Even the action of the Danites in setting up an idolatrous image at Laish could reasonably fit Joshua’s time. (Jg 18:30, 31) In his concluding exhortation, Joshua told the Israelites: “Remove the gods that your forefathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt, and serve Jehovah.” (Jos 24:14) Had idolatry not existed, this statement would have had little meaning.

During his 12th year as king, Josiah began a campaign against idolatry that apparently extended into the 18th year of his reign. Altars used for false worship were torn down and desecrated by burning human bones upon them. Also, sacred poles, graven images, and molten statues were destroyed. Josiah even extended his efforts as far as the northern part of what had once been territory of the ten-tribe kingdom but had been desolated because of the Assyrian conquest and subsequent exile. (2Ch 34:3-8) Evidently Zephaniah’s and Jeremiah’s denunciations of idolatry had a good effect.​—Jer 1:1, 2; 3:6-10; Zep 1:1-6.

Subsequently Josiah assembled all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, including the older men, the priests, and the prophets, and read God’s Law to them. After this, they concluded a covenant of faithfulness before Jehovah. Then followed a second and evidently a more intensive campaign against idolatry. The foreign-god priests of Judah and Jerusalem were put out of business, and Levite priests who had become involved in improper worship at high places were deprived of the privilege of serving at Jehovah’s altar. The high places built centuries earlier during Solomon’s reign were made completely unfit for worship. In fulfillment of a prophecy uttered about 300 years previously by an unnamed man of God, Josiah pulled down the altar built by Israel’s King Jeroboam at Bethel. The high places were removed not only at Bethel but also in the other cities of Samaria, and the idolatrous priests were sacrificed on the altars where they had officiated.​—1Ki 13:1, 2; 2Ki 23:1-20; 2Ch 34:29-33.