Scripture
9But Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land. 10The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they ignored all his warnings. 11So the Lord sent the commanders of the Assyrian armies, and they took Manasseh prisoner. They put a ring through his nose, bound him in bronze chains, and led him away to Babylon. 12But while in deep distress, Manasseh sought the Lord his God and sincerely humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. 13And when he prayed, the Lord listened to him and was moved by his request. So the Lord brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh finally realized that the Lord alone is God! 2 Chronicles 33:9-13
Observation
Manasseh had a godly father named Hezekiah, who, as King in Jerusalem, had enacted many spiritual reforms that God’s people back to worship the true God and away from idolatry. Despite this righteous example, when Manasseh took the throne, who not only rebuilt the idols his father had torn down, he led the people of God into a deeper sin than even the pagan nations before them. He not only rebelled against the God of his father, he sacrificed his own sons to false gods. 2 Kings 21:16 writes, “Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD." Tradition even tells us it's possible that the prophet Isaiah was put to death by King Manasseh by being sawn in half. Manasseh makes the Prodigal Son in the Parable of Luke 15 seem like a saint. Manasseh didn’t just leave home, he burned down his home and yet… God still showed him grace when he humbled himself. Mercy still came running after him when he “finally realized the the Lord alone is God!” Like that moment with the pigs, starving in a foreign land, when the Prodigal Son realizes the love of his father was like none other, Manasseh realizes the God of his father was the only true God… And God restores him! This is the scandal of grace!
Application
I feel the same as Spurgeon this morning, “Oh! I do not wonder at Manasseh’s sin one half so much as I wonder at God’s mercy.” I know of so many Godly parents right now who’s hearts are broken as they watch their prodigal sons and daughters make one self-destructive decision after another. They beat themselves up, asking what they could have, should have, done differently to ensure a better path for their child. Yet, this passage, just as the parable in Luke 15 illustrate, no matter how a godly a home a child is raised in, every child must choose God for themselves. They must have a Manasseh moment where they believe for themselves that “the Lord alone is God!” I have prayed many times for my own boys and for others that they would would reach the end of themselves before they reach the end of their lives. Even though Manasseh had lived most of his life in abject evil, the end of his life found a man who was redeemed by grace showing what it looks like to have a Father God who never gives up on us.
Prayer
Lord, I will never stop being amazed at Your infinite patience, Your scandalous grace, Your unfathomable mercy. I was aghast at the sins of Manasseh and amazed at Your heart to forgive these wicked acts. I think, if I’m honest, I felt a little like the older brother in Luke 15, rather upset that Manasseh didn’t get what he deserved. Then, I remember, neither did I. On the scale of sin, I’m just as deserving of death as he was, and yet mercy came running for me when I repented. Your mercy came running for my boys. There is no prodigal that You have forgotten, no parent’s prayer gone unheard, no soul beyond Your redemption. I pray for those who have given up hope and have perhaps, even stopped praying for their children to find You. I’m reminded of Your heart as expressed in 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.”
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