|
A harrowing ride
Nayim, my Jordanian guide and friend, called over one of his young relatives. The native lad was instructed to take me by donkey to the back side of Petra beyond where visitors are usually allowed to go. We climbed far up into the mountains, past the Roman structures, beyond the earlier Nabatean carvings, all the way up to one of the highest of high places in antiquity.
There, I was astonished to view an ancient high place likely originally carved by Edomites. The area was dedicated to Baal worship, sporting a basin for blood collection, channels to take blood away from a burning offering, and holes nearby for the erection of Asherah poles. These high places hosted scenes of disgusting exploitation of women and men in the name of pagan worship. They also generated extensive revenue for the warlords, cities, or kingdoms who controlled access to the high places.
Courage
Which is what makes 2 Chronicles 14 so astonishing. Asa had gumption and fortitude to knock those down. He surrenders popularity and tax revenue because it was the right thing to do. Long ago, Dr. Lockyear related this to each of us:
It (Asa’s stand) took courage…Our idols of fortune, fashion, popularity, self-indulgence, must be severely dealt with if we desire God’s best. We can only be right with God and with one another when we are right about our little gods and man-made idols.
– Herbert Lockyear, All the Men of the Bible
By God’s grace, let’s knock them down!
God bless,
Wayne