Things have gone from “bad” to “worse!”

King Manasseh ruled Judah for 55 years, most of that time as a “sycophant” of the great Assyrian Empire. Merely a “figurehead,” Manasseh, son of the great Hezekiah, Grandfather of the great Josiah!

Now I realize Manasseh was under “pressure.” To “conform” to Assyrian whims. Or he could lose his whole Kingdom, you know! He just had to (he felt) change the old-fashioned ways of Judaism, trading them for the more contemporary ways of Heathenism.

Political expedience, they still call it.

And the Assyrians were BIG on worship of the stars.

Thus we read in today’s Verse: “And he (Manasseh) built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.” 2nd Chronicles 33:5

The expression “host of heaven” means all the gods and goddesses represented by the various stars, comets, constellations, and other “signs” of the skies.

An “altar” is a place (generally) where “sacrifices” are made (blood literally shed) in the name of and for the honor of some (so-called) god. The Hebrew “root” word for “altar” means “to kill, slaughter.”

Bad enough to place these things in Monotheistic Israel (worshippers of One God) … in violation of everything the Old Testament has taught … BUT TO PUT THEM IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD … was absolutely blasphemous!

“Altars” … plural do notice … placed in both the outer court and the inner court of the Temple! Solomon’s great edifice constructed for the Glory of Jehovah God!

I am not saying that Manasseh outlawed worship of Almighty God. I am saying he “mixed” such worship with that of many other gods and goddesses. Blended many “faiths,” a sort of modern day “pluralism!”

Oh, how that sin continues in our time!

Paul was still warning us of this malady in 2nd Corinthians, centuries after Manasseh’s debacle. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”

And: “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”

Wow!

Readers here today, STAY TRUE TO GOD!

TO HIM ALONE.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Today we continue to look at the downward spiral of King Manasseh of Judah. Only son of godly King Hezekiah. (Although Hezekiah did seem to weaken spiritually the last 15 years of his life!) Our Text will be 2nd Chronicles 33:4 which is virtually a repetition of 2nd Kings 21:4.

The Chronicler first: “Also he (Manasseh) built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.”

Now the historian of the Kings: “And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.”

God’s House, the Temple of Israel, was divinely designed to have just 2 altars. One near its front entrance made of brass. Another deep in its interior, made of gold. Both served legitimate (beautiful) spiritual purposes. Taught valuable lessons on living for God.

But Manasseh, influenced by the powerful nations around him (heathen Assyria being primary) … wanted TO ADD a touch of “politically correct” contemporary idol worship to the scene!

More than one god now is being acknowledged in the Holy Temple!

It’s a wonder God did not “kill” him on the spot!

A King, trying to keep up with the times!

Or trying to satisfy everybody!

Or trying to ward off “pressure” from his political “bosses!” (Yes, Judah then was basically a tributary nation, overrun by the Assyrian empire. Merely a vassal state. And Manasseh compromised … to stay in some good favor with his conquerors!)

He “sold out” to the “establishment.”

He introduced “competition” to Almighty God!

In a Place where God had explicitly stated: “In Jerusalem will I put my name.”

The Same God Who had earlier commanded: “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.” Exodus 20:2-5

So sad! “Also he (Manasseh) built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.”

Yet today the same thing is being done in many places!

What once was old-fashioned worship of the True God of the Ages has now been diluted to be merely a “One among many” theology. What do we call it now, “pluralism?” Broad mindedness? Lack of prejudice? An “unbiased” Worldview?

How about calling it … “selling out” the God Who saved us?

Let us rededicate ourselves to the exclusive, never bending position that avers: “Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me.” Isaiah 46:9

None like Him!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

Yes, I have entitled today’s Lesson from the life of King Manasseh “serial sinning,” or maybe better, “chain sinning.”

Seldom does one do wrong in just one area of life. Or just one little corner of a department of life. “Sin,” by its very nature, loves to have company! Paul the Apostle once said of evil men, of the propensity of iniquity: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2nd Timothy 3:13, where the verb “wax” means “to become.” They actually plunge “deeper and deeper” into sin!

“One little sin,” so-called, is not long just “one.” And not long “little,” for that matter. Sin aggregates, builds, worsens with the passing of time.

Now to the life of Manasseh. Using just one verse from 2nd Chronicles 33, at that! “For he (the king, still young too) 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.”

