Shrine

A local sanctuary, often dedicated to pagan worship. Before the building of the temple the Israelites worshipped at several divinely sanctioned shrines; afterwards, worship at a central sanctuary was required. True worship of God required that pagan shrines be destroyed. It was Israel's failure to abandon these religious sites that led to syncretism and apostasy.

Common features of pagan shrines

A location on high ground under trees

Ezekiel 6:13 Mountains were considered the dwelling- places of the gods, whilst trees were associated with fertility. See also 2 Kings 17:10; Isaiah 1:29 sacred trees; Jeremiah 2:20; Ezekiel 18:11 mountain shrines; Ezekiel 20:28

Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy oak— the places where they offered fragrant incense to all their idols.

Idols and sacred symbols

Isaiah 44:13 See also 2 Kings 10:26–27, 2 Kings 17:29–31; 2 Chronicles 34:3–4; Acts 19:24

The woodworker extends a measuring line; he marks it out with a stylus; he shapes it with chisels and outlines it with a compass. He fashions it in the likeness of man, like man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine.

A serving priesthood

2 Kings 23:5, 2 Kings 23:20

Sacrifice to the deity

Jeremiah 48:35 See also 1 Kings 22:43; 2 Kings 12:3, 2 Kings 16:4 parallel 2 Chronicles 28:4; 2 Chronicles 28:25

In Moab, declares the LORD, I will bring an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods.

Shrine-prostitution

Genesis 38:21–22; Deuteronomy 23:17; 1 Kings 14:24, 1 Kings 15:12; Job 36:14

Pagan shrines were to be destroyed

On Israel's entry into Canaan

Deuteronomy 12:2–3 See also Exodus 34:13–14; Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 7:5

Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods— atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place.

As a sign of religious reformation

Judges 6:25; 2 Kings 23:8–20 See also 2 Kings 10:25; 2 Chronicles 14:3, 2 Chronicles 17:6; 2 Kings 18:4

On that very night the LORD said to Gideon, “Take your father’s young bull and a second bull seven years old, tear down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.

Shrines in Israel for the worship of God

Worship at the high places

1 Kings 3:2–3 Following Canaanite custom, Israel set up shrines on high ground possibly, against God's instruction, at old Baal sites. Worship at these non-legitimate sites was condemned. See also 2 Chronicles 33:17

The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built. And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

Worship at sites sanctioned by God

Exodus 20:24 See also Judges 6:22–24; 1 Samuel 9:12–14, 1 Samuel 10:5

You are to make for Me an altar of earth, and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and peace offerings, your sheep and goats and cattle. In every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you.

Examples of shrines dedicated to God

Bethel: Genesis 12:8; Judges 21:2; Joshua 18:1; Judges 21:19; Judges 20:1; 1 Samuel 7:6; 1 Kings 3:4–5; 1 Chronicles 16:39–40; 2 Chronicles 1:13

A central place of worship was later required

2 Kings 18:22 parallel Isaiah 36:7 Following the building of the temple, worship in various scattered shrines was condemned, probably because of associations with pagan worship. See also Deuteronomy 12:4–7 The central sanctuary was, initially, the place where the tabernacle was located. Eventually this was superseded by the temple; 2 Samuel 7:13 parallel 1 Chronicles 17:12

But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’?

Israel's failure to abandon worship at the shrines led to apostasy

Improper worship at shrines dedicated to God

Judges 17:5 See also Judges 18:30–31; 1 Kings 12:28–31, 1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 17:32–33; 2 Chronicles 11:15; Amos 4:4

Now this man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and some household idols, and ordained one of his sons as his priest.

The corruption of temple worship

2 Kings 23:4–7; Ezekiel 8:14–16

Shrines dedicated to false gods

1 Kings 14:23–24; Ezekiel 8:12 See also 1 Kings 11:7–8; 2 Kings 21:2–3JER 2 Kings 7:31, Jeremiah 19:5, Jeremiah 32:35 Amos 5:26; Acts 7:43

They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree. There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”

Israel's spiritual adultery

Ezekiel 16:24–25 See also Jeremiah 3:6; Ezekiel 16:39, Ezekiel 18:6; Hosea 4:12–13

you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square. At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.

God's judgment on false places of worship

Ezekiel 6:3–6 See also Leviticus 26:30–31; Hosea 10:8

You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will be demolished and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will cast down your slain before your idols. I will lay the corpses of the Israelites before their idols and scatter your bones around your altars. Wherever you live, the cities will be laid waste and the high places will be demolished, so that your altars will be laid waste and desecrated, your idols smashed and obliterated, your incense altars cut down, and your works blotted out.