2 Chronicles 33

CHAPTER 33THEME: Manasseh’s evil reignAs we have seen, Hezekiah had been sick unto death, but he had prayed to God and Isaiah had prayed with him. He had some sort of boil which may well have been a cancer. God healed him and extended his life for fifteen years. That was a gracious dispensation on the part of God in answer to prayer. But when one looks at this in the full light of the history that followed, one wonders if it was the best thing that could have taken place. First of all, it was during that fifteen-year period after his life had been spared that Hezekiah displayed the wealth of his kingdom to the ambassadors from Babylon. This opened the door for Nebuchadnezzar to come years later and take the city. He knew exactly where the gold was, and he took it by force. That was the Fort Knox of Israel. No one is attacking Fort Knox today. They tell me that the security there is unbelievable, but the gold is leaking out. The nations of the world aren’t able to get it by attack; so they are getting it in another way. Well, that gold in Israel tempted Babylon to come and take it. It had been a very foolish thing for Hezekiah to show that gold to them. Secondly, you will notice here that Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign. This means that this boy was born during the fifteen-year period after God had extended the life of Hezekiah. Manasseh was the most wicked king of all. During his reign there was such godlessness that God had to intervene.

2 Chronicles 33:1

It’s a strange thing, isn’t it? Hezekiah was the best king and led the nation in a revival. His son comes to the throne and is the worst king. How can you explain that? I’ll let you in on a secret: I cannot explain it. Around me today things are happening like that which I cannot explain. Periodically I hear of a very fine Christian home with wonderful Christian parents in which a son or a daughter rebels against everything. When one looks at young vagrants across the entire land, one can conclude that they were neglected at home. They saw godless, materialistic parents who were fighting all the time, or they came from broken homes, homes that were centered merely on self and selfishness. I can understand why they rebelled against all that and just walked out. But why is it that a son or daughter will simply walk out of a lovely, Christian home and join the rebellious crowd? I really cannot explain it. I can give two possible reasons, and both of them are feeble. The first reason is that young people are influenced by the other young people around them. All young people go through a period when they feel that their parents are stupid. I can remember after I had gone away to college I was almost ashamed to come home. They just didn’t know enough, you see. That is a period that youth go through. I have heard other young people tell me the same thing. One young pastor told me how ashamed he was of his dad when he went off to college. But after he had been out in the big bad world and had faced some problems, he returned home for a visit. He realized that although his dad had been somewhat stupid, he had managed to make a good living and had provided a marvelous home for his family. He said that the thing which amazed him was how much his dad had learned in those few years he had been away from home! I think all young people go through such a period, and I can understand that young people are influenced by other young folk who have left home in rebellion. That is one explanation. Also I have noted that young folk who rebel against a Christian home, especially if they have made a profession of faith, will return to the Lord in time. The king we are looking at here, Manasseh, is an illustration of this. The reign of Manasseh was evil beyond imagination. It is my conviction that the Shekinah glory, which was the visible presence of God, left the temple. The prophet Ezekiel saw the vision of the Shekinah glory lifted up and removed from the Holy of Holies because of the sins of the people and their rebellion. It moved out to the walls of Jerusalem and waited there. The people did not turn back to God. Then the Shekinah glory withdrew to the Mount of Olives and lingered there. Still there was no movement of the people back to God. So the Shekinah glory was caught back up into heaven. Ichabod, which means “the glory has departed,” was written over the threshold of the temple. Their house was indeed left unto them desolate. I know that most expositors feel that the Shekinah glory left the temple during the captivity. I don’t feel that is accurate. If the Shekinah glory did not leave during the reign of Manasseh, I cannot see any other period in Israel’s history that would cause the glory, the presence of God, to leave. I believe this was the time. Notice how long this man reigned. He reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. This man reigned much longer than others, longer than David, longer than Solomon, longer than his father. Why? Because God is merciful. God is longsuffering. He is not willing that any should perish. After all, God has plenty of time on His hands. He has eternity in back of Him and eternity in front of Him. He is in no hurry, friends. Don’t think you are going to push God, or rush Him, or move Him. I hear people say to someone to pray. They say, “If you go right to God, He’ll begin to move.” Friends, He may and then again, He may not. He will take His time. God is in no hurry. He will give Manasseh ample opportunity to turn to Him. We are getting God’s viewpoint in Chronicles. In 2 Kings 21 we are told of the evils of Manasseh’s reign, and here in Chronicles God repeats that he “did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.”

