Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.
Josiah also got rid of all the people who talked to spirits of the dead, fortune-tellers, household gods, idols, and every other disgusting practice that could be found anywhere in Judah and Jerusalem. He did this to obey the words of God's law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had discovered in the Lord's temple.
King Josiah completely cleaned out all forms of false worship and occult practices from his kingdom to obey God's law that had been rediscovered in the temple.
📚 Historical Context
This took place around 621 BC during King Josiah's religious reforms in Judah. The priest Hilkiah had recently discovered a book of God's law (likely Deuteronomy) during temple renovations, which prompted Josiah to purge the land of all pagan practices. These occult practices had accumulated over generations of unfaithful kings who had allowed or even encouraged worship of foreign gods alongside the worship of the true God.
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