EVIL ACTIONS, DESECRATION -- "FORGIVENESS?" 2nd Kings 21 The Old Testament is not a record of God’s anger against His people because of their sins. Instead, it is an account of His mercy, grace, and longsuffering in delaying His righteous wrath against those who despise, reject, ignore, disobey, and rebel against Him.
Some things are hard for us to grasp or even imagine. How could a young man, the son of a righteous man who did right personally and taught what was right to those under his leadership, turn out to be as mean as a "junkyard dog" who was so perverted by false religion as actually to sacrifice his own son in the fire. Manasseh served with his father in leadership for ten years and would have been learning to serve and please God. But when his time came to lead the people, he totally and deliberately rejected all he had been taught.
A person can be born into favorable circumstances in a "Christian home," be taught the Bible truths from childhood, share in the practices of believing parents, seem like believers themselves, and turn away from it all quickly. The only reasonable explanation is their heart is not right before God. Because they were under parental authority, they did what was acceptable to others and expedient at the moment for them. Once they get on their own, who they really are is obvious. They may even claim to be "Christians," but "the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it.”
Manasseh's deliberate rejection of God, his desecration of the temple by putting idols there, the practice of divination, and occultism led to sickening acts. Perhaps he had heard of Ahab and all the evil things he did in Israel. His grandfather Ahaz may have stirred a dark fascination in his sinful heart for forbidden things.
The fifty-five years of Manasseh’s reign as king of Judah were the darkest period in the nation's history. The people became more sinful than the pagans in the nations around them. His “detestable practices” reversed all Hezekiah, his father, had done. He deliberately led the people of Judah away from God. The worship of “the host of heaven,” the sun, moon, and stars, was condemned by Isaiah and Amos, prophets of God.
One rebellious action against God led to others, and Manasseh turned to the desecration of the temple, the practice of the occult, and spiritism, which led to child sacrifice in which Manasseh burned his own son. Idolatry sprang up all over the nation as it was led into moral and spiritual darkness by their king. The result of his evil leadership led to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The same standard God used against Ahab and the northern kingdom would be applied in Judah and Jerusalem.
To be kept away from worldly activities by parents who love the Lord does not keep our children who are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit from wanting to try those things that had been prohibited. A life of faith in God who is not seen by natural eyes is not as exciting to an unbeliever as the immoral attractions of the world that appeal to the flesh and are promoted by the devil.
What is happening in the house of the Lord? What are they building in there? What are they doing? What are all those strange altars for? God doesn’t share anything with evil worship! To place altars to the host of heaven in a place that is set apart for God to dwell with His people is sacrilege of the worst kind! As God looks down to where He once dwelt with men, I wonder what He can find among us today anything that pleases Him. Are we building into the kingdom of God good solid stonework, or are we substituting things that look good but are not real?
If we compare ourselves with others, we think they should be more like us. But there is really no difference. We have "all sinned and come short of the glory of God." It is not because of our supposedly sterling qualities that He saved us. We were sinners just like everyone else. We can only live to please Him because Christ, "the hope of glory," is in us. It is because of the new nature He planted in us that has preserved us from doing the same things as other people. Besides this, we always have the Holy Spirit in us to avoid fulfilling the "lusts of the flesh."
For a self-centered man who is in a place of leadership to do the things Manasseh did, even to his own son, is so abhorrent to us that we are surprised God would allow him even to live. Then, we remember God is a God of mercy and grace. Manasseh went beyond just the practice of evil in himself, but the bitterness in his heart and the evil he did extend to others. He went to séances, consulted with soothsayers and wizards, and went farther into idolatry than the idol-worshipping people who inhabited the land generations earlier. Not only did the king do these things, but he also led others to the same practices. Evil overtook the nation in one generation. The Lord warned him through prophets, and he would not listen to them but killed them.
Isaiah warned that God was measuring their evil by His divine standards, and the king had failed in every way. There was no redeeming feature in him and those who followed his leadership. The measuring tools used in the building were used to show what was wrong and were symbolic of the destruction and judgment that was coming. When Manasseh "killed the prophets," despised the Lord, desecrated the temple, and led the people astray - "the cup of iniquity" was overflowing. The judgment that had been promised would inevitably come.
Innocent people, who were likely those who lived godly, were being killed because of their opposition to the evil that had come upon the nation under King Manasseh. It may have been that Isaiah was one of those who was killed during that time. Jewish tradition suggests that he may have been sawed in half in a hollow log.
What is happening in the house of the king? What is he teaching his son to do? Surely, he’s not going to the world’s fire to bring his son there, so he must pass through the fire?! In the homes of a leader, there will be indelibly impressed on the minds of his family – truth or lies depending on what he allows in his home! The children know well what their father possesses, what he thinks is important, where his commitments are, and where his morals and main interests reside.
God is the same today as He was when He wiped the city that turned from Him with divine retribution—like a dirty dish. With the plumb line of His justice, He dealt with them then in judgment and made their heritage no more than a vain, empty show that exposed their extreme wickedness. They were upside down and empty, without a thing to offer God or the next generations. Does a family or the house of God that turns away from God and His truth gain anything from what the world offers? What a tragedy it is when we let ourselves fall under the world’s false sway and reject God’s word and His guidance to please moral and spiritual darkness.
In our minds, it doesn't seem there could possibly be hope for one who has gone so far away from the faith of his father. He had done so much evil and influenced so many people to do that which is wrong; there could be no way grace could reach him. However, when Manasseh was a captive in Babylon, there was genuine repentance on his part, and he turned to God for mercy. For a time, he led the people of Judah again, and there was a brief period of revival under the leadership of the same man who led them astray.
However, sowing and reaping are principles that cannot be avoided. Manasseh's son, Amon, became king, and he followed the practices of his father during the dark days of his leadership. He walked in willful disobedience to God. Even though the nation had a revival, once again, it fell under the influence of an evil leader. It may have been that the people had been appreciative of the change in Manasseh and that they resented the evil leadership of Amon, so some of his servants assassinated him. The confusion that followed continued when the people killed those assassins and chose his eight-year-old son to be their king.
To break covenants and especially those we make with God, opens the door to the righteous judgments and holy wrath of God. Even though Manasseh came to a place of repentance when he was in captivity in Babylon, and then was returned to Jerusalem to carry out some reform and restoration projects, the damage was done.
We should never underestimate the extent and power of God's grace. For those who mourn for their children's waywardness, fear not. God is able to do what we cannot. He can bring the prodigal to his senses and perhaps use him in some way for His glory, even after we are gone.
When apostasy comes upon a people, it is possible that they become sickened by the senselessness of what is happening and say, "Enough is enough." This gives us hope; even though this does not happen often, there can be at least some recovery. In Manasseh's case, his repentance and God's forgiveness were unexpected, but they happened—his life was changed, and he was given the opportunity to right some of the wrongs he had done.
Amon, his son, quickly undid the good he had done, but the people had a brief taste of what was right, and under Josiah, his son, there was recovery. When one comes to his senses and calls out to God for mercy, God hears. When repentance is real, forgiveness is real, a new attitude toward the Lord is obvious, and the changes in one's life are not superficial.