CHAPTER 33

(698 B.C.)

MANASSEH REIGNS OVER JUDAH

¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem (Manasseh was one of the most wicked of all the 42 kings of Israel and Judah, yet he reigned longer than any other 55 years; quite possibly the Lord allowed Manasseh to reign so long because He saw that this hard-riding monarch would repent; everything that God does is an act of Mercy; even His Judgment is redemptive, if only the individual or the nation will allow it to be so):

²But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the Children of Israel (not too many years from then, Judah would be cast out as well!).

³For he built again the high places (idol-worship) which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves (the worship of the Asherah), and worshipped all the host of heaven (the planetary bodies), and served them.

⁴Also he built altars in the House of the LORD (placed heathen altars in the very Temple itself), whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusa lem shall My Name be forever (Deut. 12:11; I Ki. 9:3; II Chron. 6:6).

⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the House of the LORD (heathen altars built in the court of Israel, which was the closest to the Temple, and the court of women, which was immediately behind the court of Israel).

⁶And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom (human sacrifice): also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.

⁷And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made (the Asherah, a statue of the male member), in the House of God (some believe he put it in the very Holy of Holies), of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this House, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the Tribes of Israel, will I put My Name for ever:

⁸Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole Law and the Statutes and the Ordinances by the hand of Moses (for all the Blessings that the Lord had given Israel, all that He demanded of them was that they make every effort to keep the Law).

⁹So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the Children of Israel (in fact, sin by a Believer is always worse than that by the unredeemed, and for the obvious reasons).

¹⁰And the LORD spoke to Manasseh, and to His people: but they would not hearken (sadly, this is the story of untold millions; the Lord speaks in varied ways, but they will not hear, which refers to a willful rejection).

MANASSEHS BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY AND RESTORATION

¹¹Wherefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon (this was an act of Mercy on the part of God, as He attempted to bring Manasseh to his senses; it accomplished its purpose).

¹²And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers (this is evidently why the Lord allowed Manasseh to rule as long as he did; as well, and as stated, it was the reason the Lord allowed him to be taken captive to Babylon; it had the desired effect upon the monarch; time and time again, the Lord chastises His children in attempting to bring them to a place of Repentance),

¹³And prayed unto Him: and He was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD He was God (there could be no more beautiful illustration of the Mercy and Grace of God than that which was extended to Manasseh; the great lesson learned here is that if the Lord would do that for this king, who had wrought more evil in Judah than any other king before him, He will do it for anyone else; there are only two requirements: to humble oneself, and to pray unto God).

¹⁴Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.

REVIVAL UNDER MANASSEH

¹⁵And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the House of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the House of the LORD, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city.

¹⁶And he repaired the Altar of the LORD (the great Brazen Altar, on which the Sacrifices were offered), and sacrificed thereon Peace Offerings (the Peace Offerings were generally offered after the Sin and Trespass Offerings, signifying that Peace with God had now been restored; this tells us that the Peace of God had now come to Manasseh) and Thank Offerings (to be sure, this king had much to be thankful for, hence the Thank Offerings and the emphasis on this by the Holy Spirit), and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

¹⁷Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only (the offering of Sacrifices to the Lord in the high places was contrary to the Word of God; there was to be one national worship in the one Temple, and the Offerings and Sacrifices on the one national Altar, which signified one Calvary).

¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the Seers who spoke to him in the Name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.

¹⁹His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the Seers.

THE DEATH OF MANASSEH

²⁰So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead (unlike some of the other kings, Manasseh began his reign as a wicked king, but ended it as a good one).

THE REIGN OF AMON OVER JUDAH

²¹Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.

²²But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;

²³And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself (proclaims the fact that the Lord evidently chastised Amon, trying to get him to repent, but to no avail); but Amon trespassed more and more (actually, few humble themselves as Manasseh, with most hardening themselves as did Amon, and that despite the appeal of the Lord).

THE DEATH OF AMON

²⁴And his servants conspired against him, and killed him in his own house.

²⁵But the people of the land killed all them who had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.