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. The king also desecrated the high places east of Jerusalem,Josiah extended his reform beyond the temple and the city itself to shrines that had long defiled the surrounding land. By rendering these places unfit for worship, he publicly demonstrated that Judah must not serve the LORD alongside rival gods. 2Ch 34:3-4 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young,…
Deu 12:2-3 Destroy completely all the places where the nations…
to the south of the Mount of Corruption, These high places stood near Jerusalem on the Mount of Olives, whose southern area had become associated with corruption because of idolatry. Their proximity to the holy city revealed how deeply false worship had penetrated Judah’s life. 1Ki 11:7-8 At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, …
Zec 14:4 On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives…
Ezk 11:23 And the glory of the LORD rose up from within the city…
which King Solomon of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, Solomon had permitted shrines for the gods of his foreign wives when his heart turned from wholehearted devotion to the LORD (1 Kings 11:4–8). Ashtoreth was worshiped by the Sidonians as a fertility goddess, and her worship represented Israel’s compromise with the nations. 1Ki 11:5 Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians…
Jdg 2:13 for they forsook Him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.
Jdg 10:6 And again the Israelites did evil in the sight of the LORD.…
for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, Chemosh was the chief god of Moab, a nation descended from Lot through Moab (Genesis 19:37). The worship of Chemosh stood in direct opposition to the LORD, who had redeemed Israel and commanded His people to destroy pagan centers of worship (Deuteronomy 12:2–3). Num 21:29 Woe to you, O Moab! You are destroyed, O people of Chemosh!…
Jer 48:7 Because you trust in your works and treasures,…
Jer 48:46 Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh…
and for Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Milcom was the god of the Ammonites, descendants of Lot through Ben-ammi (Genesis 19:38). The idolatry connected with Ammon included practices abhorrent to God, including the offering of children in fire. Josiah’s destruction of these shrines confronted the legacy of Solomon’s disobedience and called Judah back to exclusive covenant loyalty to the LORD. Zep 1:5 those who bow on the rooftops to worship the host of heaven…
Jer 49:1 Concerning the Ammonites, this is what the LORD says:…
1Ki 11:33 For they have forsaken Me to worship Ashtoreth…
Persons / Places / Events 1. King JosiahThe king of Judah who initiated religious reforms to restore the worship of Yahweh and eliminate idolatry. 2. High PlacesElevated sites where idolatrous worship was conducted, often involving altars and shrines. 3. Mount of CorruptionA location near Jerusalem associated with idolatrous practices, also known as the Mount of Olives. 4. King SolomonThe son of David, who initially built these high places for his foreign wives, leading Israel into idolatry. 5. Ashtoreth, Chemosh, MilcomPagan deities worshiped by the Sidonians, Moabites, and Ammonites, respectively, representing the abominations Josiah sought to eradicate. Teaching Points The Importance of Purity in WorshipJosiah's actions remind us that true worship requires the removal of anything that competes with or corrupts our devotion to God. The Consequences of CompromiseSolomon's initial compromise in building high places for his wives' gods led to long-term spiritual decay, illustrating the dangers of allowing sin to take root. Leadership and ReformJosiah's leadership demonstrates the impact one person can have in leading others back to God, encouraging us to be agents of change in our communities. The Legacy of IdolatryThe persistence of high places shows how sin can linger across generations, urging us to address and eliminate sin decisively. God's Call to ObedienceJosiah's reforms align with God's commands in the Law, highlighting the importance of aligning our lives with Scripture. Bible Study Questions 1. What steps can we take to identify and remove "high places" or idols in our own lives today? 2. How does the account of Josiah challenge us to confront areas of compromise in our personal or communal worship? 3. In what ways can we, like Josiah, influence our families or communities to return to faithful worship of God? 4. How does understanding the historical context of Solomon's actions enhance our appreciation of Josiah's reforms? 5. What lessons can we learn from Josiah's example about the importance of obedience to God's Word in our daily lives? Connections to Other Scriptures 1 Kings 11:7-8Describes Solomon's construction of high places for foreign gods, setting the stage for the idolatry Josiah later confronted. Deuteronomy 12:2-3Commands the Israelites to destroy all high places and idols, aligning with Josiah's actions. 2 Chronicles 34:3-7Provides a parallel account of Josiah's reforms, emphasizing his commitment to purifying worship in Judah. People Ahaz, Ammonites, Ashtoreth, Ben, Chemosh, Eliakim, Hamutal, Hilkiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, Jeroboam, Joshua, Josiah, Manasseh, Melech, Milcom, Moabites, Molech, Nathan, Nathanmelech, Nebat, Pedaiah, Pharaoh, Pharaohnechoh, Sidonians, Sodomites, Solomon, Zebudah, ZidoniansPlaces Assyria, Beersheba, Bethel, Egypt, Euphrates River, Geba, Hamath, Jerusalem, Kidron, Libnah, Megiddo, Moab, Riblah, Rumah, Samaria, Topheth, Valley of HinnomTopics Abomination, Ammon, Ammonites, Ashtoreth, Ash'toreth, Builded, Built, Chemosh, Corruption, Defile, Defiled, Destruction, Detestable, Detestation, Disgusting, East, Front, Goddess, Hill, Jerusalem, Milcom, Moab, Moabites, Molech, Mount, Mountain, Ones, Places, Sidonians, Sido'nians, Solomon, Sons, South, Unclean, Vile, ZidoniansDictionary of Bible Themes 2 Kings 23:13 4245 hills
6103 abomination 2 Kings 23:1-20 7241 Jerusalem, significance 2 Kings 23:1-24 8466 reformation 2 Kings 23:1-25 5345 influence
7245 Judah, kingdom of 2 Kings 23:4-20 4906 abolition 2 Kings 23:8-20 7442 shrine 2 Kings 23:12-15 8799 polytheism 2 Kings 23:13-16 8747 false gods Library Reformation Lessons
Eversley. 1861. 2 Kings xxiii. 3, 4, 25, 26. "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. 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 …
Charles Kingsley—All Saints' Day and Other SermonsWhether the Old Law was Suitably Given at the Time of Moses?
