And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron.
The king also tore down the altars that were on the roof of King Ahaz's upper room, which the kings of Judah had built, and the altars that Manasseh had set up in the two courtyards of the LORD's temple. He smashed them to pieces, removed them from there, and threw their dust into the Kidron Valley.
King Josiah was completely destroying all the false altars that previous kings had built, even throwing their broken pieces into the valley to show his commitment to worshiping God alone.
📚 Historical Context
During the reign of King Josiah in ancient Judah, the nation had fallen into widespread idolatry due to the influence of earlier kings like Ahaz and Manasseh, who built pagan altars in sacred places such as the temple courts. Ahaz constructed altars on the upper chamber, while Manasseh added ones in the temple's outer courts, leading the people astray from true worship of God. Josiah's reforms were sparked by the discovery of the Book of the Law, prompting him to destroy these symbols of idolatry as part of a national effort to restore faithfulness to God's covenant.
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