Verse 4

He eliminated the high places, smashed the sacred pillars to bits, and cut down the Asherah pole. He also demolished the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been offering incense to it; it was called Nehushtan.

Referenced Verses

  • 2 Chr 31:1 : 1 When all this was over, the Israelites who were in the cities of Judah went out and smashed the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and demolished all the high places and altars throughout Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Then all the Israelites returned to their own homes in their cities.
  • Num 21:8-9 : 8 The LORD said to Moses,“Make a poisonous snake and set it on a pole. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, so that if a snake had bitten someone, when he looked at the bronze snake he lived.
  • 2 Kgs 18:22 : 22 Perhaps you will tell me,‘We are trusting in the LORD our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem,‘You must worship at this altar in Jerusalem.’
  • 2 Kgs 23:4 : 4 The king ordered Hilkiah the high priest, the high-ranking priests, and the guards to bring out of the LORD’s temple all the items that were used in the worship of Baal, Asherah, and all the stars of the sky. The king burned them outside of Jerusalem in the terraces of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.
  • 2 Chr 19:3 : 3 Nevertheless you have done some good things; you removed the Asherah poles from the land and you were determined to follow God.”
  • Exod 23:24 : 24 “You must not bow down to their gods; you must not serve them or do according to their practices. Instead you must completely overthrow them and smash their standing stones to pieces.
  • Lev 26:30 : 30 I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars, and I will stack your dead bodies on top of the lifeless bodies of your idols. I will abhor you.
  • 2 Chr 33:3 : 3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he set up altars for the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the stars in the sky and worshiped them.
  • Ps 78:58 : 58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines, and made him jealous with their idols.
  • Ezek 20:28-29 : 28 I brought them to the land which I swore to give them, but whenever they saw any high hill or leafy tree, they offered their sacrifices there and presented the offerings that provoke me to anger. They offered their soothing aroma there and poured out their drink offerings. 29 So I said to them, What is this high place you go to?’”(So it is called“High Place” to this day.)
  • John 3:14-15 : 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
  • Deut 7:5 : 5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah poles, and burn up their idols.
  • Deut 12:2-3 : 2 You must by all means destroy all the places where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods– on the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 3 You must tear down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, burn up their sacred Asherah poles, and cut down the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very memory from that place.
  • Judg 6:25 : 25 Gideon Destroys the Altar That night the LORD said to him,“Take the bull from your father’s herd, as well as a second bull, one that is seven years old. Pull down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the nearby Asherah pole.
  • Judg 6:28 : 28 When the men of the city got up the next morning, they saw the Baal altar pulled down, the nearby Asherah pole cut down, and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar.
  • 1 Kgs 3:2-3 : 2 Now the people were offering sacrifices at the high places, because in those days a temple had not yet been built to honor the LORD. 3 Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the LORD by following the practices of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
  • 1 Kgs 15:12-14 : 12 He removed the male cultic prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the disgusting idols his ancestors had made. 13 He also removed Maacah his grandmother from her position as queen mother because she had made a loathsome Asherah pole. Asa cut down her loathsome pole and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 The high places were not eliminated, yet Asa was wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD throughout his lifetime.
  • 1 Kgs 22:43 : 43 He followed in his father Asa’s footsteps and was careful to do what the LORD approved.(22:44) However, the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
  • 2 Kgs 12:3 : 3 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
  • 2 Kgs 14:4 : 4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
  • 2 Kgs 15:4 : 4 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places.
  • 2 Kgs 15:35 : 35 But the high places were not eliminated; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense on the high places. He built the Upper Gate to the LORD’s temple.
  • 2 Kgs 16:15 : 15 King Ahaz ordered Uriah the priest,“On the large altar offer the morning burnt sacrifice, the evening grain offering, the royal burnt sacrifices and grain offering, the burnt sacrifice for all the people of the land, their grain offering, and their libations. Sprinkle all the blood of the burnt sacrifice and other sacrifices on it. The bronze altar will be for my personal use.”