2 Kings 21 Manasseh

King Manasseh was the WORST king in ALL of Israel’s history. He made idols even in the House of the Lord. But he also repented.

At the tender age of twelve, Manasseh takes the throne. And he must have had the vilest advisors ever! He took Judah down a very dark path. He wasn’t the first king of Judah to burn his son on the altar, or even the first to desecrate the Temple with items to other gods. But the degree that he went to was far and above what any king before him did.

My question is, WHY did God let him reign for so long? Why didn’t He strike him down? Why didn’t He arrange for someone to assonate him? Maybe because God was waiting for his children to be old enough to take the throne, or his grandson. Maybe God held on so long, because He KNEW there was a turn around coming and He was waiting for that day. If it were me, I would have given up a LONG TIME AGO. But that’s probably why I’m not God. Let’s rejoin the story and see where the Spirit takes us today.

♥ ♦ ♥

Manasseh is standing in the throne room, looking at the throne his Abba used to sit in. It looks HUGE! Not really because of its size but because of what it means about the one sitting on it. His Abba has been dead for three days. This is the closest Manasseh has come to actually sitting on his Abba’s throne in all that time. When the people made him their king, he didn’t have to sit. He stayed standing so the people could see him. Today, he thinks he has worked up enough courage to actually sit on it. It helps that no one else is here to see him too.

Manasseh takes the final step towards the throne, turns, and gingerly sits on the front edge of it. A voice sounds behind him and he jumps.

“Now that you have it, what are you going to do with it?”

Manasseh turns to see a middle-aged man standing in the corner of the room. He hadn’t noticed him before. He has seen him before, but he does not remember his name or what he did for his abba.

“What do you mean” asks Manasseh.

“Well, now that you have the throne, what are you going to do with it?”

“I don’t know. What am I supposed to do with it?”

“You are supposed to rule the kingdom of Judah from it. Do you know how to do that?”

“Not really” confesses Manasseh is a small voice.

“You’re in luck. I can help you there. I know a bit about running things.”

“Did you help my Abba when he was king?”

“I tried to, but he didn’t listen to me very often. I did come around a bit more in the later years.”

“And you helped him then?”

“I did. And I can help you too.”

Manasseh thinks this over. He really needs an advisor he can trust. Several people have tried to get him to appoint them as his advisor, but he isn’t sure about them. This one isn’t trying to push himself on him, but letting him choose. That is a refreshing change. “I think I would like that. When can you start?”

“I can start right now. And the first thing we need to do is get you comfortable sitting on the throne. If you act like a scared rabbit every time you get near it, no one will take you seriously or trust you as a leader.”

Manasseh’s new advisor/friend walks over to the throne and pats the seat. “Go ahead and sit on it. It won’t bite and it won’t break.”

Manasseh gives him a shy smile as he sits down fully on the throne. He is tall for his age, but his feet still don’t touch the ground when he sits all the way back. He looks like the child that he feels like.

The advisor retrieves a nearby cushion and brings it back to Manasseh. “Scoot forward a little bit and I’ll put this behind you.”

Manasseh does as instructed. His feet now touch the floor and his back rests against the pillow. He feels much older now, like the throne actually fits. This gives him a boost in confidence. But he still doesn’t know what to do. He has seen his Abba when people brought their issues to him. Is this what he is supposed to do? Judge the people?

“You are ready for your first petitioner. Now when they come in, they are supposed to bow before you and wait for you to address them before speaking. Then they will tell you their troubles. There are usually two people coming in at the same time. You have to listen to both of them before making a ruling.”

“How will I know what to ‘rule’?”

“That comes with practice. I’ll help you until you are ready to do it on your own. I’ll stand in the corner and tip my head in the direction of the one you should proclaim the ‘winner’ of the argument.”

“But what will I say to them?”

“All you really have to say is who is ‘right’ and who is ‘wrong’. You can say something else if you want to. Something about how sorry you are for their troubles, or get angry and tell them that this was a useless thing they brought to you. Something like that. Just use your imagination.”

“What if I can’t think of something to say?”

“Stop worrying. You will do fine. Just watch my head and declare the one I point towards as the winner.”

Manasseh takes a deep breath. Then he nods his head. “I can do this” he says to himself. He calls out to the guard at the door. “You can bring in the first petitioner.”

As it has only been three days since King Hezekiah’s death, there are few people waiting to see the king. Most of them are simply here out of curiosity. They want to see their new king for themselves.

The guard ushers the first person in. He walks towards the throne and does a deep bow. Manasseh feels a little thrill race up his spine. People have always respected him because he was his Abba’s son, but this is the first time anyone has actually bowed to him. He is so busy thinking about the thrill he feels that he almost forgets to speak. He should have asked his friend what to say. Too late now. He is on his own. He can see his friend in the corner motioning him to say something.

“Shalom” Manasseh says.

The petitioner is surprised by the simple greeting, but it gives him the right to speak now. “Shalom to you as well my king. I wanted to come by and offer you my allegiance.”

“Thank you” says Manasseh. In his mind he adds an “I guess” to it.

“If there is anything I can do for you my king, you have but to ask” the man says with an even deeper bow.

Manasseh almost laughs out loud when he sees his friend in the corner making ‘kissing’ faces behind the man. He pulls his eyes back to the man and asks him a question. “What kind of services are you offering me?”

“I… uh… anything my king. I am good at many things.”

Manasseh begins to be suspicious of this man so he wraps up their conversation. “Thank you for your offer. I will keep it in mind.”

His friend in the back of the room does an exaggerated nod. The petitioner turns and leaves.

There is only one more petitioner waiting to see the king. It is a husband and wife and another man. All three bow before Manasseh and he feels that thrill again. “How may I help you today” Manasseh asks.

Both parties start talking at once. Manasseh holds up his hand in a ‘kingly gesture’ (he hopes). After silence returns, Manasseh says, “You speak first” to the solitary man.

The man inclines his head, then begins. “This man approached me for a loan. I gave him the money he asked for after he pledged his house as surety. He has not repaid me all that he owes and I am here to see that he surrenders his surety promise to me.”

Manasseh nods, then motions for the husband and wife to speak.

They both bow and then the husband presents his case. “My king, it is true that I came to this man for a loan. I have repaid him the full amount of money I borrowed, but he says I owe more. When I brought him my final payment, he told me that I owed him 500 denarii more. He claims it as interest. He did not state at the beginning of the loan that he would be charging interest.”

“Has the man paid you…” Manasseh stops and looks at the corner where his friend is standing. He is inclining his head towards the single man. “This means that I rule for the single man” Manasseh thinks. He brings his attention back to the people before him.

“I’m sorry, but you agreed to borrow money. You have to expect this man to get something for letting you borrow from him.”

“But, my king, Moses commanded that a brother not charge another brother interest.”

The man in the back of the room is still choosing the single man. Manasseh thinks for a bit about how to do what his advisor is telling him to do. “That was a LONG time ago. Things have changed since then. It’s only fair” he finally says.

“But we don’t have another 500 denarii, my king. It took all we had to pay back the original amount.”

Manasseh’s friend is holding firm. “I’m sorry. Then the man gets to have what you promised.”

The wife breaks down in tears. Her husband draws her close to him. The other man’s face is lit with a devious smile. After the man and wife turn to leave, the single man steps over to Manasseh and hands him a silver coin. Manasseh’s friend is nodding repeatedly as they all leave the throne room.

After they leave, Manasseh’s advisor comes to stand beside him. “You did well today. And you even got a reward for it.”

Manasseh looks at the coin in his hand. “It felt good, them bowing before me, but it didn’t feel good when that lady started crying.”

“You can’t get caught up in people’s tears. They use them to manipulate others.”

“What about what the man said about the Law? Didn’t Moses say something like that?”

“Maybe he did, and maybe he didn’t. But, like you said, that was a long time ago. This is today and people expect their money to work for them.”

“I suppose so.” Manasseh thinks for a little bit. “It’s good you were here. I would have said the man and wife were right without you telling me different.”

Things go like this for the next six months, with Manasseh following every dictate of his advisor. After a while, Manasseh can figure out what his advisor is going to choose without even looking at him. He looks every time though, just to be certain. One thing that puzzles him though is that no one else ever addresses his advisor. It’s like no one else even sees him. “Maybe that is how advisors are supposed to be treated” thinks Manasseh.

After six months, Manasseh begins ‘weaning’ himself from his advisor. He only looks to him when he is really uncertain. Manasseh has also found that a lot of people like to pay him for ruling in their favor; some even before the case is heard. He begins to takes advantage of this. He is amassing quite a bit of wealth doing this alone. And the cases are not really that lopsided.

