Manasseh

From: The Kings of Judah and Israel By: Christopher Knapp

2 Kings 21:1‑18; 2 Chronicles 33:1‑20 • 10 min. read • grade level: 10

Forgetting

2 Kings 21:1-18¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzi-bah. ²And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. ³For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. ⁴And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. ⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. ⁷And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: ⁸Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. ⁹But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. ¹⁰And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, ¹¹Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: ¹²Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. ¹³And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. ¹⁴And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; ¹⁵Because 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. ¹⁶Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. ¹⁷Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ¹⁸And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. (2 Kings 21:1‑18); 2 Chron. 33:1-20¹Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: ²But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. ³For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. ⁴Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. ⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. ⁷And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: ⁸Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. ⁹So Manasseh 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. ¹⁰And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. ¹¹Wherefore the Lord 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. ¹²And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, ¹³And prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God. ¹⁴Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. ¹⁵And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of 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 cast them out of the city. ¹⁶And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁷Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only. ¹⁸Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. ¹⁹His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers. ²⁰So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. (2 Chronicles 33:1‑20)

Contemporary Prophets: Joel

The king sent and loosed him; even the ruler of the people, and let him go free. Psalm. 105:20

“Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: but did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.” His mother’s name was Hephzibah (“my delight is in her,” see Isa. 62:4⁴Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. (Isaiah 62:4)). She may have been a pious woman, and so her name may have been appropriate to her character. But if so, she had very little influence over her son—unlike the Eunice (“victorious”) of a later day, and many more besides.

Extremes meet here, for Manasseh, one of the worst and most cruel of kings that ever reigned, succeeded Hezekiah, of whom it was said, “After him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him” (2 Kings 18:5⁵He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. (2 Kings 18:5)). Had this good king been able to foresee the wickedness of his unworthy son, he would doubtless have had no desire to recover from his sickness. Better by far to die childless than beget a son such as Manasseh proved to be. We must not presume to judge God’s honored servant, but it does appear as if Hezekiah would have done better to have meekly submitted to God’s will in his sickness. He could surely have left the matter of his successor with God, as he knew the covenant God had made with David. He may thus have spared the nation that he loved the tears and blood (to say nothing of God’s honor in the matter) that his desired descendant brought to them. Nothing honorable is recorded to have been done by Hezekiah after his recovery from his sickness. True, his healing was in answer to prayer, and a wonderful miracle was done in pledge of it. But so it was with Israel when they requested flesh to eat. “[God] gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul” (Psa. 106:15¹⁵And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. (Psalm 106:15)).A miracle was performed for them too (that of the quails), in order that they might have what they persisted in desiring. But there was only One who ever and always said, “Not my will, but thine, be done” (compare Psa. 21:4⁴He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. (Psalm 21:4)).

Manasseh quickly, it would seem, undid the work of his father’s early reign.

For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars [for idolatry] in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God (2 Chron. 33:3-7³For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. ⁴Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. ⁵And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. ⁶And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. ⁷And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: (2 Chronicles 33:3‑7)).

It is a terrible portrait to paint of any man; but of a king of Judah, and a son of Hezekiah the good, it seems almost incredible. It makes the heart almost sick, to read the list of his abominations. He “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.” It was the worst of all corruptions—the corruption of the best. The higher the fall, the deeper the plunge. Sadly, in the Corinthian church too there was such sin as was “not so much as named among the Gentiles” (1 Cor. 5:1¹It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. (1 Corinthians 5:1)). Solomon wrote, “I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly” (Prov. 5:14¹⁴I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. (Proverbs 5:14)). Language like this may sound strange to some—strangely sad, indeed, that such things can be said of God’s church. And what must the surrounding nations have thought of these annals of Judah—“worse than the heathen”? Of Manasseh and Judah it could then truly be said, as the apostle through the Spirit declared seven hundred years later, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you.”

“And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.” He spoke, as usual, through His prophets (2 Kings 21:10¹⁰And the Lord spake by his servants the prophets, saying, (2 Kings 21:10)).This was their message:

Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did [how terrible], which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all 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 (2 Kings 21:11-15¹¹Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: ¹²Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. ¹³And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. ¹⁴And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; ¹⁵Because 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. (2 Kings 21:11‑15)).

