Living in the Chicago area as I do, we are in the Great Lakes region, a rather flat part of the country. No mountains here! Fortunately when I was younger I had the opportunity to visit both the Rocky Mountains and the Appalachian Mountains. Mountains are very beautiful and majestic. In some cultures, though, mountains have been worshiped, or have been the focus for worship of various false, pagan gods. Mount Olympus, associated with the ancient Greek religion, is a prime example. The people of Israel and Judah had a tendency to fall into that trap, too, as we shall see in our Scripture today from the Book of Jeremiah.
From the final days of Joshua on through to the Babylonian captivity, the people of Israel and Judah had a strong tendency to turn to the worship of the pagan gods and goddesses of the surrounding Canaanite tribes. Often part of the worship of these false gods took place in “high places”, on the tops of hills and mountains, where they would erect shrines and altars. Worship in these high places, along with the worship in groves, were specifically forbidden by Yahweh (Deuteronomy 12:2-3, 13-14). However, the people went running after the ways of their pagan neighbors, and the worship on high places and groves became entrenched in their culture. By the days of the prophet Jeremiah it was a very common practice, though it still greatly angered the Lord God.
As our Scripture opens, Jeremiah described the sound of weeping and prayers being heard from up in the heights, up in the hills, where the pagan shrines frequently were. The people were up their pleading in prayer for the help of pagan deities, or even Yahweh, to help in the desperate troubles they were in. However, God said that they have perverted their ways and have forgotten Him (vs. 21). This was not the way God said to worship Him.
The worship of false gods was wrong, along with the combining of worship of Yahweh with a pagan deity. He would not share the altar in the high places, nor in groves. He would only be worshiped upon the specific altar in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple in Jerusalem. Jeremiah, on behalf of God, called the people back from their backsliding, from their sins, and then He would forgive them (vs. 22).
Sin should be seen for what it is. All too often, either back in Biblical days, and certainly today, sin is whitewashed. Too many people don’t even believe in sin today. Everything is considered okay. Anything goes. If it feels good, do it. It's all okay. Those are the mantras today. The world glorifies sin, and does not see it for how vile it is.
The prophet Jeremiah continued on by telling the people that trying to find help and deliverance from the hills and mountains is useless (vs. 23). As surely as deliverance is vainly hoped for from the multitude of idols placed on the hills and mountains, so surely is salvation a certainty when sought from Yahweh. No salvation can be obtained from hill or mountain gods. Jeremiah pleaded with the people, and us today, to turn to the Lord God (Psalm 121:1-2).
The people had been crying out to these false deities for help and deliverance. Instead, the Lord called to them, reminding them that if only they would return to Him, and put away their sins and abominations, He would hold them steadfast against their enemies and their troubles (vs. 1-2). If we do the same, if we get rid of the sin in our own life, get the obscenities and evil out of God’s sight, and if we will not wander away from Him, but instead worshiping only the Lord Jesus sincerely, justly, and righteously, we will not be moved. We will bless ourselves in Him, and He will be our glory.
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