Things are going well in Judah. It is a time of prosperity all the way around. Crops are good, rainfall is where it should be, and no one is pounding on the boarders of Judah.

Manasseh has fewer issues to decide now. There aren’t any more ‘petty’ ones as the people have stopped coming to him for relief. They know which way he will rule, so they don’t even bother. And this gives Manasseh more time on his hands.

With the shift in Manasseh’s rulings, the nation begins to shift away from the Lord as well. Manasseh hears about the people rebuilding the high places. He is curious about them, so he decided to go to one that is erected nearby. When he gets there, he is amazed at what he sees!

People are dancing around this carved pole. The rhythm of the chanting calls to him and he finds himself joining in. Before long, Manasseh is establishing high places and Asheroth poles all over Judah.

Manasseh doesn’t stop there. He seeks out new experiences from other cultures and their gods. By the time he is in his twenties, he has discovered MANY ‘exciting’ practices. He has someone to read omens to him, to speak with the dead for him, to tell him his future by reading the stars, and priests of Baal to attend him.

One evening, he hears of a god who blesses his people when they offer their sons to him. This god is Moloch. The visual of a bull man appeals to Manasseh and stories of his blessings wet his appetite. He decided to rebuild the altar that his grand abba made in the Valley of Son of Hinnom.

Manasseh began to worship at this idol as soon as it was completed. He LOVED the drumbeats and chants. They struck him deep in his bones. Two months after worship began at this altar, Manasseh has an offering worthy to bring before it. He brings his second son. He had no struggle bringing this child, as his mother worshiped here as well. “We will offer this child so that Moloch will bless us with MANY more children” Manasseh tells his wife.

As Manasseh carries the crying infant up the stairs to the altar, he gets a thrill like he has never felt before. As he holds the child aloft, he is in rapture! As he throws the child into the fire, he begins to dance like a madman. He doesn’t even hear the child’s cries of pain. He is in his own mind.

The only thing that Manasseh doesn’t like about going to the altar of Moloch is the smell. The Valley of the Son of Hinnom is where Jerusalem dumps its refuse. Manasseh decides that he wants to go somewhere cleaner and closer. He is also tired of going to the high places. He doesn’t have as much energy as he did in his twenties, now that he has reached his mid-thirties.

“I will build an altar right here” he tells himself. “And what better place to build on than the place where sacrifices are already being made every day.”

Manasseh has an Asheroth pole and an altar to Baal erected in the center of the courtyard of the House of the Lord. People start flocking to it along with him. Before long, a second and third altar joins the first one. He adds to these altars for the sun, moon, and stars. The people become as steeped in pagan gods as their king is. They become worse than the nations that they had displaced when coming to the Promised Land.

Over the years, Manasseh sees less and less of his initial advisor. He recruits other advisors from among those whom he worships with. They are all like minded and he values their input. He occasionally sees his first advisor when worshiping at his favorite altars. He was even present when Manasseh threw his son in the fire. They danced together on the platform before the altar. Still, no one seems to notice him whenever Manasseh and he interact. It’s as if they don’t see him.

God has NOT been silent as all this is going on. He has been sending His prophets to confront Manasseh. God sends an elderly Isaiah and a young Jerimiah to confront the king and speak against the practices of Manasseh.

Isaiah comes to the city center and calls out to Manasseh with the words of the Lord. “Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day” (2 Kings 21:11-15).

Manasseh is furious at Isaiah’s words! How dare Isaiah tell him what to do and stand against him! Manasseh would not allow this. “Seize him!” he cries to the guards.

As they make their way to where Isaiah stands, he runs from the city. It is amazing at the speed with which he moves. Isaiah finds a hollow tree to hide in but his cloak gets caught on a small snag at the bottom of the tree. Isaiah stands silent, not knowing that his cloak is exposed. He listens as the soldiers search for him. The king joins the search after a few minutes.

“Look; over there” shouts one of the guards.

Isaiah’s hiding place has been discovered. The guards surround the tree and Isaiah has nowhere to go. He waits while hands to reach in and pull him free from his hiding place. He is wedged in tight, so he can’t back out himself. And his pursuers can’t pull him free either.

When they can’t get Isaiah free, Manasseh calls two of his men over to him. “Go and get a saw. We will take the tree and the trouble maker down at the same time.”

