II Kings 23:1-14, II Chronicles 34:32
“And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.” (II Kings 23:1-2)
After consulting with the prophetess, Josiah called for a town hall meeting for all the people of Jerusalem, and the leaders from all the rest of Judah. At that meeting, they read all the contract between Israel and God. For most of the people, it was the first time they had ever heard their law completely.
It was pretty much like reading the constitution would be to most Americans, who are only aware of a few of the provisions of Bill of Rights, such as the first and second amendments. Because they didn’t know the whole story, they had no way of knowing when they or their leaders violated the law.
“And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.” (II Kings 23:3)
“And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.” (II Chronicles 34:32)
Standing next to one of the temple pillars, Josiah publicly promised to obey all the commands and statutes of the law as they were written to the best of his ability. He called on the people to make the same commitment, and the people agreed to do so, beginning to address the problems immediately.
“And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. ” (II Kings 23:4-6)
Josiah had already removed the idols and their altars from the temple and across the land, but many of the pagan symbols and religious items remained. Josiah ordered that every trace of those false religions be removed from the temple. Many of the priests had been involved in the idolatry and he removed them from office as well. Finally, a grove of trees had been planted on the temple grounds where they worshipped nature, and these were uprooted and destroyed.
“And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.” (II Kings 23:7-8)
Homosexuality was expressly forbidden by the law, and Josiah destroyed the red light district that had sprung up around the temple to cater to the crowds of idolaters who came to purchase religious tapestries.
In addition, he removed all the idolatrous priests in the other cities, defacing or destroying the places where incense had been burned, destroying the shrines and altars that had been placed in the gate of the city for public use.
“Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.” (II Kings 23:9)
Because of their sin, the priests who had been involved in idolatry were not permitted to continue in ministry, although as Levites they were still entitled to eat the unleavened bread like the other Levites. In much the same way, a Christian who goes into gross sin should be removed from leadership, but allowed to continue in the church if he repents of the sin. He should only be put out of the church if he refuses to repent.
“And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.” (II Kings 23:10-11)
Here we get another sampling just how far Judah had gone into idolatry, that they had established a particular place designated for human sacrifice. Josiah destroyed the altars, and so messed up the place that no one would want to go there to offer sacrifices.
The kings had actively supported these other religions, establishing a formal guard of cavalry and chariots devoted to the worship of the sun under one of the palace officials, the chamberlain. Josiah eliminated this group as well, burning the chariots and getting rid of the horses.
“And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.” (II Kings 23:12)
Josiah’s great great grandfather had built private altars to the various gods in the upper part of the palace, and his grandfather had built altars in the temple courtyard. Josiah had grown up with them there, and had not realized they were wrong until he studied the law. He had them torn down and shredded so they could be dumped into the river and carried away.
“And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.” (II Kings 23:13-14)
Some of the idols and altars had been around since Solomon’s time, two hundred years before. Because they had not studied the law, even sincere godly kings like Hezekiah had viewed them as acceptable traditions. Sadly, in modern churches, there are a lot of things that are clearly contrary to scripture that are accepted because they have been practiced for so long. Josiah tore them down, and left human bones scattered around to deter further use.
“And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD.” (II Kings 23:1-2)
After consulting with the prophetess, Josiah called for a town hall meeting for all the people of Jerusalem, and the leaders from all the rest of Judah. At that meeting, they read all the contract between Israel and God. For most of the people, it was the first time they had ever heard their law completely.
It was pretty much like reading the constitution would be to most Americans, who are only aware of a few of the provisions of Bill of Rights, such as the first and second amendments. Because they didn’t know the whole story, they had no way of knowing when they or their leaders violated the law.
“And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.” (II Kings 23:3)
“And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.” (II Chronicles 34:32)
Standing next to one of the temple pillars, Josiah publicly promised to obey all the commands and statutes of the law as they were written to the best of his ability. He called on the people to make the same commitment, and the people agreed to do so, beginning to address the problems immediately.
“And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel.
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. ” (II Kings 23:4-6)
Josiah had already removed the idols and their altars from the temple and across the land, but many of the pagan symbols and religious items remained. Josiah ordered that every trace of those false religions be removed from the temple. Many of the priests had been involved in the idolatry and he removed them from office as well. Finally, a grove of trees had been planted on the temple grounds where they worshipped nature, and these were uprooted and destroyed.
“And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.” (II Kings 23:7-8)
Homosexuality was expressly forbidden by the law, and Josiah destroyed the red light district that had sprung up around the temple to cater to the crowds of idolaters who came to purchase religious tapestries.
In addition, he removed all the idolatrous priests in the other cities, defacing or destroying the places where incense had been burned, destroying the shrines and altars that had been placed in the gate of the city for public use.
“Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.” (II Kings 23:9)
Because of their sin, the priests who had been involved in idolatry were not permitted to continue in ministry, although as Levites they were still entitled to eat the unleavened bread like the other Levites. In much the same way, a Christian who goes into gross sin should be removed from leadership, but allowed to continue in the church if he repents of the sin. He should only be put out of the church if he refuses to repent.
“And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.” (II Kings 23:10-11)
Here we get another sampling just how far Judah had gone into idolatry, that they had established a particular place designated for human sacrifice. Josiah destroyed the altars, and so messed up the place that no one would want to go there to offer sacrifices.
The kings had actively supported these other religions, establishing a formal guard of cavalry and chariots devoted to the worship of the sun under one of the palace officials, the chamberlain. Josiah eliminated this group as well, burning the chariots and getting rid of the horses.
“And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.” (II Kings 23:12)
Josiah’s great great grandfather had built private altars to the various gods in the upper part of the palace, and his grandfather had built altars in the temple courtyard. Josiah had grown up with them there, and had not realized they were wrong until he studied the law. He had them torn down and shredded so they could be dumped into the river and carried away.
“And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men.” (II Kings 23:13-14)
Some of the idols and altars had been around since Solomon’s time, two hundred years before. Because they had not studied the law, even sincere godly kings like Hezekiah had viewed them as acceptable traditions. Sadly, in modern churches, there are a lot of things that are clearly contrary to scripture that are accepted because they have been practiced for so long. Josiah tore them down, and left human bones scattered around to deter further use.
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