“Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.” 2 Chronicles 33:12-13
Manasseh was one of the most evil kings in Israel. Unfortunately he follows a sad trend in scripture. He had a Godly father yet the son did not love or serve theLord. In fact 2 Chronicles 33 lists a long series of evils, sins, that Manasseh introduced into Israel. He went so far as to place an idol which he had made, in the very temple of God.
There were two consequences of his sin. First, Scripture says,
“Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do
more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the
children of Israel.” Manasseh introduced sin and evil into Judah, the
people tried it, they liked it and became good at doing it. Second, Manasseh provoked God to anger against him and Judah. We read that God spoke to both Manasseh and the people, “but they would not hear it”.
Thus God sent punishment on Judah in the form of the Assyrian army. As a result King Manasseh was taken into Syria with nose hooks, he was bound in bronze chains and taken as a captive to Babylon. Yet in his captivity, affliction and suffering, a miracle happens. Like Nebuchadnezzar, Manasseh remembered God. Perhaps the teaching he received as a child comes back to him or he remembered God’s blessing on his father, Hezekiah. Whatever God used to draw Manasseh back to him, scripture records that Manasseh ” implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him”. When he did God heard his prayer and brought him back to his kingdom in Judah. Once there Manasseh tried to lead the nation in serving the Lord. We are told he “took away the foreign gods and the idol from 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 he cast
them out of the city. He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.” Manasseh tried hard to right the wrongs he had done by removing idolatry and placing God in His proper place. There were two reactions.
First, the people of Judah did not respond. “Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places”. The people had a taste of
the evil of the world and they loved it. They did not want to give it up. God touched Manasseh’s heart and he turned back to God
but most of the people he taught to sin by worshipping idols refused to turn back. The king lost his nation.
Second, we see the reaction of Manasseh’s son, Amnon. His son grew up while his father embraced evil. When he became king, Amnon “did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more”. The king lost his son.
What can we learn? God will always forgive us of our sin but in this life God does not remove the consequences of sin. We are forgiven by God but still live with sin’s consequences. God never intended for us to experience sin’s grief but He allows the consequences to remain. It is wiser to let God’s word teach one how to live in righteousness instead of living with the the consequences of one’s sin.