He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and followed completely the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. – 2 Kings 22:2

Today's Scripture Reading (May 2, 2023): 2 Kings 22

We have the idea in our culture that something can be sanctified by its purpose. In other words, it doesn't matter why something was created; if it is put to a good use, it must be good. It is part of our culture's raging conversation over the concept of guns. The argument is that guns are essentially neutral; what makes them good or evil is the use we give them in our world. The motto of this point of view is that "guns don't kill people; people kill people." If we use our guns for hunting, the protection of our families, or even the nation's defense (the original purpose of the Second Amendment in the United States), then guns are good. If we use them to kill people who innocently stumble onto our property or as part of a mass shooting event against people we feel have wronged us, then guns are bad. The gun doesn't really matter; all that is important is the purpose for which we use the gun.

In our society, the problem is that most created things are deemed to be neutral in character. We don't chase after many gods, so we don't develop artifacts dedicated to a specific god. And often, if we do, we don't recognize the significance. (An example might be some souvenirs we might collect from other cultures. These might have been created to honor other specific local gods, but we either don't know or understand it.)

But that was not the case in ancient Israel. In Israel, everyone understood why something was created. So at the close of Manasseh's life, we read of his moral transformation from an evil king to a good king. Part of this transformation was that he left the high places intact, but he changed their purpose; they were now to be used only to worship the God of Israel. In our culture, that would mean that the high places were sanctified or made good by their use. But, in a culture where it was clearly understood the purpose of these high places was the worship of other gods, the high places and the Asherah poles would remain a temptation that could lead the people back into old behavior patterns.

Manasseh was willing to leave the high places, just changing their intended use. But the author of Kings tells us that Josiah did what was right, not turning aside to the right or the left. Manasseh's heart was in the right place, but the problem was that the high places could not be sanctified. So, one of Josiah's first steps was to remove these high places. It didn't matter that they were being used for a good purpose; the temptation needed to be removed.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 34