2 Kings 23:8

FURTHER EXTENSIONS OF JOSIAH'S REFORMATION

"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 he brake down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city. Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of Jehovah in Jerusalem, but they did eat unleavened bread among their brethren. And he defiled Tophet, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech. And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of Jehovah, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the roof 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 Jehovah, did the king break down, and beat them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron. 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 Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the pillars, and cut down the Asherim, and filled their places with the bones of men."

"From Geba to Beersheba" (2 Kings 23:8). "Geba is used here as the northern boundary of the kingdom of Judah."[11]

"The priests of the high places came not to the altar of Jehovah" (2 Kings 23:9). Apparently, what is indicated here is that the Levites who had accepted positions at the high places were brought back to Jerusalem and maintained there, but they were never again accepted as true priests with access to Jehovah's altar. Ezekiel reported this in greater detail (Ezekiel 44:10-14).

"He defiled Tophet" (2 Kings 23:10). Of course, this is a reference to the shrine of Molech, erected in the valley of Hinnom by king Solomon. "The root of the word Tophet means `a drum,'"[12] the same being a reference to the drums that were used to drown out the cries of the helpless infants that were cast into the red hot arms of that horrible god.

"He took away the horses ... given to the sun ... and ... burned the chariots with fire" (2 Kings 23:11). The ancient mythological conception of the sun-god pictured him as driving a chariot across the sky every day. The reprobate kings of Judah had not overlooked anything. If anyone on earth worshipped something, they adopted it! It is not hard to understand that the whole Jewish nation had, in the excesses mentioned here, passed the point of no return in their rejection of their true God.

"And the altars ... which the kings of Judah made" (2 Kings 23:12). "These `kings of Judah' we may identify as Ahaz who first constructed them and dedicated them to the host of heaven, and also Manasseh and Amon who later restored them following Hezekiah's reformation."[13]

"And the high places ... did the king defile" (2 Kings 23:13). God had warned Israel prior to the Conquest under Joshua that the Canaanite high places were to be destroyed (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:27-30), but the people had rebelliously kept them for the purpose of gratifying their sensual lusts. The destruction of those high places was, in no sense whatever, due to that imaginary "Deuteronomic Code." The undeniable source of the order to destroy them was firmly reiterated in the whole Law of Moses. The usual error of radical critics is that of attributing the destruction, not to Moses, but to that mythical "D" document, as stated by Dentan, "The code of Deuteronomy solved the problem by ordering them (the high places) to be destroyed."[14] The reason why God had decreed the destruction of those high places was that, "They were so closely associated with the old Canaanite gods and goddesses of fertility and their immoral rites that it was absolutely impossible to purify them."[15]

Montgomery's opinion that one "could hardly destroy a high place,"[16] might, in a sense be true, because "the place" would remain, but it is nevertheless incorrect. When Josiah was finished with breaking down and defiling their images and burning their buildings, the usefulness of such a place for the pagan worship no longer existed.

"The mount of corruption" (2 Kings 23:13). This title came to be applied to that ridge of hills where Solomon had constructed pagan temples for his wives, "Because of the rites which he had allowed to be established there."[17]