2 Kings 12:3

Were not taken away. This situation had continued during the reigns of Asa (1 Kings 15:14) and Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:43), and certainly during the reigns of their successors Jehoram, Ahaziah, and Athaliah. The same situation continued during the reigns of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:4), Azariah (2 Kings 15:4), Jotham (2 Kings 15:35), and Ahaz (2 Kings 16:4). It was not till the time of Hezekiah that the high places were finally abolished (2 Kings 18:4). But after his death they were again restored by Manasseh (2 Kings 21:3). Thus in spite of the reigns of so many good kings in Judah, worship at the high places seems to have continued practically throughout the history of the southern kingdom. These high places were not necessarily idolatrous shrines. Before the building of the Temple by Solomon it was customary for the people to sacrifice in such high places (1 Kings 3:2). When Josiah destroyed the high places the priests who had formerly ministered there were not permitted to come up “to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren” (2 Kings 23:9). At the time of Manasseh “the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only” (2 Chronicles 33:17). Many of these high places, however, must have been centers of corrupt and idolatrous worship (see Leviticus 26:30; Numbers 22:41; 33:52; 1 Kings 13:33; 2 Kings 17:29; 2 Chronicles 14:3; 34:3, 4).