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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
He took the image he had made and put it in God’s temple, of
which God had said to David and to his son Solomon, “In this temple and in
Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my
Name forever. I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I
assigned to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I
commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and regulations given through
Moses.” But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they
did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.
The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no
attention. 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. In his distress, he sought the favor
of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his
ancestors. And when he prayed to Him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and
listened to his plea; so He brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west
of the Gihon spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and
encircling the hill of Ophel; he also made it much higher. He stationed
military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.
He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the
temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill
and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. Then he restored the altar
of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and
told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. The people, however, continued
to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.
The other events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to
his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God
of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel. His prayer and how
God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and
the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before
he humbled himself—all these are written in the records of the seers. Manasseh
rested with his ancestors and was buried in his palace. And Amon his son
succeeded him as king.
2 Chronicles 33:1-20
This ends this reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
We often either read or hear about
people who have done some very evil things, acts that are terrible and beyond
our comprehension. It’s hard to understand how people can be so wicked and
malevolent, and our normal reaction to people who have committed heinous crimes
is to see them as people who don’t deserve life like those who have chosen to
be law abiding citizens. We place them in a category of people who don’t
deserve any forgiveness or offered hope but rather condemnation, incarceration,
and even death. We love being the judge and jury, even though we have no place
doing so.
Thank goodness we serve a God who is
not like we are, a God who sees hope in everyone, even those who have done
things that have been atrocious or appalling.
We see one example as we look at the
story of the Bible’s greatest apostle, the apostle Paul. A look at the New
Testament will reveal that the majority of its 26 books were penned by Paul as
he wrote letters encouraging and instructing others regarding the Gospel and
salvation through Jesus Christ. And as we read about all of Paul’s efforts to
save people, we can have a tendency to forget that he once was killing or
endorsing and presiding over those who killed others.
Revisit the latter part of Acts,
Chapter 7 and you’ll find one of the seven disciples chosen to assist the
Twelve (Jesus’ original disciples) being stoned to death. Stephen, described as
a man full of God’s grace and power, was doing great wonders and miraculous
signs among the people but met opposition from the Synagogue of the Freedmen, a
group of Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They tried to argue
against Stephen but when they could not stand up against his wisdom and Spirit,
they conspired against Stephen, secretly encouraging some men to confess that
they heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and God. This led to
angering the people who seized Stephen and hauled him before the Sanhedrin.
Given a chance to explain himself, Stephen proceeded to first show the
Sanhedrin that he was very well versed in Old Testament history and then
chastise them for resisting the Holy Spirit, persecuting God’s prophets, and betraying
and murdering Jesus. Angered and furious, they took Stephen out of the city and
stoned him in the presence of none other than Saul (later to be Paul) who we
learn gave approval for his death.
Chapter 8 opens with Saul beginning to
destroy the church. Scripture tells us he went from house to house, dragging
Christian men and women off to prison. Looking to expand his persecution, he
went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogue in Damascus
so that if he found Christians there, he
could bring them back to Jerusalem and place them in prison (Acts 9:1-2).
As Saul was nearing Damascus,
scripture tells us he encountered a light from heaven that flashed around him.
As he fell to the ground, the voice of Jesus called from heaven asking:
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (9:4b)
Saul inquired as to whom was speaking
to him and Jesus said:
“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Now get up and go into the
city and you will be told what you must do.” (9:6)
When Saul stood up and opened his
eyes, he could see nothing. The men traveling with him had to help him into the
city where he remained blind for three days. During that time, he had a vision
of a man named Ananias who was coming to place his hands on him and restore his
sight. At the same time, Ananias was receiving guidance from the Lord to do
just that and so he paid Saul a visit, placed his hands on him, and said the
following:
“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road
as you were coming here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled
with the Holy Spirit.” (9:17)
Immediately, something like scales
fell from the eyes of Saul and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,
becoming a new person, one who would save instead of persecute, one who would
need a new name now, becoming Paul.
A man who sanctioned murdering
Christians now became Jesus’ primary emissary of making them as Jesus showed us
that there is hope for everyone.
Rewind now into the Old Testament and
take a look at another example like Saul, the story of King Manasseh.
As we look at our passage for today, we learn that Manasseh was twelve
years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years,
although as you read about his early actions, you probably wonder how he lasted
that long. This is because Manasseh did much evil in the eyes of the Lord,
leading Judah and Jerusalem astray so that they did more evil than the nations
the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. Manasseh’s actions included:
1. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished.
2. He erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles.
3. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
4. He built altars in the temple of the Lord. In both courts of
the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts.
5. He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben
Hinnom.
6. He practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and
consulted mediums and spiritists.
It was little wonder that the Lord’s anger was aroused.
Scripture tells us that He tried to speak to Manasseh and his people but they
paid no attention so He had to get their attention in another way. This came in
the way of the army commanders of the king of Assyria who attacked, took
Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and
took him to Babylon.
Now, our normal response to this would be that Manasseh got what
was coming to him. He had chosen to disrespect and violate God in the worst
ways possible. There was little doubt that God hated sin and definitely hated
when anything was worshiped above Him. And so when Manasseh and his people had
decided to bow down to false gods, even in the temple of the Lord, one expected
that God’s wrath and judgment would follow.
Yes, we would easily expect that Manasseh would fall under God’s
anger and consequences. What we wouldn’t as easily expect is that Manasseh
would be pardoned and brought back into power and authority. But as we see,
that’s exactly what happened.
For as we return back to our passage, we read where Manasseh
sought the favor of the Lord in his distress, humbling himself greatly before Him.
And when he prayed to Him, the Lord was moved by his repentant heart and listened
to his plea, showing amazing mercy and grace and forgiveness as He brought
Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
This action, Manasseh experiencing the compassion and clemency
of God first hand, resulted in Him knowing that the Lord is God, something that
changed him forever just as Paul was after his experience in Damascus. And just
as Paul went from that point on to selflessly sacrifice for the cause of Jesus
Christ, Manasseh adopted the same attitude toward the God who absolved him.
Look the following actions and how they reflected that Manasseh
was a changed man:
1. He rebuilt and heightened the outer wall of the City of David
as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and encircling the hill of Ophel.
2. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities
in Judah.
3. He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the
temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill
and in Jerusalem and he threw them out of the city.
4. He restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship
offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God
of Israel.
Yes, Manasseh was a changed man,
totally dedicated to the Lord’s service as he showed us just another example
where there is hope for everyone. In the end translation, we can never
underestimate what God can do in winning over the heart and mind of anyone,
turning them from sin toward righteousness, holiness, and selfless, dedicated
service to the Lord who saves us and leads us toward His marvelous purposes.
Amen
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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