During the late seventh century BC, King Josiah of Judah enacted a profound spiritual reformation across the Southern Kingdom, culminating in the thorough removal of mediums, spiritists, household gods, idols, and all abominations from Jerusalem and the surrounding land. Recorded principally in 2 Kings 23:24, this radical purge was driven by Josiah's unyielding commitment to confirm and perform the words of the covenant written in the newly rediscovered Book of the Law. By targeting occult practices and domestic idolatry alongside public pagan altars, Josiah sought to eliminate the pervasive, private syncretism that had corrupted Judah's spiritual life for generations, setting an enduring biblical benchmark for total obedience to Yahweh.

Introduction

The account of King Josiah removing mediums and household gods represents one of the most rigorous campaigns against idolatry and necromancy in sacred Scripture. Josiah ascended the throne of Judah at the young age of eight, following the assassinated reign of his father Amon and the long, idolatrous rule of his grandfather Manasseh. Manasseh's half-century of rule had deeply ingrained pagan customs, astrologies, state-sponsored idolatry, and forbidden occult practices into the daily fabric of Judean society. Although Manasseh repented towards the end of his life, the structural and domestic systems of false worship remained firmly entrenching the populace.

In the eighteenth year of his reign, while initiating repairs on the Temple of Jerusalem, the High Priest Hilkiah discovered the Book of the Law—likely a scroll containing Deuteronomy or the whole Pentateuch. When the contents were read to Josiah, the young king tore his clothes in grief, recognising how far Judah had departed from God's holy standards and the severe covenantal curses incurred by their disobedience. Prompted by the prophetic warning of Huldah the prophetess, Josiah instituted an unprecedented spiritual cleansing. While his initial reforms addressed public high places, Asherah poles, and the altar at Bethel, 2 Kings 23:24 highlights a vital second dimension of his effort: the systemic eradication of covert, private, and household practices, including consulting the dead and venerating ancestral idols.

Historical and Cultural Context

To understand the necessity of Josiah's purge, one must grasp the religious environment of ancient Judah during the seventh century BC. Judah operated as a vassal state under the Neo-Assyrian Empire for much of the century. Assyrian domination brought not only political subjection but also pervasive cultural and religious influence, including the worship of the host of heaven, astral divination, and foreign cultic practices.

Concurrently, traditional Canaanite practices remained deeply rooted in popular religion. While official Yahwism was maintained at the Jerusalem Temple, many Israelites engaged in syncretism—combining the worship of Yahweh with the veneration of local deities, ancestral spirits, and domestic fertility symbols. The home had become a primary site of unfaithful worship. Families retained small figurines, used divination, and consulted spiritists to secure agricultural prosperity, physical health, and guidance regarding the future. Josiah recognised that true covenant fidelity could not exist merely by cleansing public temples; it required invading the private sphere and stripping away the hidden idols that bound the hearts of the people.

Defining the Occult Terms and Household Gods

The text of 2 Kings 23:24 specifically enumerates several distinct elements abolished by Josiah, each reflecting a specific aspect of prohibited ancient Near Eastern religion:

  • Mediums (Hebrew: ’Ovoth): Refers to individuals who claimed the ability to contact or raise the spirits of the deceased. The term is associated with ritual pits or ritual skins through which spirits were believed to speak, offering forbidden counsel to the living.
  • Spiritists or Familiar Spirits (Hebrew: Yid’onim): Practitioners who claimed secret knowledge through spirit guides or divine communication outside of divine revelation. The term derives from the Hebrew root for "knowledge" (yada), highlighting their claim to hidden, supernatural insight.
  • Household Gods (Hebrew: Teraphim): Small to medium-sized carved idols kept within the home. In ancient Near Eastern culture, teraphim were associated with domestic protection, ancestral veneration, and inheritance rights. They were often consulted for private divination and guidance.
  • Idols (Hebrew: Gillulim): A derogatory biblical term for idols, likely derived from words meaning "dung balls" or "fetid things", emphasizing the ultimate worthlessness and defilement of manufactured gods.
  • Abominations (Hebrew: Shiqqutsim): Disgusting or detestable religious objects, shrines, and symbols that provoked God's holy indignation.

The Execution and Extent of Josiah's Purge

The phrase "Josiah put away" (or "drove out") indicates a thorough, legal, and spiritual enforcement across his jurisdiction. Unlike royal predecessors who occasionally destroyed prominent pagan altars while leaving high places intact, Josiah pursued an exhaustive cleansing. He understood that as king, he was covenantally responsible to uphold the Torah as the supreme law of the land.

