Verses 1-9, “Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, 'In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.' And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.' So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.”
During the last fifteen years of Hezekiah's life (the extra years that God had given him), he bore a son named Manasseh. Manasseh was one of the worst kings that Judah ever had, working completely against the reforms of his father. He followed the practices of the Canaanites, whom they had dispossessed, and also the evil ways of the the northern tribes of Israel. Hezekiah practiced occult activities, invited demonic presence, caused his son to pass through the fire, and even brought an idol that he made into the House of the Lord. II Kings 21:7, “He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, 'In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever.' ” Asherah was the Canaanite goddess of fertility who was worshiped through ritualistic prostitution. All this was done in the House of the Lord.
No doubt, Manasseh's actions infuriated God. Not only did he engage in these wicked practices himself, but he enticed the nation of Judah to follow him in his evil ways as well. As a nation, the people were now more evil than the nation that was destroyed in order to give the Jews possession of the land in the first place. Spiritually speaking, the people were not being taught the truth of God's word, guilt from sin, and repentance for forgiveness; but instead they all turned a blind eye and did as they pleased. They ignored the promises made to them by God, both the good and the bad, as if He did not even exist. It's hard to believe that this can happen to the people of God, but clearly it can. The church today needs to be on guard. They are allowing all kinds of evil through the door, from yoga to Halloween practices, and no one wants to call it out. The people can ignore it all they want, but it does not mean they are not angering God or that there are no consequences for their sin. Remember, it is not just those who practice these things that are guilty.
Verses 10-17, “And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the Lord their God.”
Although He was greatly provoked to anger, the Lord did not just wipe out Manasseh in judgement, even though he deserved it. In His great mercy, the Lord warned the king (and the people), but when they would not listen, God chastened them. II Kings 21:10-15, “And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 'Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.” ' ”
They people went through the motions of removing the foreign gods and idols from the city, but they still worshiped the Lord from the high places. God is very clear that He does not want to be worshiped the way that heathens worship their false gods, or in the same location. You simply cannot "Christianize" the method of worship... it needs to be destroyed. Deuteronomy 12:2-7, “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things. But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go. There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.”
Verses 18-25, “Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of Hozai. So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. But he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and served them. And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. Then his servants conspired against him, and killed him in his own house. But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.”
After being chastened by God, Manasseh was carried away captive to Assyria, where he finally was brought low enough that he repented. The false pretense of repentance, and some action to remove idols, was clearly not enough to satisfy God's righteous requirement. He commands our full obedience. Any less just demonstrates that you do not know God or fear Him, and haven't learned a thing from your chastening. It makes you wonder, how low do we have to be brought in order for God to get our attention? Even if we do eventually repent, what consequences will we suffer for our prolonged stubbornness and unwillingness to yield to God? Manasseh clearly modeled a wicked example to his son Amon that was not broken, even after his delayed repentance. Amon trespassed more and more...what a terrible legacy to leave behind.
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