2 Chronicles 33:3

He went into idolatry in a big way. He was as bad as Ahab and Jezebel, and he worshiped Baal as they had done.

2 Chronicles 33:4

He introduced right into the temple in Jerusalem the worship of the hosts of heaven: like the worship of Jupiter, the worship of Mercury, the worship of Venus, and the worship of all the stars. In other words, he established the horoscope there. You could have had your horoscope read in the temple in that day. I’m sorry to say that some churches actually promote this same sort of thing. It is big business today. You can go to any dime store or magazine rack and buy a horoscope. Some folk say it is just innocent fun, but it is not that for a lot of people. They put more confidence in the horoscope than they put in God. I recall an interview on television some time ago in which an outstanding entertainer made the statement that she had been looking at her horoscope and that she was a Virgo. The girl had been married five or six times and apparently had other affairs, and I would not think she was a Virgo by any manner of calculation! And she felt that when such-and-such a star crossed such-and-such a star, that would be a very important time for her. It is amazing that in our day intelligent people can place so much confidence in the stars. Manasseh was very much interested in the horoscope. “And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.” And he didn’t stop with that.

2 Chronicles 33:6

He went all the way into idolatry. We are not told how far he went in causing “his children to pass through the fire.” There were degrees. He could have let them pass through the fire and only get well singed. Or he could put the baby right down in the arms of that red-hot idol. You just cannot think of anything as bad as that! This is idolatry, and Manasseh seems to have gone into it all the way. Also Manasseh used enchantments and witchcraft and dealt with familiar spirits (lit., a divining demon present in the physical body of the conjurer). In our day along with the movement back to God we are seeing a return to satanic worship.

2 Chronicles 33:7

God had promised that if these people would worship Him and be faithful to Him, He would bless them. Notice what Manasseh is doing to Judah.

2 Chronicles 33:11

MANASSEH IS CAPTURED AND THEN RESTOREDYou can be sure that when a man or a nation reaches this place, God will move. He was actually taken from his throne and carried captive to Babylon.

2 Chronicles 33:12

This man had a remarkable experience. I would have given him up, I’m sure, but God did not give him up. God sent troubleand plenty of itto him. He was carried away as a captive to Babylon. This should have been a warning to the nation that God was now getting ready to send them into captivity because of their continual sin. When Manasseh found himself in real trouble, he sincerely came back to God. God forgave him and restored him! Yet he was very much of a weakling, as such men generally are. When he returned to Jerusalem, he took away the strange gods and the idols out of the house of the Lord, and he repaired the altar of the Lord and sacrificed there.

2 Chronicles 33:17

In other words, the people never did truly come back to God but still sacrificed in the high places. Apparently Manasseh reigned all this time. When he was a helpless captive in Babylon, God heard his prayer. This reveals how gracious God is! Here is a son of godly parents who went into sin to the very limit and then came back to God. That should be an encouragement to parents who are reading this today. Maybe you have a son or a daughter who has gone the very limit, and you despair that your child will never turn back to God. I would have given Manasseh up, but God didn’t. God heard his prayer.

2 Chronicles 33:21

REIGN OF AMONThe evil which Manasseh had done had its effect on this young man, his son. I can understand why his son went off into evil as he did. Friends of mine, folk of means, really lived it up until middle age. They were converted after their children were nearly grown. Then after they were converted, they had other children who are wonderful godly children. But the older children have gone the limit into sin.

2 Chronicles 33:22

Amon followed in the footsteps of his father in his early days.