2 Kings 21

Ok, so when I first read verse 1 that Manasseh rules for 55 years, I though he must have been good. Right? To be allowed to rule for such a long time without getting killed, he must have been doing something right. But, then verse 2 tells that he followed in “abominable practices of the nations whom the Lord has cleared out of the way of the Israelites.” Well there went my hope.

I reviewed commentary and timelines after first reading this chapter. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. Manasseh was born in the last 15 years of Hezekiah’s life. In the last 15 EXTRA years God had granted him. So not only in those last 15 years did Hezekiah become prideful and turn his heart from God, resulting into God telling him that his future would lose Jerusalem, he also fathered the worst king in Jerusalem history. Of course the birth of Manasseh was part of God’s plan and retort to Hezekiah’s foolish ways. 

Verse 3: He rebuilt the high places which his father had destroyed. Manasseh opposed everything Hezekiah tried to establish. All the good Hezekiah tried to bring back, Manasseh destroyed. He brought the evil practices back into custom, even burning his own son in the practice of immolation. What Manasseh did by changing all the good back to evil shows us that at any time, under new leadership, things can be changed. Reform, repentance, traditions, customs, laws, etc, and not necessarily permanent. It reminds me of a saying about Kansas weather. “If you don’t like the weather, hang around for a while. It’ll change.” If you don’t care for the rulings of one leader, the next one might change things. Of course that could always backfire, and things could always get worse. 

The people in Jerusalem didn’t listen to God. “Manasseh misled them into doing greater evil...21:9” Manasseh misled them, yes, but the people WILLINGLY followed his corruption. The chose to listen to Manasseh and not God. They made their own choice. When there is a leader who is not God centered, it is very easy to see how the people could fall away from God. When you have a group of people who already don’t care about the direction of their culture, and put in place a leader or leaders who are self-centered, you end up with a group that glorifies immorality. 

I don’t want our group to get political. I do want us to pray for our leaders, for our nation. Pray that whomever is chosen to lead us has a God centered heart. Pray that our nation as a whole turns from its self centeredness and grasps the goodness of God’s promises.