The Evil Good King

2 Kings 21:1-26

There\'s a common adage that bad fathers grow bad kids and good fathers grow good kids. While I think there is truth there-certainly a father will influence his kids either towards or away from a relationship with the Lord-in the case of some of the final kings of Judah, the adage doesn\'t seem to hold true.

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First we had Ahaz, who was the compromising king. He took stuff from Syria in order to please the Assyrians and put them into the worship life of Judah. He was a flake who refused a miraculous sign from God because he didn\'t want to be accountable for the fact that Yahweh is God. He didn\'t want a relationship with God.

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Then he has Hezekiah, who, except for some pride issues, was a terrific king. He led Judah into some incredible reforms and was the one responsible for finally taking down the high places that had become a real stumbling block to the people.

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Then along comes Manasseh who, you\'d think, would have at least been a marginal believer and servant of Yahweh, given his heritage in Hezekiah. But Manasseh turns out to be one of the worst kings of either Israel or Judah. It goes to show that in reality, we are influenced by our parents, but they do not control our destiny-that is a decision left up to us.

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1

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Manasseh reigned longer than any other king in Judah\'s history. That\'s sad because it just gave him more time to pull the nation away from God. He reigned from 698/697-642 B.C.). He had seen God\'s great deliverance from the Assyrians, so you would think Hezekiah\'s faithfulness to Yahweh and God\'s faithfulness to his people would be a strong influence on this life. Apparently not.

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2 - 6

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It\'s almost as if Manasseh set out to find every sort of evil practice that had ever been known in the region. Not only did he rebuild the high places his dad had torn down, but he put idol altars in the priest\'s court, the outer court, and even inside the Temple itself. He murdered his son to Molech, and consulted demonic forces. He was like Canaan².

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7 - 9

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Manasseh actually did worse things than all the Canaanite kings that God expelled from the land. He brought in an Asherah pole to the Temple itself. Asherah was the consort of Ba\'al, sometimes referred to as the goddess of healing who walked on water.

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(reference to the temple) Deut 12:10-11 But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices

(specifically against Ashererah) Deut 16:21-22 \"You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of the Lord your God that you shall make. 22 And you shall not set up a pillar, which the Lord your God hates.

(Solomon\'s prayer) 1 Kings 8:27-30 \"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ?My name shall be there,\' that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place.

10 - 11

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God sent prophets to warn Manasseh. 2 Chronicles 33:10 says \"they paid no attention.\" So God sent the Assyrians, who captured Manasseh \"with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.\"

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12 - 15

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Because they didn\'t pay attention, and refused a relationship, which meant forsaking all others-God put into motion the destruction of Judah. It would be a judgment with significant impact (tingling ears), but one that was measured so as to be adequate (plumb line) and also one that would completely give Judah over to its enemies (wipe the dish clean). In addition to all the other stuff that Manasseh did, it says \"shed very much innocent blood.\" It\'s not stipulated what that means, but we know for sure that his son was innocent, and murdered.

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16 - 18

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Manasseh is buried in his private garden-and the story seems to end there-bleak and hopeless. But if we look at 2 Chronicles 33 we get some very important information. Essentially, in Babylon, God humbled Manasseh, he repented and was allowed to return to Jerusalem where he tried to undo all the evil he had done. While this is wonderful, and shows us the mercy of God for those who will repent-it was too late for Judah, which had fallen away from God so far that a full discipline in Babylon was the only cure. It was also too late for Manasseh\'s son.

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19 - 22

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(Hair\'-uz, Jot-buh) Here Amon was influenced by his father and picked up where dad left off, returning the country once again to rank idolatry. He \"abandoned\" the Lord. Chronicles adds that he refused to repent but rather \"increased his guilt.\"

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23 - 26

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This happened in 640 B.C. The assassinations may have been a part of the uprisings that occurred during this time and resulted in the king of Babylon turning his attentions to the west. There may also have been a struggle between those who wanted to remain loyal to Assyria and those who wanted to throw their weight in with Egypt.

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Conclusions

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It\'s an object lesson of Galatians 6

Gal 6:7-9 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Don\'t hesitate to be an example, but don\'t let someone else\'s faith substitute for you own

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Many lives have a \"Rest of the Story\" - some good, some bad

So don\'t judge a book by its cover (to use an old saying)

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Even the worst can repent, and we need to leave room for that.

Sometimes we write people off prematurely. And though it can take discipline and hard times, when they turn, they will then have that example that you set for them.

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Luke 22:31-32 \"Simon, Simon, behold,? Satan demanded to have you,? that he might sift you like wheat,? 32 but? I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again,? strengthen your brothers.\"