And he broke in pieces the columns, and cut down the Asherahs, and filled their place with the bones of men.
Josiah is tearing down the places of idol worship one by one. Here he smashes what stood on the high places — and then fills the ruined sites with human bones.
Writers explain the word behind "Asherim" — older translations call them "groves" — as wooden objects, not woods of trees:
On the whole it seems most probable that they were wooden symbols of a goddess. They took the form of images or pillars, or were simply tree-stems set in the ground… The many references to the idols, images, and groves show how far Israel had departed from the living God and fallen into idolatry.
A famous name stood behind these shrines. One writer pictures the objection Josiah faced, and suggests whose bones may have filled the sites:
We can well imagine people objecting to Josiah. They would say that these high places were long established, and had the dignity of King Solomon's approval. But Josiah cared about God's approval, and whatever offended God had to be destroyed. Josiah also broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images and filled their places with the bones of men (v.14). This may refer to those who defended the idolatry and suffered death for this.
Other godly kings had left this hill alone. One writer names them and explains why:
We are not surprised at the terrible deeds of men like Ahaz and Manasseh. But one of the greatest of Israel's royal sinners was Solomon. He built the temple of the LORD, and his prayer at its dedication seemed to foresee every evil and danger that might arise!… Yet godly kings like Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah left all this untouched! Neglect of the Word of God is the only possible explanation of this.
Josiah acted; he did not just disapprove. One writer weighs that against the excuses we make:
There must be separation from the evil that led to their departure from the Lord. Idolatry must be judged and "put away." This is more than a protest against evil; it involves dealing with the evil. We are often willing to protest against evil, while shrinking from dealing with it. We may plead that it is difficult. We may fear the result. We shrink from any shame it may bring. So, under one excuse and another, we dodge our plain responsibility.
Josiah did not stop at the pillars. One writer describes how far he went, and what God thinks of it:
No one ever wiped out idolatry as thoroughly as Josiah did, right across the land of Israel. He killed all the priests, burnt their bones on their altars, and then destroyed the altars themselves, grinding them to powder. Such thoroughness God loves. The Corinthian believers were very slow to deal with wickedness in the assembly. Yet they were active in avenging their personal wrongs, even taking one another into the world's courts (1 Cor. 5:6). The Lord Jesus will carry out a world-wide clearance at His appearing.
So should readers today pick up hammers of their own?
In this day we are not called upon to be image-breakers. It is not our duty to go round with axes and hammers and destroy images and other things which we know to be hateful to God. The Lord Jesus will deal with all this when He shows Himself from heaven in Kingdom-power and majesty. Our present duty has two parts. First, to get our own souls right by testing all our ways and associations by the written Word. Second, to use our influence to help others return to the "old paths" (Jeremiah 6:16).
Josiah's reform was real, and yet God was not satisfied with Judah:
The king's power brought about a great reformation. But it left the hearts of most of the people untouched… So why could God not rest in the improved outward state of the kingdom of Judah in Josiah's day? He looked beneath the surface. He looked for reality, for a tender conscience, for a heart that bowed to His word. He did not find them… Nothing less than thoroughness will ever satisfy God.
- Thorough in naming. The Asherim were wooden symbols of a goddess — images, pillars, or tree-stems set in the ground.
- Thorough about reputation. A famous name backed these shrines. Josiah wanted God's approval, so he destroyed them.
- Thorough where others stopped. Asa, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah all left this hill alone. One writer blames neglect of God's Word.
- Thorough in action, not just opinion. Josiah smashed the altars and ground them to powder. Protest is not enough; deal with evil, past the excuses of difficulty, fear and shame.
- Thorough to the heart. God looked past the cleared hillsides for reality and a tender conscience. He will not settle for less.
Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, the high place that Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and burned the high place, stamped it small to powder, and burned the Asherah.
Josiah's reform now moves outside his own kingdom, into what had been the northern kingdom of Israel. There he pulls down the altar at Bethel — and behind that demolition stands a prophecy spoken at the altar itself, long before he was born.
