Mark the word “utterly.” It is for want of that word that so many men have failed. Many men have cut off the heads of weeds. Any man can do that. The weed is in the root, and the root is not straight down in the earth, so that it can be taken out easily; after a certain depth it ramifies, and care must be taken that we get out every fibre and filament, and having got it out, turn it upside down, and let the sun do the rest. A man has undertaken to abstain from some evil pursuit for a month: he has clipped off the top of the weed and looks just as well as anybody else, but he is not; he has still the root in him, and that must be taken out, though he be half murdered in the process. (J. Parker, D.D.)
Reform must lead to regeneration
To utterly destroy an idol first, even were it possible, would not be lasting. What must come first in the order of time? Religious enthusiasm, religious conviction; deep, intense spiritual fellowship with God; a look into heaven; vital sympathy with the Cross; a purification of hand and life and tongue, and body, soul, and spirit, by the Passover rightly eaten; and then what giants will go forth with axes of lightning to smite pillar and asherah and idol and every vain thing. Men cannot strike finally if they sot only as reformers. Reform is an active word, and is to be regarded with great favour, and is the only word that is permissible under some circumstance; but the greater word is regeneration. Reform that does not point to regeneration is a waxen flower that will melt when the sun is well up in the heavens. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Reform
Thereare three effects which ought always to follow our solemn assembly on the Lord’s day. We should go home and--
I. Break in pieces all our images.
1. Self-righteousness.
2. Bacchus.
3. Lust.
4. Business; false measures and false weights.
5. Pride.
II. Cut down the groves. Groves are the places where the images have been set up. There was nothing mark you, positively sinful in the grove; but they have been used for sinful purposes, and therefore down they must come. We would specify--
1. The theatre.
2. The tavern.
3. So-called recreation, dancing, etc.
4. Evil books. Light literature, the moral of which is anything but that of piety and goodness.
III. Throw down the high places and altars, etc. God had said that He would have but one altar, namely, at Jerusalem. There should be a casting down of everything in connection with the true worship that is not according to the law of God and the word of God. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, unto their own cities.--
Home missionary zeal
In evangelising our own countrymen we must proceed--
I. In the employment of those means which are congenial with the spirit of the dispensation under which we live. The men of Israel were fully justified in doing as described in the text. They lived under a Theocracy, and idolatry was high treason. We live under a different dispensation. “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal.” To destroy the idolatry which still reigns in our land we must go forth and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hezekiah’s proclamation of the Passover and its consequences as described in the preceding chapter suggests how this has to be done.
1. Distinctly (verse 1).
2. Boldly. In spite of ridicule (verse 10).
3. Affectionately (verse 6-9).
4. Prayerfully (verse 18).
II. By ourselves living consistently with the profession we make, and the great cause we have espoused. Our lives must be characterised--
1. By sincerity and uprightness (2Ch_31:20-21).
2. By joy and praise (2Ch_30:21).
3. By self-denial and sacrifice (2Ch_30:24).
III. With a determination to take no rest till the object we have in view is fully accomplished. “Until they had utterly destroyed them all.” (H. Townley.)
