Manasseh’s Sin and Repentance

GOLDEN TEXT: “Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God: thy spirit is good; lead me into the land of uprightness.” —Psalm 143:10

II CHRONICLES 33:9-20

MANASSEH was the son of the good king Hezekiah, yet “he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” (II Kings 21:2) Ahaz, on the other hand, was one of Judah’s most wicked kings, yet his son Hezekiah was outstanding in his righteousness and fidelity to God. It would seem that neither moral nor immoral qualities are inherited. Imperfections of organism favorable to unrighteousness are inherited, and from this standpoint the human race as a whole, from the beginning, has been sinking deeper and deeper into sin.

But in every age there have been noble exceptions to the rule, as seen in men and women who have stood for God and for righteousness. Such have been the true followers of Jesus during the present age, and such was the good king Hezekiah, and others in Israel during the long centuries of their national existence. The general downward trend of the human race into sin, however, was also manifested among God’s chosen people of the Jewish age. During the reign of Manasseh, God said that he would deliver his people into the hand of their enemies, “because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.”—II Kings 21:14,15

The final overthrow of the Jewish national polity was not because one or two of the kings of Judah or Israel had sinned, but because nearly all of them had been instrumental in leading the nation into idolatry. It was also because the people as a whole were so willing to follow leaders into sin. Manasseh was only one of many who established the worship of heathen gods. He did better than many of them, for under the pressure of trouble he repented, and endeavored as best he could to undo the results of the wrong he had committed.

Manasseh was only twelve years old when he began to reign. At this tender age he was probably king in name only, the affairs of the nation being largely in the hands of others. It may well be that these influenced Manasseh during his maturing years to take the course he did. But even so, he chose the wrong course and “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.”—vs. 9

Verse 10 says that the “Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.” They were far from being in the heart attitude reflected in our Golden Text—“Teach me to do thy will; for thou art my God.” The people preferred the gods of the heathen, probably because they did not check them in their sins.

Because neither Manasseh nor the people hearkened unto Jehovah he “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.” (vs. 11) Under the leadership of the good King Hezekiah, the Lord had given Judah victory over the Assyrians. But now the situation was changed. King Manasseh had sinned against the Lord; the people had sinned. The Lord had spoken to them about it, but they refused to hear, so he permitted the Assyrians to take the king a prisoner to Babylon.

It was while he was thus in affliction that Manasseh “humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him.” (vss. 12,13) Throughout all of God’s dealings with the stiff-necked people of Israel, he revealed himself as easy to be entreated. It was so in the case of Manasseh. The Lord “heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.”—vs. 13

The experience of Manasseh in learning to know the true God and resolving to serve him illustrates the results of the general permission of evil, and particularly the liberty the Creator has given to Israel and to all nations to choose, if they will, to serve other gods. Ultimately they will all learn to know the true God and, like Manasseh, will resolve to humble themselves before him and serve him. Then there will be peace and prosperity throughout all the earth. In response to this, the people of Israel, and of all nations, are prophetically represented as saying:

“Lord, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us. O Lord our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not live; … therefore thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.”—Isa. 26:12-14

QUESTIONS

Are righteousness and morality qualities which can be inherited?

What has been the general trend of the human race since the beginning of sin in the Garden of Eden?

What ultimately led to the overthrow of the Jewish national polity?

What was the great sin of Manasseh, and how did he come to know that Jehovah is God?

What prophecy shows that ultimately all false gods will be forever destroyed?

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