

1Ki 13:32 32For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which [are] in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

1Ki 13:33 33After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became [one] of the priests of the high places.

1Ki 14:23 23For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

1Ki 15:14 14But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the LORD all his days.

1Ki 22:43 43And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing [that which was] right in the eyes of the LORD: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; [for] the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places.

2Ki 12:3 3But the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

2Ki 14:4 4Howbeit the high places were not taken away: as yet the people did sacrifice and burnt incense on the high places.

2Ki 15:4 4Save that the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burnt incense still on the high places.

2Ki 15:35 35Howbeit the high places were not removed: the people sacrificed and burned incense still in the high places. He built the higher gate of the house of the LORD.

2Ki 16:4 4And he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

2Ki 17:9 9And the children of Israel did secretly [those] things that [were] not right against the LORD their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

2Ki 17:11 11And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as [did] the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger:

2Ki 17:29 29Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put [them] in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.

2Ki 17:32 32So they feared the LORD, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.

2Ki 18:4 4He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

2Ki 18:22 22But if ye say unto me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is] not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

2Ki 21:3 3For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

2Ki 23:5 5And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

2Ki 23:8 8And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that [were] in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which [were] on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.

2Ki 23:9 9Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.

2Ki 23:13 13And the high places that [were] before Jerusalem, which [were] on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile.

2Ki 23:19 19And all the houses also of the high places that [were] in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke [the LORD] to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.

2Ki 23:20 20And he slew all the priests of the high places that [were] there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem.

2Ch 11:15 15And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.

2Ch 14:3 3For he took away the altars of the strange [gods], and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves:

2Ch 14:5 5Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

2Ch 15:17 17But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.

2Ch 17:6 6And his heart was lifted up in the ways of the LORD: moreover he took away the high places and groves out of Judah.

2Ch 20:33 33Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers.

2Ch 21:11 11Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and compelled Judah [thereto].

2Ch 28:4 4He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.

2Ch 28:25 25And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.

2Ch 31:1 1Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities.

2Ch 32:12 12Hath not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall worship before one altar, and burn incense upon it?

2Ch 33:3 3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.

2Ch 33:17 17Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, [yet] unto the LORD their God only.

2Ch 33:19 19His prayer also, and [how God] was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they [are] written among the sayings of the seers.

2Ch 34:3 3For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

Job 25:2 2Dominion and fear [are] with him, he maketh peace in his high places.

Psa 18:33 33He maketh my feet like hinds' [feet], and setteth me upon my high places.

Psa 78:58 58For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.

Pro 8:2 2She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths.

Pro 9:14 14For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city,

Isa 15:2 2He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads [shall be] baldness, [and] every beard cut off.

Isa 36:7 7But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is it] not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

Isa 41:18 18I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.

Isa 49:9 9That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that [are] in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures [shall be] in all high places.

Isa 58:14 14Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].

Jer 3:2 2Lift up thine eyes unto the high places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilderness; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness.

Jer 3:21 21A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping [and] supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, [and] they have forgotten the LORD their God.

Jer 4:11 11At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse,

Jer 7:29 29Cut off thine hair, [O Jerusalem], and cast [it] away, and take up a lamentation on high places; for the LORD hath rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath.

Jer 7:31 31And they have built the high places of Tophet, which [is] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded [them] not, neither came it into my heart.

Jer 12:12 12The spoilers are come upon all high places through the wilderness: for the sword of the LORD shall devour from the [one] end of the land even to the [other] end of the land: no flesh shall have peace.

Jer 14:6 6And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because [there was] no grass.

Jer 17:3 3O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance [and] all thy treasures to the spoil, [and] thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders.

Jer 19:5 5They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire [for] burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake [it], neither came [it] into my mind:

Jer 26:18 18Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Zion shall be plowed [like] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest.

Jer 32:35 35And they built the high places of Baal, which [are] in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through [the fire] unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

Jer 48:35 35Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.

Eze 6:3 3And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, [even] I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

Eze 6:6 6In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.

Eze 16:16 16And of thy garments thou didst take, and deckedst thy high places with divers colours, and playedst the harlot thereupon: [the like things] shall not come, neither shall it be [so].

Eze 16:39 39And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

Eze 36:2 2Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:

Eze 43:7 7And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, [neither] they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places.

Hsa 10:8 8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed: the thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, Cover us; and to the hills, Fall on us.

Amo 4:13 13For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what [is] his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, [is] his name.

Amo 7:9 9And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.

Mic 1:3 3For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.

Mic 1:5 5For the transgression of Jacob [is] all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the transgression of Jacob? [is it] not Samaria? and what [are] the high places of Judah? [are they] not Jerusalem?

Mic 3:12 12Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed [as] a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

Hab 3:19 19The LORD God [is] my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' [feet], and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

Once in the New Testament:

Eph 6:12 12For 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].

Micah 1:5

Mic 1:5 5For the transgression of Jacob [is] all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What [is] the transgression of Jacob? [is it] not Samaria? and what [are] the high places of Judah? [are they] not Jerusalem?

Read here for more detailed (though hard to understand) explanation of this verse: http://www.scionofzion.com/high_places.htm

High Things != High Places

II Corinthians 10 where he reads the words "every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God" (v. 5). In Camping’s mind the word "high" in II Corinthians must mean the same as the word "high" in "high places." Camping then explains that New Testament high places are the confessions of the churches.

Therefore the churches stand condemned for erecting high places which are "doctrines solemnly adopted by churches … high places in that they have come from the exalted minds of men." (Camping, The End, p. 79)