2 Kings 23:5

2 Kings 23:5 says, And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.  Josiah continued by removing the priests who worshipped idols from Jerusalem after receiving a message from God.  Matthew Henry says he was surprised that so much evil had gotten into God's people and that Jerusalem was still destroyed in spite of this great reform.  Of course, he also points out that most of the people didn't really want this reform.  I believe that God will let us know if we have allowed idolatry back into our life, and if we have, when He reveals this to us, we must remove whatever it is from our life.  Verse six adds, And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people.  Josiah removed the grove, or those things dedicated to the worship of Ashtaroth, the goddess of fertility, from the Temple and ground them to powder and sprinkled them on the graves of the children of the people of Jerusalem.  We need to utterly destroy any idol that comes between God and us.  Verse seven continues, And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove.  Josiah also broke down the houses of the sodomites, or those who were defying God's purpose in creating men and women.  He also got rid of the hangings that women there were making to honor other gods.  Matthew Henry says this was likely Venus.  We cannot be a Christian nation and engage in acts that God has called sins.  Verse eight states, And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city.  Josiah also brought out all the false priests who had been leading the people of Jerusalem to worship false gods in the high places and groves.  We cannot serve God if we have not made Jesus Chrost our Savior and the only Lord of our life.  Verse nine adds, Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren.  These priests of the high places, these false priests, did not come to God's altar, but they ate unleavened bread with their brethren.  They were keeping up an appearance of following God, and some people today come to God's house, the church building, to keep up the appearance of being a Christian, but they then go away to worship other gods.  Verse ten continues, And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.  Josiah also got rid of the places of the worship of Molech, which had caused them to have their children pass through the fire or burning them in a sacrifice to this false god. We can never justify sacrificing our children, born or unborn, to any idol, even if it is just the idol of selfishness on our part.  Verse eleven concludes, And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathanmelech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.  Josiah also took away the horses that had been dedicated to the god of the sun and placed at the entrance to the Temple.  He also destroyed the chariots that had been dedicated to the god of the sun.  We must remove anything and everything from our lives as Christians that comes between God and us.