I count 5 of them, “tandem” sins! One right after the other! One “building” (or “destroying”) upon another! Yes, “chain sinning!”

Look:

1. He rebuilt the “high places,” mountaintop retreats for perverted religious practice.
2. He made abominable altars for the exclusive worship of Baal.
3. He cleared and planted and groomed the earth, creating “groves of trees” for the worship of the “nature” gods and goddesses of the surrounding heathen nations.
4. He worshipped the stars (sun and moon too, presumably) of heaven.
5. Then, he pattered his life (served, obeyed) those false gods, those idols.

If that’s not sinning “habitually,” I do not know the meaning of the term!

And the parallel account of the beginning of Manasseh’s reign, tells the same story. One sin leading to another! “For 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.” 2nd Kings 21:3, so sad.

Remember King David’s sin?

Laziness (not going to battle with his army) then lust (looking at Bathsheba) then adultery (illicit sex with another man’s wife) then murder (killing her husband) then … on and on it goes!

What a reminder to keep “short sin accounts” with God!

If one sins (and we all do) … stop immediately!

Confess that sin!

Forsake that sin!

And do not let it attract other sins!

Proverbs 28:13 comes to mind. “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Someone reading here this morning … Quit playing around with that little “sin” that seems so much fun, so exciting! Mortify that thing (meaning put it to death) … sin is dangerous!

Oh, that Manasseh had learned this lesson.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

If Manasseh began reigning over Judah at age 12 (and he did) … where did he get the “evil influence” that so permeated his life?

After all, he is the son (the only son) of godly King Hezekiah, one of the true “revivalists” of ancient history, especially Jewish history.

Read with me 2 Chronicles 33:2. “He (Manasseh) 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.”

Now read the parallel account from 2 Kings 21:2. “And he (Manasseh) 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.”

Both inspired historians tell us that he lived “after the abominations of the heathen.” The noun “heathen” means “gentiles” in this context.

Assuming the environment in which the boy was raised was relatively pure, holy, based on the Law of Moses … How did he get so acclimated to ungodliness? And that in 11 short years? He inherited the Throne of Judah when Hezekiah died, the lad being only 12 at the time.

By the way, an “abomination” (in Hebrew spelled “toebah”) is anything that “disgusts” Almighty God, something that makes Him “sick!”

Here’s what I think.

Not long after Hezekiah had been healed of his “sickness unto death,” a delegation from (wicked) Babylon visited the royal palace in Jerusalem. These would have been “heathen” I remind you. Isaiah the Prophet (and a friend of King Hezekiah) will tell us the story. Now this paragraph is somewhat lengthy. But you need to read it all. “At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered. And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not. Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts. Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD. And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” King James Version, Isaiah 39:1-7

Hezekiah was much too friendly (“glad of them”) to these wicked men!

And he showed them ALL he possessed!

He may have been flattered by their “gifts,” too!

And no doubt they left their “culture” behind, some of it. Maybe way too much of it.

This may also have been a case of “tit” for “tat.” Hezekiah received their gifts (favors), and gave to them all the state “secrets.” To his future enemies, nonetheless!

Now I realize that Manasseh may not even have been born yet when this “peace party” visited Judah. Or at least would have been quite young. But still … if the “ways of the wicked” were sown in the hearts of the people of Judah (from the King downward) at that time … young lives would have been impacted as well.

Remember what Paul later wrote to a way-too-worldly Church: “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” 1st Corinthians 15:33

Yes, Manasseh’s sins as a King (still a young one apparently) may have been attributable to his own Father, King Hezekiah, in a weak moment!

Every day we live … we influence someone!

Don’t we?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

 

The 2 Kings (chapter 21) account does not tell us this part of the story of Manasseh. Not like the Chronicles account does, for sure. In 2 Chronicles chapter 33 we learn of the King’s utter wickedness. So much so that God “turned” him over to the hand of an enemy. Now it’s Manasseh the “prisoner, slave.” BUT THEN IT HAPPENED. Amazing as it sounds.

The man repented!

And, Glory, God forgave him!

And to a large measure … restored him to the Throne of Judah!

Where he lived out the rest of his years, trying to do right. Seeking to correct the terrible perversions he had earlier created!

In the lessons ahead, we’re going to get to enjoy this study of the amazing (forgiving) Grace of God!

Also … we’re going to notice the terrible (and in some senses irreversible) consequences of sin!

Don’t miss a single day.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell