2 Chronicles 33

2 Chronicles 33:1

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on 2 Chronicles chapters 10 to 36 www.easyenglish.info Ian Mackervoy This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 33 Manasseh – 2 Chronicles 33:1-20 v1 Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. He was king for 55 years in Jerusalem. v2 He did what the *LORD considered to be evil deeds. The *LORD had forced some nations out of the country when he brought the *Israelites in. Manasseh did the disgusting things that those nations had done. v3 He built again the high places for *worship that his father Hezekiah had destroyed. They were high places to *worship false gods. He built *altars to the Baal gods.

He made images for *Asherah. And he *worshipped and he served all the stars in the sky. v4 The *LORD had said about the *temple, ‘My name will be in Jerusalem for all time.’ But Manasseh built *altars in the *LORD’s *temple. v5 He built *altars to *worship the stars in the two areas of the *LORD’s *temple. v6 He burned his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. He did magic and he used evil signs. He tried to tell the future by signs and dreams. He got advice from persons who talked to evil *spirits. Some people said that they had special wisdom.

And he listened to them. He did many evil things that made the *LORD angry.

v7 He made an image of a false god. He put this image in God’s *temple. God had said to David and to his son Solomon, ‘I have chosen this *temple. And I have chosen Jerusalem from all the *tribes of *Israel. I will put my name here for all time. v8 I will never again remove *Israel from the country that I gave to their *ancestors. But they must obey all the commands that I gave to them. They must do all that I taught them. I gave them these rules and commands by Moses.’ v9 But Manasseh led the people in Judah and in Jerusalem to do wrong deeds. They did more evil things than the nations that the *LORD had destroyed. He removed those nations when he brought the *Israelites into their country.

v10 The *LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they did not listen. v11 So, the *LORD brought against them the king of Assyria’s army officers. They *captured Manasseh. They fastened his nose with a piece of metal and they tied him with *bronze chains. Then they took him to Babylon.

v12 As Manasseh suffered, he *turned to the *LORD his God for help. He had been proud but he *repented in front of the God of his *ancestors. v13 When he prayed, the *LORD heard him. And the *LORD had pity on him. So, the *LORD brought him back to Jerusalem and to his *kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the *LORD was God.

v14 After that, Manasseh built again the outer wall of Jerusalem and he made it higher. He built from the west side of the Gihon fountain. He built in the valley all the way to the Fish Gate. The wall went round the hill called Ophel. And he sent officers to all the strong cities in Judah.

v15 He removed the foreign gods and he took away the image from the *LORD’s *temple. He removed all the *altars that he had built on the *temple hill and in Jerusalem. And he threw them out of the city. v16 Then he set up again the *LORD’s *altar. He gave *sacrifices for peace and sacrifices to thank the *LORD. And he told the people in Judah to serve the *LORD, the God of *Israel. v17 The people continued to *sacrifice at the high places for *worship. But their *sacrifices were to the *LORD their God.

v18 In the book of the history of the kings of *Israel, there is a record. This record shows the other events during the rule of Manasseh. In it, there is his prayer to his God. Also, it records what the *prophets told him as from the *LORD God of *Israel. v19 The record of the *prophets tells about his prayer and about how God had pity on him. He had *sinned and he was not loyal to his God. He had built the high places to *worship false gods. He had made *Asherah images. But then, after that, he made himself humble. The *prophets recorded all these things. v20 Manasseh died and they buried him in his palace. Then Amon his son replaced him as king.

Verses 1-6 Manasseh was the king of Judah from about 687 *BC to 642 *BC. It seems that he ruled with his father Hezekiah for about 10 years before that. He was 12 years old when he started to rule. And he ruled for 55 years. He ruled more years than any other king of Judah or *Israel.

The people from Assyria were again in control over the whole region. Hezekiah had been free from that control. But Manasseh had to realise that the king of Assyria was his master. This may have been part of the reason for his *worship of the false gods.

