The First Temple, also known as Solomon's Temple, holds a significant place in biblical history as the central place of worship for the Israelites. Constructed by King Solomon in the 10th century BC, it was the dwelling place of the Ark of the Covenant and the center of Jewish religious life. Over time, however, the Temple became defiled by idolatry and pagan practices, particularly during the reigns of certain kings who led Israel away from the worship of Yahweh.

The purification of the First Temple by King Josiah is a pivotal event recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Josiah, the son of Amon, ascended to the throne of Judah at the tender age of eight, following the assassination of his father. His reign, which began around 640 BC, is noted for a significant religious reform that sought to restore the worship of Yahweh and eliminate idolatry from the land.

The account of Josiah's reforms is detailed in 2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35. In the eighteenth year of his reign, Josiah initiated a major renovation of the Temple. During this process, Hilkiah the high priest discovered the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD. This discovery was a catalyst for Josiah's reforms. Upon hearing the words of the Law, Josiah tore his clothes in distress, recognizing the extent to which the people had strayed from God's commandments.

Josiah's response was immediate and decisive. He gathered all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, from the elders to the youngest, and read the words of the Book of the Covenant to them. The king then made a covenant before the LORD to follow Him and keep His commandments with all his heart and soul, as recorded in 2 Kings 23:3 : "So the king stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the LORD to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments, decrees, and statutes with all his heart and all his soul, and to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant."

Josiah's reforms were comprehensive. He ordered the removal and destruction of all the articles made for Baal, Asherah, and all the host of heaven. He deposed the idolatrous priests and burned the Asherah pole. The high places, where unauthorized worship had been conducted, were desecrated and demolished. Josiah also reinstituted the Passover, which had not been observed in such a manner since the days of the judges, as noted in 2 Kings 23:21-23 : "The king commanded all the people, 'Keep the Passover to the LORD your God, as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.' For such a Passover had not been observed since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor throughout all the days of the kings of Israel and Judah."

Josiah's purification of the Temple and his religious reforms were a return to the covenantal faithfulness that God had commanded Israel. His actions were a significant attempt to restore the nation to the worship of Yahweh alone, in accordance with the Law given through Moses. Despite his efforts, the reforms were short-lived, as subsequent kings led the nation back into idolatry, ultimately leading to the destruction of the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Nonetheless, Josiah's legacy is remembered as a high point of faithfulness in the history of Judah.2 Kings 23:4-7,11,12
And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them to Bethel.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Zephaniah and Haggai.
... 2. Purified Israel shall be honored in all the earth, 3:11 ... the period of the rebuilding
of the temple, as recorded in Ezra and he was the first prophet called ...
/.../chapter xxii zephaniah and haggai.htm

Zechariah
... all the distinctive features of the first eight chapters ... problem was the building
of the temple; here, more ... a third of the flock after being purified by fire ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/mcfadyen/introduction to the old testament/zechariah.htm

Jeremiah and Deuteronomy. (Chs. vii, viii. 8, xi. )
... Book of the Torah discovered in the Temple in 621 ... Shall I give my first-born for
my transgression, the ... stress"the ethical, which in time purified the ritual ...
//christianbookshelf.org/smith/jeremiah/3 jeremiah and deuteronomy chs.htm

The Antiquities of the Jews
... From The First Of Cyrus To The Death Of Alexander The Great ... While Afterwards Lysias
And Gorgias Were Beaten He Went Up To Jerusalem And Purified The Temple. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/josephus/the antiquities of the jews/

Questions.
... 29. What became of the treasures of the Temple? 30. ... Augustin? 19. Who was the first
Christian Saxon King? 20. ... 15. How was the English Church purified? 16. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/yonge/the chosen people/questions.htm

Place of Jesus in the History of the World.
... or dross of which the most purified worships always ... the Divine personality, of which
the first germs might ... passed their life about the temple, fasting, and ...
//christianbookshelf.org/renan/the life of jesus/chapter i place of jesus.htm

Interpretation of Prophecy.
... people were never destroyed, but always purified by their ... this was, so to speak,
the first sheaf of ... their land, destroyed their city and temple, and carried ...
/.../barrows/companion to the bible/chapter xxxviii interpretation of prophecy.htm

The Holy City; Or, the New Jerusalem:
... of our New Testament church under Antichrist, it is said that then the glory of
God departed from them, and went, by degrees, first out of the temple to the ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/the holy city or the.htm

Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
... were to be living stones in the temple of grace ... difficulties; but they well know
that the first thing to ... public opinion cannot be rectified and purified at the ...
/.../an appeal to the christian women of the south/appeal to the christian women.htm

Instruction for the Ignorant:
... like the ark of God in the temple of Dagon ... his word; one that hath his heart purified
and sanctified ... this appear by experience?"A. Yes: the first things that ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/instruction for the ignorant .htm

What was Herod's temple? | GotQuestions.org

What was Zerubbabel's temple/the second temple? | GotQuestions.org

What was Solomon's temple / the first temple? How many temples were there? | GotQuestions.org

Temple: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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