Repairer of the Temple: Josiah

Josiah spent several years cleansing the land and the house of the Lord (2 Chron. 34 3-8). After cleansing the house, Josiah set about to repair and restore it (2 Chron. 34:8,10). During the restoration process, a copy of the book of the law was discovered in the temple (2Kings 22:8). Its contents were shared with Josiah. He responded with an even greater purge of the temple. The uncleanness of which he purged the temple is listed as follows (2 Kings 23):

4 ¶ Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and the priests of the second order and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel.

5 He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the host of heaven.

6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the LORD outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and ground it to dust, and threw its dust on the graves of the common people.

7 He also broke down the houses of the male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the LORD, where the women were weaving hangings for the Asherah.

11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entrance of the house of the LORD, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire.

12 The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the LORD, the king broke down; and he smashed them there and threw their dust into the brook Kidron.

The purging of the land and the house of the Lord was followed by a Passover celebration:

21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, "Celebrate the Passover to the LORD your God as it is written in this book of the covenant (2 Kings 23).