The altars that were on the roof, 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, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon, king 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 people of Ammon. And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. (2 Kings 23:12-15)

Getting Rid Of The Past

Idolatry was the downfall of Israel. God warned His people that if they turned their hearts to idols, He would punish them. The history of Israel began in a world filled with idolatry. Four hundred years of Egyptian influence could never be taken out of their hearts. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the law from the Lord, Aaron led the people in idolatry and the worship of a golden calf. The Lord warned the Hebrews to remove every idol and place of pagan worship when they entered the promised land, but they refused. Instead of purging the land, they slowly embraced the culture and idolatry of Baal, Molech, and Ashtoreth.

The wives of Solomon turned his heart away from the Lord. He loved many foreign women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. God commanded His people to remain pure from the defilement of the foreign nations, so they would not follow other gods. Solomon’s heart did not remain loyal to the Lord. The king built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on a hill east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the people of Ammon. More than three hundred years later, the same places of idol worship remained. When Josiah became king of Judah, he broke in pieces the places of idol worship to Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom. Many of the idols and pagan places of worship remained from the time of Jeroboam, three hundred years earlier, through the reigns of kings such as Ahaz (100 years) and Manasseh (50 years).

The remarkable story in the history of God’s people is in the midst of a nation governed by the Law of Moses; idolatry filled the land. What happened to the holy nation of God was that the people worshiped the Lord and swore oaths to His name, but they also worshipped and swore oaths to the pagan gods like Milcom, Baal, Ashtoreth, and Chemosh. They tried to keep both feet in the kingdom of the Lord and the kingdom of the world. Their citizenship was a dual residency that allowed them to go through the motions of worship to the Lord God, but enjoy the fruits of the immorality of pagan worship. What Josiah discovered was that this had been the pattern for hundreds of years as the people embraced the idolatry of their ancestors. Instead of getting rid of the past, the people welcomed it.

Israel would be destroyed as they sank deeper into idolatry and turned away from God. Jesus would later remind the disciples that it is impossible to serve two masters. Israel tried to serve the Lord and keep the idols for hundreds of years to placate their carnal desires. In time, the people loved pagan worship more than the Lord. The result was seventy years of bondage in Babylon and the final destruction of Israel in 70 A.D. That old-time religion of idolatry caught up the Jews, and they paid the ultimate price of betrayal. God demands complete obedience and loyalty. What Josiah found was hundreds of years of people trying to mix righteousness with unrighteousness. He took the only course needed: to destroy the places of idolatry.

The lessons of Israel are given to remind the people of God of the dangers of keeping a righteous heart with an unrighteous mind. There is no compatibility with light and darkness, good and evil, believers with unbelievers, and Christ with the carnal nature of the world. What God wants of His people is for them to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse world. He does not want them to be like the world. There is a need for separation from the things of the world. For three hundred years, the people allowed the pagan places to remain, and it corrupted their hearts. The church needs men and women like Josiah who will see the dangers of compatibility with the world and have the courage to remain separate. Tear down the places of idolatry that hinder the influence of the church. Stand for truth.