The Long Memory of God: Reformation and Prophecy Text: 2 Kings 23:15-20
Introduction: The Stubbornness of Sin and the Sovereignty of God
We live in an age of historical amnesia. Our culture is pathologically committed to the tyranny of the now. What happened last year is ancient history, and what happened last century might as well be mythology. The prevailing assumption is that we are autonomous individuals, free agents making our own way in the world, unencumbered by the foolishness of our ancestors and unaccountable to the generations to come. This is a damnable lie, and it is a lie that makes a text like this one utterly unintelligible to the modern mind.
For here, in the violent, dusty, bone-burning reformation of King Josiah, we are confronted with the long memory of God. We are shown that sin has a history. It has a pedigree. The idolatrous altar at Bethel was not a recent innovation; it was the cancerous root of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, planted centuries before. And just as sin has a long and stubborn history, so too does the Word of God. The prophecy spoken against that altar was not a vague premonition; it was a specific, detailed, and dated promise from the mouth of God through His prophet, a promise that named Josiah centuries before he was born. God's Word does not evaporate. It does not have a shelf life. It waits, patiently, for the appointed time, and then it lands with the force of a divine sledgehammer.
What Josiah does here is not just political reform. It is not a mere "values" campaign. This is covenantal warfare. This is a godly magistrate fulfilling his God-given duty to suppress public idolatry and blasphemy. Josiah understands something that our modern, pietistic, and effeminate evangelicalism has utterly forgotten: true worship and civil health are inextricably linked. A nation that worships idols will inevitably be ruled by tyrants. A nation that tolerates public blasphemy will find its public square filled with chaos. Josiah is not simply tidying up the nation's religious life; he is tearing down the very infrastructure of rebellion against the living God. He is doing so with fire and with force, because that is what God's law requires of a faithful king.
This passage is a direct assault on our modern sensibilities. It is an offense to our therapeutic view of religion, our pluralistic view of society, and our sentimental view of God. But it is the Word of God, and it shows us the nature of true reformation. True reformation is not about dialogue with idols; it is about their destruction. It is not about accommodating sin; it is about its eradication. And it is all done in obedient fulfillment of the sure and certain prophetic Word of God.
The Text
Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah.
Then Josiah turned, and he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things.
Then he said, "What is this monument that I see?" And the men of the city told him, "It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel."
And he said, "Let him alone; let no one move his bones." So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria.
And also all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking Yahweh to anger, Josiah removed; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel.
And all the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
(2 Kings 23:15-20 LSB)
The Root of the Rot (v. 15)
The reformation moves north, to the very source of the spiritual pollution that had poisoned Israel for centuries.
"Furthermore, the altar that was at Bethel and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah." (2 Kings 23:15)
Notice the specific identification. This isn't just any altar. This is the altar of Jeroboam, "who made Israel sin." This phrase is a terrible, repeating epitaph attached to Jeroboam's name throughout the books of Kings. What was his sin? It was the sin of religious innovation for the sake of political expediency. To prevent the northern tribes from returning to Jerusalem to worship, and thus returning their allegiance to the house of David, Jeroboam set up his own counterfeit worship system. He created golden calves, established his own priesthood from non-Levites, and invented his own feast days. He did this to secure his own power. This is the essence of all state-sponsored idolatry. It is the creature, the civil magistrate, putting himself in the place of the Creator and redefining the terms of worship to suit his own agenda.
Josiah's response is not one of polite disagreement. He does not set up a competing altar and hope that people make the better choice. He tears it down. He demolishes its stones. He grinds them to dust. This is not mere destruction; it is a statement of utter contempt. Grinding the stones to dust is what Moses did with the golden calf. It is an act of complete and total obliteration, ensuring that not one piece of this blasphemous structure could be kept as a relic or a souvenir. He is treating this idolatry like a contagion, like a spiritual virus that must be eradicated down to the last particle.
And he burned the Asherah. The Asherah pole was a wooden symbol of a Canaanite fertility goddess, a vile idol representing the gross sexual immorality that was always at the heart of pagan worship. Josiah does not put it in a museum of comparative religion. He burns it. This is what God's law commanded (Deut. 12:3). Reformation is not a negotiation. It is a cleansing by fire.
Prophecy Fulfilled to the Letter (v. 16)
Josiah's actions are not random acts of pious rage. They are the precise fulfillment of a prophecy made over three hundred years earlier.
"Then Josiah turned, and he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it according to the word of Yahweh which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things." (2 Kings 23:16)
Here we see the meticulous sovereignty of God over history. In 1 Kings 13, as Jeroboam himself was standing at this very altar, a man of God from Judah came and prophesied against it. He said, "O altar, altar, thus says Yahweh: 'Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.'"
Think about that. God named the instrument of His judgment three centuries in advance. This is not a lucky guess. This is the declaration of the One who holds all of history in His hands. Josiah, in his zeal, turns and sees the graves. It is almost incidental. But nothing is incidental in the providence of God. He sees the graves of the idolatrous priests and, to complete the defilement of the altar, he has their bones exhumed and burned on it. Under the Mosaic law, contact with a dead body caused ceremonial uncleanness. By burning these bones on the altar, Josiah was rendering it permanently and utterly profane. It was a theological biohazard site, forever unfit for any kind of worship.
