(Uzziah) and Jotham. (2 Ki. 14:1-4; 15:1-4, 32-35) The next Judean king, Ahaz, not only sacrificed and made sacrificial smoke on the high places, but even made his own son pass through the fire. (2 Ki. 16:2-4) He also made additional “high places for making sacrificial smoke to other gods.”—2 Chron. 28:25.

During the days of King Hezekiah another extensive purge was undertaken to remove the high places. (2 Ki. 18:1-4, 22; 2 Chron. 32:12) After the great Passover celebration held during his reign, the Israelites went throughout the cities of Judah and Benjamin and even in Ephraim and Manasseh breaking up the sacred pillars, cutting down the sacred poles and pulling down the high places and the altars.—2 Chron. 30:21, 23; 31:1.

This restoration of true worship was short-lived. Hezekiah’s son Manasseh rebuilt the very high places that his father had destroyed. (2 Ki. 21:1-3; 2 Chron. 33:1-3) Manasseh caused the people to act even more wickedly than the pagan Canaanites whom Jehovah had annihilated. Hence, the Almighty determined to bring calamity upon Judah and Jerusalem, (2 Ki. 21:9-12) After being taken captive by the king of Assyria and brought to Babylon, Manasseh repented and, after returning to Jerusalem, took steps to remove the appendages of false worship. But the people continued offering sacrifices upon the unauthorized high places, not to false gods, however, but to Jehovah. (2 Chron. 33:10-17) Manasseh’s successor, his son Amon, did not continue the reforms started by his father, but made guiltiness increase.—2 Chron. 33:21-24.

Josiah, who succeeded Amon, distinguished himself by doing what was right in Jehovah’s eyes and adhering to the law of Moses. The foreign-god priests, who rendered up sacrificial smoke on the high places, he put out of business. He pulled down the high places, not only throughout Judah, but also in the cities of Samaria. The sites used for false worship were desecrated so that they could not be used to offend Jehovah.—2 Ki. 23:4-20; 2 Chron. 34:1-7.

The account of Josiah’s making the high places that had been built by Solomon unfit for worship tends to confirm the conclusion that, although previous kings had torn down the high places, there was a revival of these. It seems only logical that faithful Kings Asa and Jehoshaphat tore down these high places of false worship dating from the reign of Solomon.

Although no further mention is made of high places in the Kings and Chronicles accounts after Josiah’s thorough purge of all vestiges of false worship, the last four kings of Judah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and Zedekiah, are reported as doing what was bad in Jehovahs eyes. (2 Ki. 23:31, 32, 36, 37; 24:8, 9, 18, 19) Apostate worship at high places was resumed by the Israelites. Hence, Jehovah, through his prophet Ezekiel, warned the nation of the dire consequences to come upon them: “I am bringing upon you a sword, and I shall certainly destroy your high places. And your altars must be made desolate and your incense stands must be broken, and I will cause your slain ones to fall before your dungy idols.”—Ezek. 6:3, 4.

It is noteworthy that there is no record of any worship at high places after the return from Babylonian exile. As had been foretold, the faithful Jewish remnant had profited from the bitter experience and had come to know Jehovah.—Ezek. 6:9, 10.

HIGH PRIEST

[Heb., hak-ko·henʹ, hag-ga·dhohlʹ, “the great priest”; Gr., ar·khi·e·reusʹ, “a chief priest, the high priest”].

The Bible also uses various terms to designate the high priest, namely, “the priest, the anointed one” (Lev. 4:3; “the head” (2 Chron. 24:6), or, simply, “the priest.” (2 Chron. 26:17) In the latter case the context often makes clear that the high priest is meant. In the Christian Greek Scriptures, “chief priests” is evidently used to denote the principal men of the priesthood, which might include any ex-high priests who had been deposed and possibly, in addition, the heads of the twenty-four priestly divisions.—Matt. 2:4; Mark 8:31.

In harmony with the rule, “A man takes this honor, not of his own accord, but only when he is called by God,” the appointment of Aaron, Israel’s first high priest, was from God. (Heb. 5:4) The high priesthood of Israel was inaugurated in Aaron and passed down from father to oldest son, unless that son died or was disqualified, as in the case of Aaron’s two oldest sons, who sinned against Jehovah and died. (Lev. 10:1, 2) King Solomon deposed a high priest in fulfillment of divine prophecy and put another qualified man of the line of Aaron in his place. (1 Ki. 2:26, 27, 35) Later on, when the nation was under Gentile rule, those Gentile rulers removed and appointed high priests according to their will. It seems, nonetheless, that the line of Aaron was quite well adhered to throughout the entire history of the nation down till Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 C.E., although there may have been exceptions, such as Menelaus, also called Onias (see Antiquities of the Jews, Book XII, chap. V, par. 1), whom 2 Maccabees 3:4, 5 and 4:23 calls a Benjamite.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS FOR OFFICE

In harmony with the dignity of the office, the high priest’s closeness to Jehovah in representing the nation before Him, and also because of the typical significance of the office, the requirements were rigid.

A list of disqualifying physical blemishes for all priests is set forth at Leviticus 21:16-23. Additional restrictions were placed on the high priest: He was to marry none other than a virgin of Israel; he was not to marry a widow. (Lev. 21:13-15) Furthermore, he was not allowed to defile himself for the dead, that is, to touch any human corpse, even that of his father or his mother, thereby becoming unclean. Neither was he to let his hair go ungroomed or tear his garments for the dead.—Lev. 21:10-12.

The Bible does not specifically state the age of eligibility for high priest. While it gives a retirement age of fifty years for Levites, it does not mention any retirement for priests, and its record indicates that the high priest’s was a lifetime appointment. (Num. 8:24, 25) Aaron was eighty-three years old when he went with Moses before Pharaoh. His anointing as high priest apparently took place in the following year. (Ex. 7:7) He was around 120 years of age at the time of his death. During all this time he served, with no retirement. (Num. 20:28; 33:39) The provision of the cities of refuge takes note of the lifetime tenure of the high priest, in requiring that the unintentional manslayer remain in the city until the death of the high priest.—Num. 35:25.

INSTALLATION

Some indication of the office Jehovah had in mind for Aaron is seen in privileges given him soon after the exodus from Egypt. In the wilderness on the way to Sinai, Aaron was the one commanded to take a jar of manna and to deposit it before the Testimony as something to be kept. This was before the tent of meeting or the ark of the covenant was yet in existence. (Ex. 16:33, 34) Later, Aaron came to be the one in full charge of the sacred tent and its Ark. Aaron and two of his sons, with seventy of the older men of Israel, were specifically named as privileged to approach Mount Horeb, where they saw a vision of God.—Ex. 24:1-11.

But Jehovah made his first actual statement of his purpose to separate Aaron and his sons for the priesthood when giving Moses instructions for making the priestly garments. (Ex. chap. 28) After these instructions were given, God outlined to Moses the procedure for installing the priesthood and then definitely