2 Chronicles 34:25
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched. Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.
The verse declares that forsaking God and burning incense to other gods, by all the works of their hands, provoked Him to anger, so that His wrath would be poured out upon the place and would not be quenched. Turning from God to the worship of other gods and to the doing of evil brought judgment upon the land. In Josiah's day the reading of the law exposed this guilt and produced deep humility and a thorough work of repentance. That response was a wholehearted return to the Lord and to His commandments.
John hoped his own mission would bring about that same deep repentance and return to the Lord seen in Josiah's time. The warning still applies to every soul whose wrongdoing is exposed by the light and who does not repent and reform. Hearing such a warning calls for humility, repentance, and a wholehearted return to God's commandments.