And he does this "according to the word of Yahweh." He may or may not have had the specific prophecy in mind at that moment, but it doesn't matter. God's Word is true whether we are consciously trying to fulfill it or not. God's decrees are not dependent on our cooperation. History is His story, and men like Josiah are simply actors playing the parts that God wrote for them long before.
Honoring the Messenger (v. 17-18)
In the midst of this violent purification, there is a moment of careful distinction. Not all graves are the same.
"Then he said, 'What is this monument that I see?' And the men of the city told him, 'It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.' And he said, 'Let him alone; let no one move his bones.' So they left his bones undisturbed with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria." (2 Kings 23:17-18)
Josiah's zeal is not blind. It is a discerning zeal. He sees a particular monument, a headstone, and asks about it. He learns that it is the tomb of the very prophet who had spoken these words of judgment so long ago. And what is his response? "Let him alone." This is a profound mark of a true reformer. He honors the Word of God, and therefore he honors the faithful messengers of that Word.
The story in 1 Kings 13 is a tragic one. The man of God from Judah delivered his message faithfully, but was then deceived by an old prophet from Samaria and disobeyed God's command, for which he was killed by a lion. Yet, even in his failure and death, God preserved his body and his burial, and his prophecy remained potent. Now, centuries later, the king who fulfilled the prophecy protects the bones of the prophet who delivered it. This tells us that God's Word is powerful despite the flaws of the messenger. God's truth is not diminished by the weakness of the vessel.
And notice, his bones are left undisturbed "with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria," the very prophet who had deceived him. There is a strange and mysterious mercy here. In death, they are united, and both are spared the desecration. It is a quiet reminder that the judgments and mercies of God are complex, and we ought to be careful before we assume we understand them completely.
No Quarter for Idolatry (v. 19-20)
Josiah's reformation was not limited to the high-profile site at Bethel. It was a thorough, kingdom-wide purge.
"And also all the houses of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking Yahweh to anger, Josiah removed; and he did to them just as he had done in Bethel. And all the priests of the high places who were there he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem." (2 Kings 23:19-20)
The cancer of idolatry had metastasized throughout the northern kingdom, and Josiah performs radical surgery. He removes "all the houses of the high places." He is comprehensive. Half-measures in reformation are no measures at all. To leave one high place standing is to leave a seed for the whole corrupt forest to grow back.
And then we come to the part that makes our modern, sentimental stomachs turn. He "slaughtered" the priests of the high places on their own altars. Let us be clear about what this is. This is the righteous execution of idolaters by a lawful civil magistrate in accordance with the law of God. Deuteronomy 13 and 17 are explicit. Those who lead God's people into the worship of false gods are to be put to death. This is not vigilantism. This is the king bearing the sword as God's deacon, an avenger who brings wrath on the wrongdoer (Romans 13:4).
Why is the penalty so severe? Because idolatry is treason against the ultimate King. It is spiritual adultery. It is an attack on the very foundation of reality. To tolerate public idolatry is to invite the judgment of God upon the entire nation. Josiah understood that a faithful king must love God more than he fears the disapproval of men. He understood that true justice requires the punishment of evil. Our modern world, which cannot even define what a woman is, has no standing to judge the actions of a king who was zealous for the holiness of the living God. He slaughters the priests on their own altars, turning their instruments of false worship into their own place of execution, and then burns human bones on them to complete the defilement. The work is finished. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
Josiah's Zeal and Our Task
So what are we to make of this bloody, violent, and zealous reformation? We must first see that Josiah is a type, a foreshadowing, of a greater King to come. Josiah's reformation, for all its thoroughness, was ultimately temporary. The hearts of the people were not fundamentally changed, and after his death, the nation quickly slid back into apostasy and judgment. Josiah could tear down the altars of stone, but he could not tear down the altars in the human heart.
But King Jesus, the true Son of David, brings a greater and more permanent reformation. He does not come to burn the bones of dead priests, but to give His own body to be broken and His own blood to be shed. He is the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy. On the altar of the cross, He defeats all the false gods. He makes a public spectacle of the principalities and powers, triumphing over them by it (Col. 2:15).
And through His death and resurrection, He sends His Spirit to perform the ultimate reformation, the one that Josiah could not accomplish. He tears down the high places in our hearts. He grinds the idols of pride and lust and greed to dust. He cleanses us by fire, the fire of the Holy Spirit. He slaughters the treasonous priests of our own self-worship and makes us a new creation.
But this does not mean we have nothing to learn from Josiah's public actions. We are postmillennialists. We believe that the gospel is going to triumph in history. We believe that the day is coming when "the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh as the waters cover the sea." This means that the nations of the earth will one day bow the knee to Christ. Kings and rulers will confess that Jesus is Lord. And when they do, they will be obligated to rule according to His Word. They will be obligated to suppress public blasphemy and idolatry. They will be obligated to create a civil order that honors the true God.
Our task now is not to take up the sword as Josiah did. The church's weapons are not carnal, but they are mighty through God for the pulling down of strongholds. Our weapons are the preaching of the gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and prayer. With these weapons, we are taking the world. And as the world is converted, one heart, one family, one town at a time, we will begin to see a new Christendom arise. And in that Christendom, we will once again have godly magistrates who understand that their first duty is to the King of kings, and who will cleanse the public square of its idols, not with the timidity of modern politicians, but with the righteous, bone-burning zeal of King Josiah.