What is the meaning of 2 Chronicles 20:33? The high places • In Israel and Judah, “high places” were elevated sites where the people offered sacrifices—sometimes to the LORD, sometimes to idols. The LORD had commanded, “You must destroy all the high places” (Deuteronomy 12:2–3), reserving worship for the temple in Jerusalem. • Even kings who loved the LORD often tolerated these sites. For example, “The high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on them” (2 Kings 14:4). That pattern sets the stage for the statement here in 2 Chronicles 20:33. however • The word signals a sharp contrast. Just one verse earlier we read of Jehoshaphat, “He walked in the way of his father Asa and did not stray from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD” (2 Chronicles 20:32). • Yet spiritual compromise can coexist with outward faithfulness. The “however” reminds us of Jehoshaphat’s earlier reforms (2 Chronicles 17:3–6) but points to what still needed addressing. were not removed • Incomplete obedience leaves footholds for future sin. King Asa “did not remove the high places from Israel” (2 Chronicles 15:17), and Joash later did the same (2 Kings 12:3). • Tolerating even a little idolatry keeps the door open for larger departures from God. Leviticus 26:30 warns that unremoved high places provoke divine judgment. the people had not yet set their hearts • Genuine reform must move from externals to the inner life. Samuel urged Israel, “Direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him only” (1 Samuel 7:3). • Heart devotion precedes lasting change: “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts … so that you may love Him with all your heart” (Deuteronomy 30:6). A divided heart is “faithless” (Hosea 10:2), and Jesus echoed this truth: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). on the God of their fathers • The phrase anchors Judah’s calling in the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 3:6). • Returning to “the God of their fathers” means embracing the faith once delivered: “Return now to the LORD, the God of your fathers” (2 Chronicles 30:6). • Malachi later appealed to the same heritage: “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?” (Malachi 2:10). Covenant history is meant to inspire present faithfulness. summary Jehoshaphat’s legacy was admirable, yet this verse highlights unfinished work. High places lingered because the people’s hearts remained only partly God-directed. Outward reforms, unaccompanied by wholehearted devotion, never fully eradicate idolatry. True faith removes every rival altar and sets the heart firmly on the God who has been faithful to generations past and remains so today. |
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