#77.# Once more, under #Joash#, Judah enjoyed a sovereign who had in him much of godliness. He repaired the temple and did much to restore the true worship of God. #78.# After a period of varying vicissitudes we find Ahaz on the throne of Judah. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and caused his son to pass through the fire, i. e., he sacrificed him to heathen idols. He introduced calf worship, and set up "high places," for false worship on every hill and under every green tree (2 Kings 16:1-4). Had it not been that his son Hezekiah was more godly than he, the doom of Judah might have been much hastened. During his reign Israel was carried captive. #79.# Under #Hezekiah#, however, we see great reforms going on. He removed the high places, cut down the groves, and even brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made, for to it the people had been offering incense (2 Kings 18:1-8). He was the best of all the kings of Judah, and had his successors followed in his footsteps, there need have been no captivity of Judah to record. In his reign it was that God gave Judah signal deliverance from the hosts of Sennacherib. #80.# Alas! that so godly a king should have been followed by so worthless a man as his son #Manasseh#. He was perhaps the very worst of all the kings of Judah. Now we see the high places rebuilt, and idolatrous altars to Baal established. But more than this. He went farther than any before him, in that he took the Ark of the Covenant out of the Most Holy Place, and put there a graven image. So the record says that Manasseh did more to seduce the people to sin than all the nations whom the Lord removed to make place for his people. Truly a dreadful record for one who sat on the throne of David. #81.# Once more the people have respite, however, for #Josiah#, Manasseh's grandson, was a very different type. He was only eight years old when he began to reign, but he tried to do that which was right in the sight of God. The deserted temple was repaired, the law was discovered and studied, the Covenant was publicly renewed, the idol in the Most Holy Place was taken away, and burned with fire, and the high places were largely destroyed. Moreover, he broke down the altar at Bethel that Jeroboam had originally erected. He re-established the celebration of the feast of the Passover, which had long been neglected. His efforts at reform were extended even to the dominions of the Northern Kingdom, though with no permanent effect (see for all this 2 Chron. 34, 35, and 2 Kings 22:1 to 23:28). #82.# From the time of the death of Josiah, the downward tendency of Judah was steadfast. At last the end, long delayed through the mercy of God, came, and under Jehoiachin the overthrow was complete, and under his son Jehoiakim Judah was marched off in captivity to the land of Babylon. Thus sadly was fulfilled all that God had warned his people of, and the day of retribution came just as predicted.