2 Kings 23:11
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 Nathan-melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire.
Josiah took away the horses the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun at the entrance of the house of the Lord by the chamber of Nathan-melech, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. This was done in his reformation after the long-lost book of the law was found and read, when Huldah declared God's word and king and people renewed their covenant with God to purge idolatry from His house. The cleansing was sweeping and uncompromising, destroying every relic, defiling idol altars, removing corrupting priests, and restoring true worship in the purified temple. In this Josiah fulfilled exactly what the man of God had declared to Jeroboam in 1 Kings 13 hundreds of years before. His work is an example that revival must move from conviction of sin to the removal of heathen worship and its relics, a cleansing now called for again when honor of the venerable day of the sun supplants the honor of Jehovah.
Context and Cleansing Action
Josiah's cleansing belongs to the reformation that followed the recovery of the long-lost book of the law, its reading, and Huldah's declaration of God's word upon it, when king and people renewed their covenant with God and purged idolatrous practices from the Lord's house. The removal of the horses dedicated to the sun and the burning of the sun's chariots was the practical destruction of that idolatry established in the house. Former kings of Judah had dedicated the horses to the service of the sun and kept them with chariots devoted to the sun by the gate of the temple, and Josiah removed the horses and destroyed the chariots by fire, as part of burning all the furniture in the Lord's house dedicated to Baal the sun-god and pulling down the great image of Baal at the entrance.
The kings of Judah had given horses to the sun and kept chariots of the sun at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the chamberlain which was in the suburbs, even within the sacred precincts. Josiah took away the horses and burned the chariots of the sun with fire, removing objects of sun worship from the temple entrance with the wider idolatrous implements and places of worship in Judah. The objects included sacred white horses kept at the entrance and dedicated to the sun, with all temple furniture dedicated to Baal and the great image at the entrance, and their removal purified the temple and restored its worship. Their presence showed Judah had adopted sun worship even in the sacred precincts, and their removal belonged to the thorough reform against apostasy.
This was done because worshipers of the sun pictured that luminary as a man seated in a chariot drawn by swift and furious horses, and therefore dedicated horses and chariots to him. Others describe the sun as drawn in his course by seven horses with the deity sitting in a one-wheeled chariot, and by four horses. In those days the horse was especially devoted to war and sun worship, which God would not have His people learn or be educated in, which is one reason such horses were destroyed. Solomon's disobedience in multiplying horses helped introduce that idolatry into the temple, where sacred white horses were kept at the entrance dedicated to the sun as pagan worship entered the temple.
The cleansing was the greatest reformation recorded in Hebrew history, the one bright chapter closing Kings under the good king Josiah supported by godly priests and counselors amid wicked and weak reigns. Josiah confronted at least ten polluting forms of idolatry and iniquity, including Baal and Astarte, Asherah abominations, sodomites, Tophet or Moloch, Chemosh of Moab, Milcom of Ammon, Bethel calf worship, consulting of familiar spirits, offering incense in high places, and worship of the sun, moon, constellations and host of heaven. The taking away of the horses given to the sun and burning of the chariots belongs to astral worship of sun, moon, stars and the natural forces of the universe and material creation, one of three generic false faiths alongside ancestral worship of deceased ancestors and human heroes lifted to divine honors and animal worship. In the heathen mysteries the host of heaven was identified with departed human souls treated as gods and with demons, and at the time the honor of the sun with Baal and Ashtoreth had supplanted the worship and honor of Jehovah and called for cleansing.
The reform was sweeping, thorough, temporal and uncompromising, beginning when Josiah was twenty and pressed with greater knowledge and strength at twenty-six after finding the long-lost Bible. He led the work himself while high priest, chief priests and Levites followed in his wake, thrusting priests and servants of temples and shrines from office and overturning family and social arrangements fixed by more than half a century of idolatry. He destroyed every existing relic of idolatry, defiled idol altars and sites, degraded priests of Jehovah who had corrupted His worship, and spared nothing for beauty or art or sentiment. He guarded against incipient evils, seeing danger where the blinded soul feels secure and crushing the eggs of the serpent, zealous for the Lord God against any rivalry. So purified, the temple and its worship were restored and idolatrous temples cast down, so that God Himself was recognized and true worship was shown not to depend on elaborate buildings or outward beauty.
Prophecy, History, and Application
The account belongs with 1 Kings 13, for Josiah fulfilled hundreds of years later exactly what the man of God had declared to Jeroboam, including the prophecy of the disobedient prophet. His reign was the last in which the Lord's commandments and statutes were obeyed, and the Jewish jubilees ended at its close, dated to 607 BC, after which the people could no longer keep a year of release or jubilee. He was a devoted, zealous reformer striking at sun worship, which with Baal worship was a low, sensual religion that the people of Judah loved. His reform could not check their downward trend, and after his sad death the kingdom soon fell before Nebuchadnezzar into the Babylonian captivity.
His work is an example of revival moving from conviction of sin to reformation, in the destroying of objects and places used in idolatrous worship. The removal of heathen worship and its relics in 2 Kings 23:4-14, including the sun-worship practices, illustrates the need to eliminate such elements in order to establish true worship.
The taking away of the horses given to the sun and the burning of the chariots of the sun belonged to the cleansing of the temple and people in the greatest reformation in Hebrew history, confronting at least ten pollutions including Baal and Astarte, Asherah abominations, sodomites, Tophet or Moloch, Chemosh of Moab, Milcom of Ammon, Bethel calf worship, familiar spirits, and incense in high places, with destruction of every existing relic, defiling of idol altars and sites, and degrading of corrupting priests of Jehovah. It belongs to astral worship of sun, moon, stars and natural forces, one of three generic false faiths alongside ancestral worship of deified dead heroes and animal worship, still found in the Orient in systems such as Parseeism and calling for a new reformation and practical missionary solution. The kings had provided horses for the sun at the entrance to the Lord's house and kept chariots devoted to the sun there, showing sun worship had entered even the sacred precincts and was removed in reform against apostasy. It was a time when honor of the sun, with Baal and Ashtoreth, had supplanted the worship and honor of Jehovah and called for cleansing reform, and that same condition is now fast returning when worship of the beast which is the papacy and his image which is the so-called National Reform and honor of the venerable day of the sun are fast supplanting the worship and honor of Jehovah.