"Moreover Josiah put away those who had familiar spirits, the wizards, the teraphim, the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in Yahweh’s house." — 2 Kings 23:24

This purge required active inspection and moral authority. Royal officials and priests searched not only public squares and high places, but also rural villages and private residences. By making the possession and consultation of teraphim and spiritists illegal and enforcing their destruction, Josiah dismantled the domestic infrastructure of idolatry. His actions directly aligned Judah with the stern commands laid down in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, which explicitly prohibited necromancy and magic under penalty of divine rejection and capital punishment.

Important Biblical Passages

  • 2 Kings 23:24–25: The central narrative recording Josiah's removal of mediums, spiritists, teraphim, and idols to perform the words of the law, concluding with the famous commendation that no king before or after turned to Yahweh with all his heart like him.
  • Leviticus 19:31: The foundational Mosaic prohibition commanding Israel not to turn to mediums or spiritists, nor to seek them out to be defiled by them.
  • Leviticus 20:6, 27: Establishes severe divine penalties for consulting occult practitioners, declaring that anyone who acts as a medium or spiritist must be put to death.
  • Deuteronomy 18:10–12: Categorically forbids child sacrifice, divination, sorcery, incantations, mediumship, and necromancy, defining these practices as abominations that caused the expulsion of the Canaanites.
  • 1 Samuel 28:7–20: Describes King Saul's desperate, sinful consultation of the medium at Endor, illustrating the spiritual decay and destruction associated with seeking guidance outside of God's Word.
  • 2 Kings 21:6: Details King Manasseh's embrace of mediumship and spiritism, which provoked God to anger and set Judah on the path toward Babylonian exile.

Theological Significance

  • The Holiness and Exclusivity of Yahweh: God demands exclusive loyalty and worship. Seeking spiritual insight, protection, or power through occult spirits or idols directly dishonours God's supreme authority.
  • The Sufficiency of Divine Revelation: Josiah's purge was triggered by the written Word of God. Mediumship and divination represent human attempts to bypass God's revealed truth in search of secret knowledge. Faithfulness requires reliance solely on Scripture and God's true prophets.
  • Total Purification (Public and Private): True repentance cannot remain confined to public assembly or formal ritual; it must penetrate the home and private life. Destroying teraphim meant relinquishing domestic false security.
  • The Reality of Covenant Accountability: Josiah recognised that secret sins bring national judgment. Spiritual leaders are called to remove detestable things from their spheres of authority to protect the community from spiritual death.
  • The Limitations of Human Reform: Despite Josiah's righteous efforts, 2 Kings 23:26 notes that Yahweh did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath against Judah because of Manasseh's deep corruption. Josiah's external purge, while genuinely righteous, could not permanently change the rebellious hearts of the broader population, pointing toward the ultimate need for the New Covenant written on human hearts.

Legacy and Continuing Significance

Josiah's decisive removal of mediums and household gods left an indelible imprint on biblical history and post-exilic Jewish thought. In Jewish tradition, Josiah is remembered as the ideal Davidic king who sought God with undivided devotion. His reforms firmly established the canonical authority of the written Torah as the decisive standard for Israelite worship and practice, displacing oral superstitions and ancient magical customs.

In the New Testament and early Christian thought, Josiah’s action is viewed as a model of zeal for God's house and uncompromising repentance. When early believers in Ephesus accepted the Gospel (Acts 19:18–19), they similarly brought their magical scrolls and burned them publicly, echoing Josiah’s historic purge. Across church history, Josiah's life has served as a primary Biblical precedent for spiritual reformation, reminding God's people to cast down modern cultural idols and secret spiritual compromises.

Lessons and Practical Insights

  • Align Practice with Scripture: Josiah's reform demonstrates that true revival begins when believers measure their actual practices against the written Word of God and actively adjust their lives accordingly.
  • Eradicate Private and Household Idols: It is easy to maintain an outward appearance of faith while harboring secret compromises, superstitions, or ungodly objects in the home. Faithfulness requires cleansing our personal lives and living spaces of anything that dishonours God.
  • Reject All Forms of the Occult: Modern engagements with divination, horoscopes, astrology, mediumship, and spiritualism are abominations before God. Believers must seek guidance and comfort through prayer, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible alone.
  • Lead with Uncompromising Courage: As a leader, Josiah acted decisively despite the deep entrenchment of occult practices in his culture. God honours leaders who stand firmly for truth even when confronting widespread cultural norms.
  • Recognise the Necessity of Wholistic Faith: Spiritual reformation must address both public worship and personal lifestyle. External religiosity without domestic holiness remains incomplete in God's eyes.