Prelude to World War 3
Manasseh Tried to Destroy Judaism
2 Kings 21:4-6 He (Manasseh) also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.
Manasseh was so wicked that he converted the temple of God into the worship of idols.
Even the idolatrous Priesthood destroyed all the books of the Law, so that no Jew could keep the Law.
Thank God that before the annihilation of Judah where the Israelites would be condemned to Hades for their idolatry and wickedness, God sent King Josiah to get their repentance.
2 Kings 21:10-13 And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah... I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
Righteous King Josiah
2 Chr 34:1, 3-6 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem...For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images... and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them... He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.
When Josiah was 16 years old, he sought God. Without the book of the Law, God sent prophets (including Jeremiah) to guide him to remove all the altars of the idols. At the age of 26 having purged the land of idolatry, he commenced to repair the temple.
The prophets must have led him to burn the bones of the abominable priests on their idolatrous altars possibly for preventing the Jews from keeping His words by destroying all books of the Law.
Note Do not replace God's word (bible) with your denominational doctrines.
After purging the land and temple, he set out to repair the temple of God.
Book of the Law Found
2 Chr 34:15, 18-19 Then Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan... Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king. Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.
After he heard the Law for the first time, as repentance Josiah tore his clothes for his ancestors had broken the Law. After cleansing the temple, he restored the Ark, but God rejected the defiled temple, which was razed to the ground by the Babylonians.
Since the Priesthood had destroyed all the books of the Law, all those flaws and erred books were destroyed along with all the copies of the Law.
Thank God for His wisdom in preserving His pure words (book of the Law) for the scribes to make copies. The Priesthood once again were able to minister to the Lord in the temple of God according to His words, and the Levites could teach the people His Law.
So when the Israelites were taken into captivity by the Babylonians, each of the Priesthood and scribes had a perfect copy of the Law for himself.
2 Chr 35:3 Then he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the Lord: “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built. It shall no longer be a burden on your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God and His people Israel.