Objection 1: It would seem that the Old Law was not suitably given at the time of Moses. Because the Old Law disposed man for the salvation which was to come through Christ, as stated above ([2068]AA[2],3). But man needed this salutary remedy immediately after he had sinned. Therefore the Law should have been given immediately after sin. Objection 2: Further, the Old Law was given for the sanctification of those from whom Christ was to be born. Now the promise concerning the "seed, which is Christ" …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Christ Should have Been Born in Bethlehem?
Objection 1: It would seem that Christ should not have been born in Bethlehem. For it is written (Is. 2:3): "The law shall come forth from Sion, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But Christ is truly the Word of God. Therefore He should have come into the world at Jerusalem. Objection 2: Further, it is said (Mat. 2:23) that it is written of Christ that "He shall be called a Nazarene"; which is taken from Is. 11:1: "A flower shall rise up out of his root"; for "Nazareth" is interpreted "a flower." …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether Prophets Always Know the Things which they Prophesy?
Objection 1: It would seem that the prophets always know the things which they prophesy. For, as Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 9), "those to whom signs were shown in spirit by means of the likenesses of bodily things, had not the gift of prophecy, unless the mind was brought into action, so that those signs were also understood by them." Now what is understood cannot be unknown. Therefore the prophet is not ignorant of what he prophesies. Objection 2: Further, the light of prophecy surpasses …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica Whether the Prophecy which is Accompanied by Intellective and Imaginative vision is More Excellent than that which is Accompanied by Intellective vision Alone?
Objection 1: It would seem that the prophecy which has intellective and imaginative vision is more excellent than that which is accompanied by intellective vision alone. For Augustine says (Gen. ad lit. xii, 9): "He is less a prophet, who sees in spirit nothing but the signs representative of things, by means of the images of things corporeal: he is more a prophet, who is merely endowed with the understanding of these signs; but most of all is he a prophet, who excels in both ways," and this refers …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica The Fall of Solomon
'For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. 7. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture The Rediscovered Law and Its Effects
'And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king, and brought the king word again, and said, Thy servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of them that do the work, that have the oversight of the house of the Lord. 10. And Shaphan the scribe shewed the king, saying, Hilkiah the …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Entering the Covenant: with all the Heart
"And they entered into the covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart, and all their soul."--2 CHRON. xv. 12 (see xxxiv. 31, and 2 Kings xxiii. 3). "The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul."--DEUT. xxx. 6. "And I will give them an heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God: for they shall turn to Me with their whole heart."--JER. xxiv. 7 (see xxix. 13). …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin?
That we may give some satisfaction to this question, we shall, 1. Shew what are the ingredients in this case, or what useth to concur in this distemper. 2. Shew some reasons why the Lord is pleased to dispense thus with his people. 3. Shew how Christ is life to the soul in this case. 4. Shew the believer's duty for a recovery; and, 5. Add a word or two of caution. As to the first, There may be those parts of, or ingredients in this distemper: 1. God presenting their sins unto their view, so as …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life The Sins of Communities Noted and Punished.
"Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." This is predicated of the judgments of God on those who had shed the blood of his saints. The Savior declares that all the righteous blood which had been shed on the earth from that of Abel down to the gospel day, should come on that generation! But is not this unreasonable and contrary to the Scriptures? "Far be wickedness from God and iniquity from the Almighty. For the work of man shall be render unto him, and cause every …
Andrew Lee et al—Sermons on Various Important Subjects The Whole Heart
LET me give the principal passages in which the words "the whole heart," "all the heart," are used. A careful study of them will show how wholehearted love and service is what God has always asked, because He can, in the very nature of things, ask nothing less. The prayerful and believing acceptance of the words will waken the assurance that such wholehearted love and service is exactly the blessing the New Covenant was meant to make possible. That assurance will prepare us for turning to the Omnipotence …
Andrew Murray—The Two Covenants The Medes and the Second Chaldaean Empire
THE FALL OF NINEVEH AND THE RISE OF THE CHALDAEAN AND MEDIAN EMPIRES--THE XXVIth EGYPTIAN DYNASTY: CYAXARES, ALYATTES, AND NEBUCHADREZZAR. The legendary history of the kings of Media and the first contact of the Medes with the Assyrians: the alleged Iranian migrations of the Avesta--Media-proper, its fauna and flora; Phraortes and the beginning of the Median empire--Persia proper and the Persians; conquest of Persia by the Medes--The last monuments of Assur-bani-pal: the library of Kouyunjik--Phraortes …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8 Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant.
"Because thine heart was tender, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, when thou heardest what I spake against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, that they should become a desolation and a curse, and hast rent thy clothes, and wept before Me; I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. Behold therefore, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace; and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which I will bring upon this place."--2 Kings …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Kings 23:13 NIV2 Kings 23:13 NLT2 Kings 23:13 ESV2 Kings 23:13 NASB2 Kings 23:13 KJV
2 Kings 23:13 Commentaries
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