Tearing Down Temples II Kings 11:18

18And all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal, and tore it down. They thoroughly broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.



Strange things happen in our world. It seems that Athaliah, the queen-mother, who, when she heard that her son Ahaziah was slain by Jehu, arose and destroyed all the heirs to the throne. Her husband Jehoram had slain all his brethren the sons of Jehoshaphat, 2 Chr. 21:4. The Arabians had slain all Jehoram's sons except Ahaziah, 2 Chr. 22:1. Jehu had slain all their sons (2 Chr. 22:8) and Ahaziah himself.

God had promised David that his family would remain on the throne in Israel. Here we read that the royal family had almost been completely eliminated. However, because God always keeps His promises, a son is saved! An infant son of Athaliah was hid by her own sister so that an heir to the throne would be preserved!

6 years later, the son was revealed and Athaliah was killed and the people rejoiced that a son of David was back on the throne and a time of cleansing took place in the land.

18And all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal, and tore it down. They thoroughly broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.

It is so easy to let things get out of control in our lives and in our families and in our country and even in our churches. Little by little we allow compromises and we allow people to do things that we know are wrong but we do very little to put a stop to them.

The people in this time frame took on new leadership and they cleansed the land of the sinful influences that Athaliah set up in the worship of Baal. The people knew that God's hand had been in the preservation of this son of the lineage of David and they rejoiced in his salvation and they destroyed the temple to this foreign god in their land.

You and I need to make sure that we do not have any "foreign gods" in our lives as well. We need to make sure that we tear down anything that exists in our lives that stands between us and the God who loves us so much. We need to make sure that nothing stands between God and us. We need to make sure that we are His and He is ours. We need what God wants to do for us. He wants to be our God every moment of every day and sometimes that requires that we tear down temples through persistent prayer that we have let build up and come before Him in our lives.