It was an appalling, though absolutely just, indictment and should have brought the nation to repentance. Its threats, if nothing more, should have startled them from their sins. They knew the fate of Samaria—already fallen; and Jerusalem should receive like punishment. The house of Ahab had perished, and their kings would not escape a similar judgment. But the message was evidently lost on them; they proved themselves a more perverse people than the men of Nineveh who one hundred and fifty years before had repented at the preaching of Jonah.

What prophets God used at this time is not known. Possibly Isaiah was still alive, though very aged, and the tradition may be true that says he “was sawn asunder” with a wooden saw. Josephus does not mention this, though he does say that Manasseh “barbarously slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews. Nor would he spare the prophets, for he every day slew some of them, till Jerusalem was overflown with blood” (Antiquities 10.3.1). “Moreover,” said the inspired historian, “Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD” (2 Kings 21:16¹⁶Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. (2 Kings 21:16)).Wicked as his grandfather Ahaz had been, he did not, so far as we know, redden his hands with blood like this human monster Manasseh. But the reaping came at last, though harvest time was late, perhaps because of the longsuffering patience of God. “Wherefore the LORD 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” (2 Chron. 33:11¹¹Wherefore the Lord 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. (2 Chronicles 33:11)). They refused to hear the word, so they were compelled to feel the rod. As befitted this monster of evil, Manasseh was brought in chains to Babylon.

Scripture gives no hint as to the time of this event, but it appears from Assyrian monuments to have been somewhere about the middle of his reign. It was the old and often demonstrated law of retribution working itself out: the occasion of the sin becoming the instrument of its punishment. Hezekiah sinned in the “matter of the ambassadors” from Babylon, and it is to Babylon that his son Manasseh goes as a captive.

“And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that [Jehovah] he was God” (12-13). “He humbled himself greatly,” as well he might, for his guilt indeed was very great. No doubt when he was in affliction he admitted the justice of his punishment. “I know, O LORD,” he could say, “that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me” (Psa. 119:75⁷⁵I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me. (Psalm 119:75)).

We have no details of Manasseh’s sufferings in his Babylonian captivity. God takes no pleasure in the punishment of His people, and very tenderly covers with the veil of silence all that can be profitably kept back. He heard Manasseh’s bitter cry of repentance and entreaty, and restored him to his kingdom. This was grace indeed—grace abounding.

On his return to Jerusalem he began to build and fortify, and put military commanders in all the fenced cities. But, what was better, “he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of 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 cast them out of the city. And he repaired the altar of the LORD, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel” (2 Chron. 33:15-16¹⁵And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of 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 cast them out of the city. ¹⁶And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. (2 Chronicles 33:15‑16)). He undertook to undo, as far as possible, his former works of wickedness. His name Manasseh means “forgetting”; and Josephus wrote: “When he was come to Jerusalem, he endeavored, if it were possible, to cast out of his memory those his former sins against God, of which he now repented, and to apply himself to a very religious life” (Antiquities 10.3.2). But the innocent lives that he had taken he could never restore, nor could he ever wholly undo the evil of his former course. So great had been his iniquity, and that of Judah with him, that God never forgave it nationally (2 Kings 23:26; 24:4²⁶Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. (2 Kings 23:26)
⁴And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon. (2 Kings 24:4); Jer. 15:4⁴And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem. (Jeremiah 15:4)). Personally, through his confession and humiliation before God, Manasseh was forgiven. It is good to see the great change in his after life, and that he did not forget his indebtedness to God for His matchless grace to him, as his thank offerings on the restored altar indicate. He was the Old Testament chief of sinners, a type of the sinner in whom God shows forth all longsuffering, to any who would turn to Him in penitence and faith. Newton’s lines well express the spirit of his grateful thoughts:

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see!

“And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead” (2 Kings 21:18¹⁸And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. (2 Kings 21:18)). His body found no place of rest among the kings, showing how the consequences of sin follow men even to the grave.

Kings... on the throne; yea, he doth establish them forever, and they are exalted. And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction; Then he showeth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded. He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge (Job 36:7-12⁷He withdraweth not his eyes from the righteous: but with kings are they on the throne; yea, he doth establish them for ever, and they are exalted. ⁸And if they be bound in fetters, and be holden in cords of affliction; ⁹Then he showeth them their work, and their transgressions that they have exceeded. ¹⁰He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity. ¹¹If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity, and their years in pleasures. ¹²But if they obey not, they shall perish by the sword, and they shall die without knowledge. (Job 36:7‑12)).

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