It isn’t long before Isaiah hears a strange sound. It is grating back and forth and vibrating the tree around him. After a minute, Isaiah recognizes the sound. Knowing what was coming, Isaiah turns his eyes towards heaven and commends his spirit to the Lord. “I can do no more Lord God. Avenge my death.”

An hour later, Isaiah and the tree have both been felled. This is not the only innocent death Manasseh orchestrates. Anyone who disagrees with him is taking their life in their own hands. Anyone still following the God of Israel is ‘ripe for plucking’ from this earth. SO MANY people lose their lives at the command of Manasseh that they can’t be counted.

After Isaiah’s death, Manasseh loses ALL restraint, and he takes the majority of the people with him. He is open to anything and doesn’t care how it looks to any of the nations around him. He has no fear of God at all.

“ENOUGH!” says the Lord. “It is time to put a stop to this.”

God plants in the heart of the king of Babylon to act. He sends only a small strike force. Their target is Manasseh himself. Manasseh’s depravity has reached depths that shock even the most pagan nations. The king of Babylon is afraid it will insight a rebellion and war. His men are in Judah to prevent it.

This small band of specialized soldiers keep watch on Manasseh’s movement. They find him outside Jerusalem as he travels to Bethel. They fall upon him in a narrow pass. His guards are all slaughtered and he is taken prisoner. They place a hook in his nose to lead him by and bind him with bronze chains. He is taken to Babylon and thrown in a dungeon.

Manasseh spends months in this dungeon before he remembers the God of his Abba. He is afraid to call out to Him for all the sin that he has done. “I am not worth to even speak His name” he tells himself over and over again.

While in prison, his first advisor visits him inside his cell. Manasseh has no idea how he got in, but he sits beside him.

“How the mighty have fallen.”

“How did you get here? Why are you hear? Can you get me out?”

“I’m always around. I can go anywhere I want to. I wish you could see yourself now. You are pathetic. To think; you once thought yourself mighty and powerful. You will rot in here and your precious people will fall under my foot as well.”

“This was your plan all along! I see it clearly now. How could I ever have listened to you! My heart was trying to tell me, but I didn’t listen.”

As Manasseh dissolves in tears as he understands what he has done, the ‘advisor/friend’ laughs manically and fades from the room. Manasseh continues to weep. He weeps for all the death he has inflicted. He groans as he remembers all the false gods he sought after. He melts as he remembers how the people followed him. And he breaks when he remembers how close his own Abba was to the Lord God of Israel. He can take no more. He has to cry out to God. He is the ONLY one who can hear him. NONE of the other gods or practices hold any power over him any longer.

“Lord God of all creation. God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel. I deserve NOTHING from You but death and destruction. I have sinned against You in the most abominable ways. I have led YOUR people astray. There is no good in me. Yet… I bow my face before You. Do to me whatever seems right to You. But save Your people. If you let me return to them, I will lead them in Your ways for the rest of my life. I will turn neither to the right nor to the left from Your statutes. And all those that I have wronged, I will do all I can to make it right.”

God is moved by Manasseh’s sincere heart. He can see the darkness lift from him and leave the room. He hears his humble heart and begins to strengthen him. Manasseh does not receive release that same day. Not even that same year. He continues to grow stronger in the Lord while he remains in prison. He sees God’s hand in the little things each day and truly appreciates them.

After a year and a half, the king of Babylon himself comes to visit Manasseh. “I have heard it said that there is singing coming from your cell. Tell me how this can be.”

“My God, the God of Israel, of Judah, has softened my heart. I believe that He has forgiven me. I trust in Him with my whole heart, no matter what comes. I have nothing but joy, even in this dark place.”

“Your kingdom could use a good dose of what you have. I’m returning you to them.”

As soon as the words leave the mouth of the king of Babylon, Manasseh falls to his knees sobbing. “I do not deserve this! I should be kept in this hole for the rest of my life. But You O Lord have lifted me up. Help me lift You up for the people to see. To understand Your great love and amazing forgiveness.”

Manasseh is returned to Judah with great fanfare. As soon as he steps from the chariot carrying him, he climbs the steps of the palace and addresses the people.

“I have much to repair here with you, but I have even more to repair with the God of Israel. I have sinned against Him in the most deplorable ways, and yet He has forgiven me. He has allowed me to stand before you again. And this time I am proclaiming HIS NAME above ALL names!”

