2 Kings 23:7
And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the grove.
The verse belongs to Josiah's great national reformation after his consultation with Huldah, carried out by the good king with godly priests and counselors in the closing history of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away. It records that he broke down the houses of ritual vice beside the house of the Lord where women wove hangings for the Asherah, thus stopping idolatrous rites and destroying the shrines, groves and heathen places of worship that had corrupted the land with low, sensual sun worship and Baal worship displacing the honor of Jehovah. That cleansing fulfilled exactly what the man of God had foretold to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13 hundreds of years before, yet even Josiah's devoted labor could not check the downward trend of the people, so after his death Judah soon fell to Nebuchadnezzar into Babylonian captivity. It stands as the pattern for a new reformation to confront present evils by destroying every relic of idolatry and sun-worship, with Josiah himself leading with the hammer of an iconoclast while priests and Levites only followed, purging the land from limit to limit and restoring true worship with unswerving devotion. No plea of beauty or art justifies sparing rivalry with God, for the heart that has found the Bible makes no compromise but plucks up root and fibre, and when idolatrous temples are thrown down in national revival by reading the Bible and turning to repentance, God is recognized as desiring beauty of character in souls and not architectural beauty in stone and wood.
Josiah's Temple Cleansing
The verse belongs to Josiah's reformation in 2 Kings 23:1-24, the greatest and bright national and temporal reformation recorded in Hebrew history. It was carried out by the good king supported by godly priests and counselors after his consultation with Huldah. It stands in the final section of Kings covering 2 Kings 18-25, in the history of Judah after the ten tribes had been swept away. The verse records that Josiah broke down the houses of the sodomites beside the house of the LORD. Those houses were used for immoral and idolatrous ritual vice and profane worship, where women wove hangings for the Asherah or grove.
He stopped idolatrous rites and destroyed shrines, groves, and heathen places of worship that had long corrupted the land. The corruption reaching even to the house of the LORD was low, sensual sun worship and Baal worship. It included Baal and Astarte or Ashtoreth with beautiful statues and lovely nudities. In it false worship had displaced the worship and honor of Jehovah.
The heathen had come to look upon mountains as protectors, deliverers, and places of refuge and gave that idea religious significance by placing polluting symbols and altars on hills and high places throughout the realm whenever wicked, sensual kings ruled. The reformation containing the verse fulfills the prophecy spoken by the man of God to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13, coming hundreds of years later exactly as the Lord declared it would. Though Josiah labored as a devoted, zealous reformer to break down this corruption, he could not check the downward trend of the people.
So after his sad death the kingdom of Judah soon fell before Nebuchadnezzar into Babylonian captivity. Such reforms by a good king could be followed by a relapse when another king restored the abominations.
Pattern for True Reformation
2 Kings 23:1-24 records the greatest reformation in Hebrew history, and it stands as the pattern for a new reformation to confront present evils and missionary problems. That reformation dealt with at least ten forms of idolatry and iniquity polluting the temple and the people, including the houses of ritual vice beside the house of the Lord. Its work was to destroy every existing relic of idolatry, to defile idol altars and sites, and to degrade priests who had corrupted true worship. It is likewise the model for removing heathen elements and sun-worship practices in order to establish true worship.
Josiah himself led the reform while priests and Levites only followed, going through the land from limit to limit at twenty years of age and again at twenty-six after finding the long-lost Bible. With the hammer of an iconoclast he broke Baal and Astarte and every relic of idolatry into ugly deformity, including beautiful statues and lovely nudities. His thorough purge banished idolatry and restored the worship of God. His example requires doing what is right with unswerving devotion without turning aside from duty.
No plea of beauty or art justifies sparing any rivalry with God. That holds no matter how many priests and servitors are thrust out of office penniless, how many family and social arrangements of more than half a century are turned topsy-turvy, or how much cursing follows from idolaters and sentimental lovers of beauty. A heart that has found the Bible makes no compromise but 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. The same clearing is required of the mixture of the beautiful and lascivious that in the name of art seduces the modesty of the young.
The breaking down of idolatrous shrines and groves belonged to a national revival in which the Bible was read to the people and they turned from indifference toward repentance and reformation. The heathen had come to look upon mountains as protectors, deliverers, and places of refuge, and gave that idea religious significance by placing polluting symbols and altars of Baal and Ashtoreth worship on hills and high places throughout the realm whenever wicked, sensual kings ruled. When a godly king who feared and served the true God reigned, the hill groves of idolatry were hewn down and the mountain altars overthrown. Then the people learned righteousness and sought the true place of refuge.
By throwing down idolatrous temples Josiah's reformation caused God Himself to be recognized. It proves that when God's people are nearest to Him there is the least outward expression in mere stone and wood. What God desires is beauty of character in souls and not architectural beauty.