Isaiah 17:7

"In that day shall they look unto their Maker, and their eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And they shall not look to the altars, the work of their hands; neither shall they have respect to that which their fingers have made, either the Asherim, or the sun-images."

This speaks of a revival of the true religion among the Ephraimites, although it must be supposed that it was rejected by the majority of the people. How logically this follows the preceding paragraphs. It is always true that people generally turn to God, the true God, when disasters fall. The Great Depression of the early 1930's in the United States saw exactly the same kind of "revival" as that indicated here.

During the times indicated here, the Levites were actually able to collect tithes from Manasseh and Ephraim (2 Chronicles 34:9).[7]

The mention of the altars in Isaiah 17:8 probably referred to the pagan altars at Dan, Bethel, and Samaria; and such expressions as "work of their hands," and "which their fingers have made" cannot be limited to the altars but must also be applied to the "gods" to which those pagan altars were dedicated. The word given here as Asherim is rendered "groves" in the KJV; but, "This word is now generally admitted to have designated an artificial construction of wood or metal, which was used in the idolatrous worship of the Phoenicians and the Israelites, probably as the emblems of some deity."[8]