The nations that were in the country before *Israel *worshipped many false gods. Manasseh built again the high places to *worship those gods. He built *altars to the Baal gods. He made images for *Asherah, the female god. And he *worshipped the sun, moon and stars. For these, he built two *altars in the *LORD’s *temple. He did the same as his grandfather Ahaz had done (28:3). He made his children go through fire in the Ben-Hinnom Valley. This was a *sacrifice to the god Molech. And he did many other evil deeds.

Verses 7-9 Manasseh made an image and he put it in the *LORD’s *temple. This image was probably an image of the female god *Asherah. This was an awful *sin and it was an insult to the *LORD God.

The *LORD had promised that the country would belong to the *Israelites. He had said that he would never remove them from that country. But this promise depended on their actions. They had to obey God’s commands. They had to do all that God told them by Moses. They had not obeyed the *LORD. They had not done as they should have done.

Manasseh led the people in Judah away from the *LORD. He led them into all the wicked ways of the nations. The people in Judah were worse than those nations that the *LORD had removed. And the *LORD was angry with Manasseh and with the people.

Verses 10-13 Manasseh and the people would not listen to the *LORD. Because of their *sin, the *LORD told them about the punishment that he would send upon them. Enemies would destroy Jerusalem and the people would go into *exile (2 Kings 21:10-15).

The *LORD sent officers from the king of Assyria. They tied Manasseh with chains and they took him to Babylon. No other records mention this event. Perhaps he joined Egypt’s army as they tried to get free from the rule of Assyria. It may be that Manasseh had involved himself in the affairs of Babylon. The brother of King Osnappar, Shamash-shum-ukin was the ruler in Babylon. He tried to free Babylon from the rule of Assyria. But Osnappar defeated the army of Babylon. These events were in about 652 to 648 *BC.

Manasseh suffered there in Babylon. He prayed to the *LORD. He *repented that he had been proud. And he *repented of his wicked deeds. He was humble toward the God of his *ancestors. And the *LORD heard him. He did not deserve it but the *LORD was kind to him. The *LORD caused the king of Assyria to free Manasseh. Manasseh returned to Jerusalem. The answer to his prayers convinced him that the *LORD was the real God. But this was too late to prevent the future punishment of Judah.

Verses 14-17 Manasseh built again the outer wall of Jerusalem. This wall was from the west side of Gihon to the Fish Gate. And the wall went round the hill called Ophel. Gihon and Ophel were on the south-east side of the city. The Fish Gate was to the north-west. Also, to make the cities of Judah stronger, he sent officers to them.

Manasseh had changed. Now he removed the foreign gods and the image that he had put in the *temple. He removed all the *altars that he had built in Jerusalem. He set up the *LORD’s *altar. He started again the *sacrifices to the *LORD God. He told his people to *worship the *LORD God of *Israel. He did not remove all the high places for *worship. But the people *worshipped the *LORD at those places.

Verses 18-20 The book of the kings of *Israel contained a record of the events of Manasseh’s rule.

The records showed:

 what  he did before he *repented,

 what  he did after he *repented.

They included the prayer that Manasseh had prayed to the *LORD.

Manasseh died in 642 *BC and they buried him in his palace. His son Amon then ruled in Judah. Amon – 2 Chronicles 33:21-25 v21 Amon was 22 years old when he became king. And he was king for two years in Jerusalem. v22 He did what the *LORD considered evil deeds. He did as his father Manasseh had done. Amon *worshipped false gods and he *sacrificed to false gods. These gods were the images that his father had made. v23 Unlike his father, Amon was proud and he did not *repent in front of the *LORD. Instead, he *sinned even more.

v24 Amon’s servants came together and they killed him in his palace. v25 Then the people in that country killed all those who had plotted against King Amon. They made his son Josiah king instead of Amon.

Verses 21-25 Amon was king for only two years from 642 to 640 *BC. He was as wicked as his father had been. When Manasseh had removed the images of false gods, he had not destroyed them. Amon *worshipped these gods. He was proud like his father. He was even worse than his father had been. And he did not *repent of his *sin as his father did.

His servants killed him in his palace. Then the people killed those servants. Then Amon’s son, Josiah became king of Judah. Josiah – 2 Chronicles 34:1-35:27

© 2010, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

November 2010

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