2 Kings 23:1 – 20 “Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And he went up to the house of the LORD with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the prophets—all the people small and great—and in their hearing he read all the words of the Book of the Covenant that had been found in the house of the LORD. So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant.
Josiah Destroys Idolatry (1 Kings 13:1–10; 2 Chronicles 34:3–7)
Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests second in rank, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the LORD all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. And he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron and carried their ashes to Bethel.
Josiah also did away with the idolatrous priests ordained by the kings of Judah to burn incense on the high places of the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem—those who had burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven.
He brought the Asherah pole from the house of the LORD to the Kidron Valley outside Jerusalem, and there he burned it, ground it to powder, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people. He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.
Then Josiah brought all the priests from the cities of Judah and desecrated the high places, from Geba to Beersheba, where the priests had burned incense. He tore down the high places of the gates at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which was to the left of the city gate. Although the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the LORD in Jerusalem, they ate unleavened bread with their fellow priests.
He also desecrated Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinn so that no one could sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire to Molech. And he removed from the entrance to the house of the LORD the horses that the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun. They were in the court near the chamber of an official named Nathan-melech. And Josiah burned up the chariots of the sun.
He pulled down the altars that the kings of Judah had set up on the roof near the upper chamber of Ahaz, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the house of the LORD. The king pulverized them there and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem, to the south of the Mount of Corruption, which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. He smashed the sacred pillars to pieces, cut down the Asherah poles, and covered the sites with human bones.
He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole. And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it, according to the word of the LORD proclaimed by the man of God who had foretold these things.
Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?”
And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel.” “Let him rest,” said Josiah. “Do not let anyone disturb his bones.”
So they left his bones undisturbed, along with those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
Just as Josiah had done at Bethel, so also in the cities of Samaria he removed all the shrines of the high places set up by the kings of Israel who had provoked the LORD to anger. On the altars he slaughtered all the priests of the high places, and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.”
Just when things look completely bleak spiritually for the nation of Judah, God sends King Josiah. How Josiah has been mentored or who has mentored him, is not recorded. But from the age of sixteen onwards for the next twenty – three years, Josiah unleashes one of the most amazing revivals in history. By this point, Jerusalem and the whole of Judah are chock full of idols, Asherah poles, high places, and every other kind of pagan worship center known to man. Samaria is full of the same kind of rubbish. Tragically, some of these unspeakable things date all the way back to King Solomon, who married foreign women and then tried to propitiate them by setting up Asherah poles and other idols.
The first thing Josiah does is to call a meeting of all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests, the prophets, and everyone else who is interested. Josiah himself reads all the words of the scroll Hilkiah has found, most likely the Book of Deuteronomy. Then Josiah stands by the king’s pillar and makes a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of this covenant that are written in this book. And all the people enter into the covenant as well.
Having secured popular support, Josiah then begins cleansing, beginning with the temple in Jerusalem. Amazingly, the temple is full of articles made for the worship of “Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven.” Josiah has to command the priests before they will remove them. Josiah burns all these articles and carries the ashes to Bethel, where one of Jeroboam’s altars still stands. Josiah burns the Asherah pole that was in the temple, grinds it to powder, and scatters it over the graves of the common people to ensure that nobody will collect so much as an atom of the Asherah pole for further use. Next, the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes in the temple are torn down. Some kings of Judah have instituted sun worship and have created statues of horses and chariots in honor of the sun god right at the entrance to Solomon’s temple! Josiah does away with these items.
Josiah kills the priests of the high places and desecrates all of the high places, the altars on rooftops, and every other area of pagan worship, not only in Judah, but also in Samaria. Altars, Asherah poles, and every other implement of idol worship are reduced to powder and human bones are spread over the high places to desecrate them. At one point, Josiah is in Bethel and is destroying the altar Jeroboam created. Just as Josiah is about to open one tomb, the local citizens stop him, advising him that this is the tomb of the prophet who foretold Josiah’s coming.
The story is told in 1 Kings 13. Jeroboam the first has built an altar in Bethel and is starting worship. 1 Kings 13:1 – 2 “Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’ ” Out of respect for the prophet, Josiah leaves his bones alone.
APPLICATION: WHAT IS THE SPEED OF DARKNESS? IT IS THE SPEED OF LIGHT, FOR DARKNESS AND LIGHT CAN NEVER EXIST IN THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME. When light enters the nation of Judah, the darkness disappears. There are several amazing things about the story of Josiah. First, there is Josiah himself; who has mentored this young man? The priests in the temple in Jerusalem have been tolerating all kinds of idolatry, so any of them is an unlikely candidate. Second, why is it that Josiah succeeds in making a clean sweep of the idols and high places when virtuous predecessors such as Hezekiah have not succeeded? Josiah studies the Word of God and gets all the leaders and most of the common people to enter into covenant to serve God whole – heartedly. None of the other kings have involved the people, nor have they confronted the people with the Word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it pierces even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The mistake the previous kings of Judah made when trying to institute reform was that they failed to study the Word of God, to invoke the Word or to expose the people to it. Those kings tried to do it all on their own and failed. Some of the high places around Jerusalem went all the way back to King Solomon and his foreign wives. Now Josiah has read only part of the Word of God to the people, and they have come under conviction.
Sometimes we fear to quote the Bible because we don’t want to overwhelm someone with Scripture. But there is a time and place in which Scripture becomes necessary if people are to turn to God. We cannot merely quote our words and convince people to change; God must do it. Our testimonies are important, but in the end, we must give God first place.
Stopped in their tracks by the Word of God! That’s what happened to the leaders of Jerusalem and Judah, and that’s why they supported Josiah. Any preaching that does not start, end, and depend on the Word of God is the spiritual equivalent of cotton candy – fluffy, full of sugar, gooey, but not nourishing. As we strive to tell others about God, let us never forget that ultimately, God is the One who must change hearts. As one of our pastor friends used to say, “We are only in advertising; God is in management.”
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to study Your Word, to memorize Your Word, and to depend on Your Word at all times. In the matchless Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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