In Judah it was also a time of frequent idolatry. But there were some good kings, some better than others of course. Judah participated in what Jeremiah called “casual harlotry” (Jer. 3:9). The term means they took it lightly. In other words, its not so bad what we’re doing. What did they do? Well, the tell-tale phrase concerning the kings of Judah was, “they did not remove the high places.”
The “high places” refers to places of idolatry
rather than the temple on Mt. Moriah. Prior
to Solomon the place of sacrifice was not always the same. But when he built the temple, his prayer
indicates that this was now to be the one place for offerings and worship for
the nation. Yet Solomon, who knew there
was only one God (1 Kings 8:60), still built high places for his foreign wives (1
Kings 11:4-8). What was he
thinking? It’s hard to tell, but he
obviously took it lightly. “I can
worship the LORD at my temple; what I’m doing with the wives isn’t really who I
am. It’s not so bad.”
Well, here’s a list of the kings of Judah, all
of them. The issue of the high places
only goes through Josiah when, for the second time, they were removed. After Josiah it seems they were not rebuilt.
RULERS OF JUDAH
1. Rehoboam: 1 Kings 14:21-24. In his reign the people “built for themselves
high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every
green tree.”
2. Abijam: Nothing is said in his short
reign.
3. Asa: 1 Ki. 15:11-14. A good king. “But
the high places were not removed.”
4. Jehoshaphat: 1 Ki. 22:43-44. Another
good king, yet … (v44).
5. Jehoram: 2 Ki. 8:18: His wife was a
daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. Not good
obviously. He walked in the sins of the kings
of Israel.
6. Ahaziah: 2 Ki. 8:27. It’s in the family. He walked in the way of Ahab.
7. Athaliah: Yes, this is a woman’s
name. For 6 years Israel was ruled by this queen who rivaled Jezebel as “witch of the year.”
8. Joash: 2 Ki. 12:2-3. Good king, for a while. “But the high places were not taken away.”
9. Amaziah: 2 Ki. 14:3-4. Pretty good, but high places not taken away.
10. Azariah: 2 Ki. 15:3-4. Great prosperity. “High places not taken away.”
11. Jotham: 2 Ki. 15:34-35. “The high places were not removed; the people
still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.”
12.
Ahaz: 2 Ki. 16:3-4. The bad dad
of Hezekiah. Even built an altar in the
temple area that looked like one the Assyrian king used.
13.
Hezekiah: 2 Ki. 18:3-4.
Hallelujah! “He removed the high
plces and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image and broke in
pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the
children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan (Bronze
thing).”
14.
Manasseh: 2 Ki. 21:3-9. Unbelievable. Actually, not surprising. He rebuilt all the high places. This was the point at which God determined He
would punish Judah severely.
15.
Amon: 2 Ki. 21:20.
16.
Josiah: 2 Ki. 23:1-25. A breath
of fresh air, who did a real number on the high places and all the things used
in idolatry. He destroyed idolatry even
up in the area of the Northern Kingdom which by this time had been dispersed by
the Assyrians. He was a great king. But the decision had been made in the time of
Manasseh. And the great revival didn’t
get beyond the palace. The people repented
“in pretense” (Jer. 3:10).
17.
Jehoahaz
18.
Jehoiakim
19.
Jehoiachin
20. Zedekiah
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