God had been very specific to Moses on where and how to sacrifice offerings to Him. (Leviticus 17:3-5)  But the people had fallen into the habit of worshiping at the high places of false gods instead…and it became Israel’s pitfall.  Even King Solomon became too comfortable and apathetic about where he worshiped God…for it tells us in I Kings 3:3, “Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the statutes of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.”  By using the altars of false gods, the Jewish people were unwittingly incorporating and melding deceptive ideology into their worship of the one true God.