Most of the people in the crowd are stunned to silence. This is not the same king who left a year and a half ago. They do not know this king. But they do remember the God of whom he speaks. A smaller portion of the crowd, who had been hiding for so long, finally breathe free! They are excited, but cautious, to see what will happen next.

They don’t have long to wait. Manasseh calls the royal guards and leads them to the Temple entrance. He walks over to the first altar and shoves it over. He turns to his guards and the people following him. “It is time to clean house. This is the House of the Lord. The God of Israel. EVERYTHING that is not of Him is to be removed immediately! Take what is removed to the brook Kidron, just as my father did before me.”

Work begins immediately. The priests and Levites lead the charge. It is as if they have been given the strength and stamina of ten men each. They work long into the night and do not stop until every last item is removed and destroyed at the brook Kidron.

Manasseh calls a halt for the night. “We will return in the morning and begin setting things right. There are tasks that can only be done by the priests and Levites. But I, and anyone who will help, will lend our strength to this task.”

It takes a week to purify the Temple and six months to remove all the altars to foreign gods from the land of Judah. Manasseh does not rest until the work is completed. He stops short of tearing down the high places, but the only worship permitted there is to the Lord God of Israel.

Many of the people of Judah resist the change at first, but they watch their king and see the change in him. It is such a remarkable change that they too abandon the false gods of the other nations.

Prison life has taken a toll on Manasseh’s health. Living in the dank confines for so long damaged his lungs. Pushing as hard as he does right after being returned to his people is making the damage even worse. After five years, Manasseh can no longer take a full breath. His lungs rattle with every breath. His hands and feet are nearly always blue and he has a grey complexion. He calls his children and grandchildren to his bedside.

“I am… about to… go the way… of my fathers.… I have… no right… to be… buried… with the… great kings… I hurt… the people… of Judah… more… than I can… ever… make up for… My sins… are great,… even though… my God… has… forgiven me… and restored… me to… my own… land… DO NOT… forsake… the Lord… our God… as I did… for so long!… Cling to Him… and He… will bless… you… and the… people… He has chosen… for His… own.”

Amon, Manasseh’s son watches Abba and shakes his head. He is angry at his Abba. He thinks him weak in his final years. When he takes the throne, things will go back the way they were before.

Amon’s son, Josiah, takes in every word his grand abba is speaking. He wonders what his Abba will do now, for he is sure to be king any day now. He prays silently that his Abba will listen as well.

Manasseh dies three days later and Amon takes the throne. He is twenty-two years old and believes he know everything there is to running a kingdom and life itself.

(to be continued)

The story of Isaiah’s death comes from Jewish tradition. I heard it as I was looking into the prophets who might have confronted Manasseh. I’m certain there were many who were killed as we are told that Manasseh shed MUCH innocent blood. I would count children among those as well.

As HORRIBLE as Manasseh was, God STILL forgave him and restored him to the throne. He did bring many of the people back to the Lord. But the fact that they so easily turned back with Amon makes one wonder if it was a superficial change. They DO turn back to God when Josiah takes the throne.

A roller coaster ride! That’s what this journey with Israel and God feels like. The peaks and valleys and fast turns leave me breathless. This happened over centuries, but it is actually a drawn out version of our own lives. If I condense the timeline to fit one lifetime, I can see some of these peaks and valleys and fast turns in my own life. I have never walked away from the Lord as fully as Manasseh did, but I have had my own ‘hot and cold’ times. I would venture to guess everyone else has too. These peaks and valleys and tight turns are where the lessons lie. And each one is important in helping us to deepen our relationship with the Lord. I wonder what would have happened if Manasseh had as much ‘godly’ time as he did ‘evil’ time. Or even as DEEP.

One last thing. I don’t know if Manasseh had an evil spirit leading him through his reign, but I felt drawn to put one in there. He came offering ‘friendship and help’ in the beginning. Which is how Satin often disguises his tricks. Manasseh knew from the beginning that he was leading him down the wrong path, but he kept going so he could get that ‘thrill’. BE ALERT to what and who you follow. It has lasting impact.

Father God, thank You for sharing Your story again. Thank You for sparking my imagination. PLEASE don’t let me listen to the wrong voices! Keep me searching out Your voice in ALL I do. THANK YOU for Your forgiveness. I would be COMPLETELY lost without it.