January 17, 2022
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Reading along with us in 2 Kings? Here’s today’s reading:
2 Kings 21 (NIV)
Manasseh King of Judah
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. 4 He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.”..............Continue Reading
2 kings 21 – very defiant, went totally against God, did everything that God did not like, Rebuilt what God had destroyed previously.
As good as it was to read of Hezekiah’s complete faithfulness after his father Ahaz’s utter evil, how sad it is to read of Manasseh’s utter evil after seeing his father follow God. It is the seesaw that the kingdom of Judah is on until it devolves into rejection of God. But how do you substitute the great God of the universe: the One of creation and covenant, the One of power and presence, the One of miracle and provision, with worshipping the creation itself or a god who makes you sacrifice your children in the fire? It is a slippery slope that leads to more and more evil and then a rejection of God’s person in and of itself. And where are the people of Judah who should remain faithful to God regardless of what the king is doing? But we can learn from good examples and bad examples in the Bible..modeling the faithfulness and obedience of the righteous and staying away from the disobedience and unfaithfulness of the unrighteous. Both are given for our instruction and the proof of which is right is in the pudding…in what happens in their behavior and circumstances because of what they do with God. Let us be and remain faithful to Him!
But the chapter ends with a glimmer of hope. After an extended period of evil (57 years), Josiah is made king, and he is going to clean house!
2 Kings 21
UGH Manasseh! What another mess he leads the people into, back to idolatry and debauchery! He even sacrifices his own son. Amon chooses to continue this behavior in his short reign as well and we are glad to see Josiah coming in at the end of the chapter.
I am always struck by how easily the people are lead to both good and evil. The tide sways and people just blindly follow. It makes me realize how end times can so naturally happen and how important it will be for us to remain faithful to what we know to be God and what we know to be false and sin!
Two Evil kings. It seems like they are responsible for the utter destruction of Israel, Judah and Jerusalem.
“Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’ ”