Bethel lay just outside Judah, in land the ten tribes no longer ruled. One writer traces what Josiah did there, including the wooden image the verse calls the Asherah:
Bethel was only 12 miles from Jerusalem. Jeroboam had taken it in his rebellion against Rehoboam, but of course the ten tribes had no authority left in Israel. So Josiah broke down the altar and the high place that Jeroboam had set up. He crushed the high place to powder and burned the wooden image there (v.15). He also saw graves on the mountain, clearly the graves of people who had joined in the worship at the high place. He had the bones taken from the graves and burned on the altar. This fulfilled the prophecy of the man of God who had come to Jeroboam while he stood at his idolatrous altar (1 Kings 13:1-2).
The verse does not only say Jeroboam built the altar. It adds that he made Israel sin — a description Scripture repeats again and again:
Jeroboam stands out in the Old Testament as the great division maker. Under him the great mass of God's people, ten of the twelve tribes, broke away from God's centre at that time. Like a funeral bell, the sad words the Spirit uses to mark this man out are repeated again and again: "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." In one chapter alone they come four times (2 Kings 15:9, 18, 24, 28). There is something appalling about it. This special way of speaking shows how terrible his sin is in God's sight, and every true heart feels how awful it is. Personal sins are bad enough, but to turn away God's people from the centre which He has set up — what could be worse?
Long before Josiah arrived, God sent a message to Bethel. It spoke against the altar, not against the idol:
The man of God cries out against the altar (1 Kings 13:2), not against the idol. For a man to imagine that he can replace God's altar is more hateful in God's eyes than anything else he can do. God's altar is the only one, and He has said so openly to all. Believers have just one altar, Christ, the Lamb of God (Heb. 13:10). God will judge wicked men who want to set up another altar beside His own. A worship set up by man cannot last forever; God's judgment will fall on it.
God announced this demolition, and named the man who would carry it out, generations before Josiah was born. One writer sees no difficulty in that:
Now this is prophecy. Why make a difficulty about it? If God is God, if He really is the "I am," it is easy for Him to speak about men and their doings centuries in advance, if He chooses to do so. We live for a day, and can only speak of things happening in front of our eyes. Tomorrow is completely unknown. This prophecy is very precise, because it names the man who would destroy Jeroboam's altar. In the same way the Lord named Cyrus hundreds of years before his birth (Isa. 45:1).
The long wait, however, was a real test. Another writer imagines what the passing generations made of it:
Scoffers long may have asked, "Where is the promise of this coming prince, this child of the house of David, named Josiah?" And as generation after generation passed, and no prince of that name appeared, even the righteous may have questioned in their minds and wondered if God had forgotten, or doubted if the prophecy were really true… and at last the time had come when he should rise of whom the prophet had spoken; and the prophecy was now fulfilled — as all God's word must be.
Josiah left nothing standing and nothing that could be used again:
Nowhere was idolatry ever rooted out as thoroughly as Josiah rooted it out across the whole land of Israel. He killed all the priests, burned their bones on their altars, and then destroyed the altars themselves, grinding them to powder. God loves such thoroughness… The Lord Jesus will make a world-wide clearance at His appearing.
Josiah held no crown over these northern towns. One writer names what drove him to clean them out:
Finally, the king goes through all the cities of Israel and destroys the temples of the high places. He shows no pity to their idolatrous priests, and wipes them out. Yet by all appearances these priests had already lost their influence, since the Assyrians had carried the people away. He acts with a future restoration in view, and his heart, burning to serve the Lord, is set on it.
- Word spoken. At this very altar God named Josiah before he was born. Naming a man centuries ahead is no trouble for the God who calls Himself "I am."
- Word aimed. The message struck the altar, not the idol. A worship invented by man cannot last, because believers have only one altar, Christ.
- Word against a man. Scripture keeps repeating that Jeroboam made Israel sin. He turned God's people away from the centre God had set up.
- Word executed. Josiah broke the altar down and ground the high place to powder. He burned bones on it, matching the prophecy point for point.
- Word ahead. Josiah cleansed land he did not even rule, with a future restoration in view. God loves such thoroughness, and the Lord Jesus will make a world-wide clearance at His appearing.