Destroy Idol Worship

Parshat ראה speaks about the inherent holiness of Eretz Yisrael. We are commanded that when we come into the land, we are to utterly destroy every place and symbol of where idol worship took place. The land is contaminated by such impurity existing in a place of such holiness.There is also a mention of where offerings are to be made to Hashem. There is a concept called היתר במות which meant that there was a brief period of time when people were permitted to build their own altars. This took place when the Mishkan and Beit Hamikdash were not functioning.The Mishkan was in Shilo for 369 years and was also in Nov and Givon. As long as these altars were functioning, it was forbidden to offer a sacrifice anywhere but there.There was always a fear that people could turn astray from Hashem and end up substituting the means towards getting closer to Hashem with an end in itself. This becomes Avoda Zara.Even today, there are those who worship Halacha instead of seeing it as a means of getting closer to Hashem. Therefore, our Parsha warns us not to defile our land with ANY form of idol worship. Shabbat Shalom