The evil king that repented
2
Kings 21 and
2 Chronicles 33
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, he committed all the abominations of the heathen people that the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
He
rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished, he erected altars
to Balaam and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them like his
grandfather Ahab did when he was king of Israel. He built altars in the house
of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will
remain in Jerusalem forever.” In He also built alters
to all the host of heaven in the courts of the Lord’s house.
He
made his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. He practiced
divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and dealt with familiar spirits and
wizards. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, and provoked Him
to anger.
He
carved an idol and put it in the house of God, of which God had said to
David and to his son Solomon, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have
chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.” Manasseh
shed so much innocent blood that it filled Jerusalem from one end to the other.
The Lord spoke
to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention and would not listen.
Manasseh seduced the people to do even more evil than the nations that the Lord
had destroyed before the children of Israel. The Lord spoke by His servants the
prophets, saying, “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done all these
abominations, and has been more wicked than all the Amorites, which were before
him, and has made Judah to sin with idols, I will bring such evil upon
Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever hears of it, his ears will tingle.”
So
the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of
Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound
him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
There
in prison in his distress Manasseh sought the Lord his God and humbled himself
greatly before the God of his fathers. And when
he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his prayers and listened to
his plea, so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh
knew without a doubt that the Lord He is God.
Afterward
he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David and made it much higher and
stronger. He stationed captains of war in all the fortified cities of Judah.
He
took away all the strange gods, removed the idols and altars from the
house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them out of the city. He
then restored the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank
offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. The
people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to
the Lord their God.
When
Manasseh died he was buried in the garden of his own palace, in the garden
of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king. Amon did evil in the sight of
the Lord, and did all that his father had done before him, but he did not
humble himself before the Lord as Manasseh had, and it came to pass that he
sinned more and more. So much so that his servants conspired against him and
killed him in his own house. The people made Josiah his son king in his place.
Josiah did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in the ways
of David.
What
would you think if you heard that the notoriously immoral rock singer Madonna
had been converted to Christ? Or Shirley MacLaine had abandoned her new age
spiritualism and had embraced Christ? Or someone such as Hitler? Would you say
that such a person is beyond the hope of God’s grace? I have to admit that kind
of conversion is not commonplace. But the story of King Manasseh shows that
what is impossible with man is possible with God. We see a man who turned to
God, not just for show, but from his heart.
If
you are living in deep sin and have committed acts that you or others think unforgivable. Please know that there is hope. We
learn from this story, that from God’s point of view, no matter how wicked a
person may be, he can seek forgiveness and find God’s mercy and grace.
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