16:4 And he sacrificed. Again and again it had been recorded that even the “good kings” of Judah—perhaps in the cause of “religious freedom”—had not removed the centers of idolatry, the high places and the pagan altars, from the land. This was true of Asa (I King 15:14), Jehoshaphat (I Kings 22:43), Joash (II Kings 12:3), Amaziah (II Kings 14:4), Uzziah (II Kings 15:4), and Jotham (II Kings 15:35). This long period of compromise with the pagan gods of Israel’s neighbors eventually culminated in the utter paganism of Ahaz.