The Israelites were greatly attracted by these pagan heights, so they took them away and offered sacrifices to God there. Despite God's clear instructions, they wanted to worship him in the only sanctuary, that is, the place where he personally chose to put his name (Deuteronomy 12:5, 1 1). Many prophets condemned the Israelites for this, saying that they should not sacrifice in pagan places of worship (Jeremiah 7: 31; 19: 13; 32:35; 4: 12, 13, 15; Mo 2: 8; 4:4, 5), however, the biggest difficulty is how to make them cut off such thoughts. Even the most outstanding kings, such as Amaziah, Uzziah and Jotham, failed to completely abolish those high places (Book of Kings 14:3, 4; 15:4, 34, 35)。
Archaeologists unearthed a well-preserved high altar in Geji, between Jerusalem and the coast. This tall altar is located outdoors, but it also includes several caves. The cave is full of ashes and bones, including men's, women's, children's, babies', cows', sheep's, goats' and deer's, which are probably the bones left after the sacrifice. Two of the caves are connected by a narrow and tortuous tunnel, and worshippers choose one of them as a refuge, where they ask the "Oracle" in the small cave. There is a boulder in the center of the cave with a baby's skull on it, which may be left over from the last baby sacrifice in this place.
Archaeologists also found a well-preserved high altar in the mountains near Petra, the eastern capital. Although it was built relatively late (BC 1 century), it may be no different from the high altar in the early years. A large altar carved from newly mined rock with six steps leading to the top of the stove. In front of the altar is a rectangular open stope, and a platform for slaughtering sacrifices stands in the middle of the open stope. There is also an approximately square pool carved out of rock, which is used for fasting and bathing ceremonies. In addition to these, the high altar also includes special wine glasses and indispensable obelisks.
In short, the high altar (literally translated as "highland") was originally a part of the very corrupt Canaanite religion, and it was a place for Canaanites to worship. It is against God's will that the Israelites are tempted to sacrifice on high places.
Before the temple was built, the altar offering sacrifices to the Lord could also be called the high place; In Chapter 9 of 1 Samuel, the altar where Samuel offered sacrifices was called the high place, and it is also recorded in the Book of Kings: "In those days, the people still offered sacrifices in the high places, because no temple was built for the name of the Lord. Solomon loved the Lord and walked in the statutes of his father David, but he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. King Solomon went up to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, because there was a big high place there, and he offered a thousand sacrifices as burnt offerings on that altar. However, after the temple was established, the high places basically represented places where other gods and idols were sacrificed. However, some prophets also use highlands and shelters side by side to represent places of worship of God.