2 Kings 23:5
And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.
Josiah deposed the priests the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and around Jerusalem, even those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and moon, to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. The apostasy was not the work of the common people alone, for kings had established it and towns throughout Judah practiced sun, moon and star worship alongside Baal whenever Israel turned from God. His work belonged to the reform that followed the finding of the book of the law as a return to God's commands and covenant, crowned by a Passover kept as written, and it fulfilled hundreds of years later exactly what the man of God had declared to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13. It was the greatest reformation in Hebrew history, a thorough purge that confronted many forms of idolatry, destroyed its relics, defiled its altars and sites, and restored the worship of Jehovah in His desecrated temple and throughout the land. As Baal, sun, moon, planets and heavenly host then supplanted the worship and honor of Jehovah, so the worship of the beast and its image and the honor given to Sunday supplant Him now, and a heart that has found the Bible will therefore spare nothing for beauty or compromise but pluck up idolatry root and fibre in zeal for the Lord God against any rival.
Historical Setting and Meaning
Josiah deposed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places around Jerusalem, including those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. That removal was part of a national reform that ended idolatrous worship and restored the worship of Jehovah in His desecrated temple and throughout the land. The apostasy was not confined to ordinary people, for kings had appointed priests to conduct it and the people in Judah's towns worshiped these gods. Sun, moon, and star worship was practiced in Judah by Josiah's time alongside worship of Baal, recurring whenever Israel turned from faith in God.
The high places were on mountains and hills because people had come to look upon hills as protectors, deliverers, and places of refuge, so heathen worship gave the hills religious meaning and placed polluting symbols and altars of Baal and Ashtoreth upon them in the cities of Judah and round about Jerusalem. Whenever wicked, sensual kings ruled, this heathen idea was carried out throughout the realm and the people went after those gods. The idolatry is connected with child worship, the images of Baal, Thammuz, and Molech are identified with sun worship, and many Israelites drawn into these practices treated Nimrod as the promised Seed. The host of heaven means departed human souls deified by the heathen mysteries, together with a higher class of demons believed never to have been joined to a human body.
The worship of the sun, moon, and stars in the verse is astral worship, one of three generic forms of false faith — ancestral, astral, and animal — under which all false faiths can be arranged, with a modern Oriental counterpart such as Parseeism. The verse belongs to the history of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away, in the final period of the monarchy that continued until the Babylonian Captivity. It belongs to the one bright chapter amid the wicked and weak final reigns of the kings of Judah. The verse belongs to the account of Josiah's reform after the book of the law was found, presenting that reform as a return to God's commands and covenant and to obedience to God, followed by a Passover kept according to the book.
The reform included removal of objects and images devoted to Baal and the sun, including the destruction of the great image at the temple entrance and the burning of sun-dedicated chariots. It followed Huldah's warning that the law's judgments would fall on the place and people, while Josiah received comfort because he humbled himself before God.
Prophetic Fulfillment and Doctrine
Josiah's putting down of the idolatrous priests fulfilled the prophecy spoken by the man of God to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13, fulfilled hundreds of years later just as the Lord declared. The passage of 2 Kings 23:1-24 records the greatest reformation in Hebrew history, when at least ten forms of idolatry and iniquity polluting the temple and people were confronted, including worship of Baal and burning incense in the high places and to the sun, moon, planets, and all the host of heaven. All existing relics of idolatry were destroyed, idol altars and sites were defiled, and priests of Jehovah who had corrupted His worship were degraded.
The reform was conducted under the good king Josiah supported by godly priests and counselors, with high-priest, chief priests and Levites following in his wake, yet he led the reform himself rather than being led. At twenty he swept through the land against iniquity, and at twenty-six, with new knowledge and strength from the long-lost Bible, he pressed from limit to limit with the hammer of an iconoclast. He broke Baal and Astarte worship into deformity and put down the priests and servitors of temples, chapels and shrines through the land, thrusting them penniless out of office and overturning family and social arrangements confirmed by more than half a century of idolatrous custom. He was the last king of Jerusalem who obeyed the Lord's commandments and kept His statutes, and his reign ended in 607 BC, after which the Jews no longer kept and could not keep a year of release or Jubilee, because their kings, nobles, people, and land could no longer be redeemed.
The removal of priests appointed by Judah's kings to burn incense at high places in Judah and around Jerusalem, including worshipers of Baal, the sun, the moon, the planets, and the host of heaven, was part of a national reform and thorough purge that banished the many forms of idolatry in Judah, removed and destroyed the idolatrous worship that Judah's kings had established, and restored the worship of Jehovah and of God in His desecrated temple and throughout the land. That movement brought the people to recognize the nation's sin and repent. By throwing down the idolatrous temples and priests so that God Himself was recognized, the reformation marked a time when God's people were nearest to Him with the least outward expression in mere stone and wood, proving that what God desires is beauty of character and beauty in souls rather than architectural beauty and poetry of worship. The turning of Judah from the true God to Baal and the heavenly bodies, the work of reforming kings to remove the places and practices of false worship, and the relapse that could follow when another king restored the abominations, show human nature remains prone to turning from God.
Reform's Call Today
Sun worship and Baal worship were among the sensual religions the people loved, and even zealous reform could not turn them from their downward course. The putting down of the priests and high-place worship was part of a movement that brought the people to recognize the nation's sin and to repent. Because people had come to look upon mountains and hills as protectors, deliverers, and places of refuge, heathen worship gave the hills religious meaning and set polluting symbols and altars of Baal and Ashtoreth upon them in the cities of Judah and round about Jerusalem. When a king who feared and served the true God came to the throne, the hill groves of idolatry were hewn down and the mountain altars were overthrown, and the people learned righteousness and sought the true place of refuge.
Nothing was spared on the plea of beauty or art, and every relic of idolatry was crushed. At twenty the reform swept through the land against iniquity, and at twenty-six, with new knowledge and strength from the long-lost Bible, it pressed from limit to limit with the hammer of an iconoclast, breaking Baal and Astarte worship, putting down the priests and servitors of temples, chapels, and shrines, thrusting them penniless out of office, and overturning family and social arrangements confirmed by more than half a century of idolatrous custom. A heart that has found the Bible will have nothing to do with compromises, plucks up root and fibre, sees danger where the blinded soul feels secure, guards against incipient evils, crushes the eggs of the serpent, and is zealous for the Lord God against any rivalry.
The putting down of heathen worship, including sun worship, stands as an example of eliminating idolatrous customs and establishing true worship, so that village high places and sun-related customs continuing those ancient practices must likewise be put away. Pagan sun veneration included the dedication of a day to the sun, as practiced in Judah and among the nations. As Baal, sun, moon, planets, and heavenly host supplanted the worship and honor of Jehovah then, so worship of the beast and its image and honor given to Sunday are supplanting Jehovah's worship and honor now.
The record belongs to the greatest reformation in Hebrew history, when at least ten forms of idolatry and iniquity polluting the temple and people were confronted, all existing relics of idolatry destroyed, idol altars and sites defiled, and priests who had corrupted true worship degraded. The sun, moon, and star worship named here is astral worship, one of three generic forms of false faith — ancestral, astral, and animal — under which all false faiths can be arranged, with a modern Oriental counterpart such as Parseeism. As Josiah met the evils of his day, so the evils of the present day call for a new reformation to meet them with a practical missionary solution.