II KINGS 21: manasseh

sermonindex Aug 30, 2016

Okay,

I'm in II Kings 21....

...How in the world does an evil King like Manasseh, spring from the loin of righteous King like Hezekiah?????'

Perhaps Manasseh inherited his mother's DNA. Hephzibah, who is this woman that she influenced the good King Hezekiah to marry and the birth to a rogue like Manassseh?

And why does God deliberately go out of His way to name the MOTHERS of these Kings?

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother?s name was Hephzibah. And 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.

a. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king: This means that he was born in the last fifteen years of Hezekiah?s life, the additional fifteen years that Hezekiah prayed for. Those additional fifteen years brought Judah one of its worst kings.

i. ?Had this good king been able to foresee the wickedness of his unworthy son, he would doubtless have no desire to recover from his sickness. Better by far die childless than beget a son such as Manasseh proved to be.? (Knapp)

b. And he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem: This was both a remarkably long and a remarkably evil reign. A long career or longevity is not necessarily evidence of the blessing and approval of God.

i. ?A degenerate plant of so noble a vine.? (Trapp)

ii. ?Manasseh is named in Assyrian annals (Menasi or Minse, King of Yaudi) among twelve rulers of Palestine who brought tribute in kind to their overlord.? (Wiseman)

c. According to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before: Manasseh imitated the sins of both the Canaanites and the Israelites of the northern kingdom (2 Kings 16:3). Since God brought judgment on these groups for their sin, casting them out of their land, then similar judgment against and unrepentant Judah should be expected.

2. (3-9) The specific sins of Manasseh.
For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; 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 I will put My name.? And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 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; and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers; only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.? But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

sermonindex Sep 15, 2016

Hmmm....

Who Raises Up ? And Who Brings Down ?

Why dispute with the ONE who Raises Up Whoever He Desires,
and
Brings Down Everyone When He Wants To ?

Few in the Untied States Know or Realize Who Raises Up and Who Brings Down ...

If they did, they wouldn't vote. They wouldn't support such a system of injustice and unrighteousness, would they ?

Learning Yhwh's (God's) System and Ways , His Word, is so different in every way from the way people are raised the last 200 years in the Untied States.... before then, who knows? Perhaps a few were raised in the right way, perhaps very few...

Let us learn from Him, the Creator of All Life , the Creator of All things in the Universe....

His Ways ARE NOT "our ways" (the way any of us were brought up - the way young people are taught in the Untied States)

Yhwh calls and choses for Himself a unique people - Yhwh sets them apart to and for Himself.

Jesus says "Who-so-ever comes to ME(Jesus), I will in no wise cast out."

He also says most all the world never makes it.

Take care to be one of those who do. It is God's Choice.

He alone can bestow eternal life. By Grace thru Faith in Jesus.(Yhwh's Chosen Way, and the ONLY WAY).

So, Seek Him While He May Be Found.

G

ginnyrose Sep 17, 2016

QUOTE:
"How in the world does an evil King like Manasseh, spring from the loin of righteous King like Hezekiah?????'"

I, too, have asked this question. It is a question that begs answers today if you are observant.

Back to Manasseh.

When reading the Kings it is always informative to read the Chronicles along with it because it will give information that is missed in the Kings. So, then let us look at 2Chronicles 33:1-19:

1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.

2 He did evil in the sight of the LORD according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.
3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

4 He built altars in the house of the LORD of which the LORD had said, "My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.”

5 For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

6 He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.

7 Then he put the carved image of 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 from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;

8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.”

9 Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.

10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

11 Therefore the LORD brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

12 When he was in distress, he entreated the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

13 When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

14 Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

15 He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.

16 He set up the altar of the LORD and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.

17 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the LORD their God.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh even his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of Israel.

19 His prayer also and how God was entreated by him, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the carved images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the records of the Hozai

Lessons I learned from this account:

1. Be careful what you pray for! Had Hezekiah not begged God to prolong his life he would never have sired Manasseh.

2. A parent can be ever so godly yet have children do the most wicked things. On a broader scale if you look at people that had the most profound impact politically, in music, fashion came from religious homes...not certain about them being godly, but they were people who were exposed to the WORD.

3. A person can be ever so wicked yet has the capability of being redeemed. How many of us would have written Manasseh off as being unredeemable? Most of us, I would dare say. But God ordered events to bring the man to his knees.

4. We cannot limit God even when things looks so horrible.

5. Some things never change and human nature leads the pack.

Lessons this historical event taught me.

Sandra

T

TMK Sep 18, 2016

Quote:
"1. Be careful what you pray for! Had Hezekiah not begged God to prolong his life he would never have sired Manasseh."

Hindsight is always 20/20. I do not believe for one second it was wrong for Hezekiah to pray for an extension of his life. If that was the case we should never pray for a healing because of some unseemly thing that may result.

Let the unseemly things take care of themselves. (Mt 6:34)

G

ginnyrose Sep 20, 2016

Todd,

With this incident in mind I have learned to be very careful in asking God for healing or for anything, for that matter.

We live in a fallen world and God knows how he will bring about honor and glory, even using evil men to accomplish this.

So, when praying for healing for ourselves, we do not demand it but graciously ask God for divine intervention. It is all up to Him. I am of the understanding that God will give us all we need to serve him adequately and this will mean we need natural resources to do so, including health. We do not want to be tempted above we are able to bear. At this stage in life neither my husband nor I are on any prescription meds and some look at us cross-eyed. Oh, yes, we have health issues but nothing that cannot be endured. Even then God has been gracious in giving us insight into what we need to do to moderate it.

It seems to me one should have the mindset to cooperate with God on health issues. This is how we operate and are so thankful. We do not criticize people who differ with us, each has to find his own place based on conviction the Holy Spirit lays upon a person.

I would like to add this, though. There have been too many incidents where people demanded healing, spending thousands to facilitate it only to have these youngsters grow up and apostatize. If a body is aware of this possibility it does humble one, causing one to back off from making demands of God.

This is how we understand the principles of this issue.

Sandra

T

TMK Sep 20, 2016

But what if Jesus is saying "just ask me?"

Isn't that what he said we should do?

D

docs Sep 20, 2016

10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

11 Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

12 When he was in distress, HE ENTREATED THE LORD HIS GOD AND HUMBLED HIMSELF GREATLY before the God of his fathers.

13 When he prayed to Him, He (God) was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. THEN MANASSEH KNEW THAT THE LORD WAS GOD.

14 Now after this he built the outer wall of the city of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance of the Fish Gate; and he encircled the Ophel with it and made it very high. Then he put army commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah.

15 He also removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, as well as all the altars which he had built on the mountain of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside the city.

16 He set up the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and HE ORDERED JUDAH TO SERVE THE LORD GOD OF ISRAEL.

17 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the Lord their God.

18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh even his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are among the records of the kings of Israel.

19 His prayer also and HOW GOD WAS ENTREATED BY HIM, and all his sin, his unfaithfulness, and the sites on which he built high places and erected the Asherim and the carved images, BEFORE HE HUMBLED HIMSELF, behold, they are written in the records of the Hozai.

20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. And Amon his son became king in his place. (II Chronicles 33:10-20)

And like Paul Harvey the radio commentator use to say at the end of his program when he signed off, "And that is the rest of the story."

Amazing! Astounding! I don't know what to do with it but there it is. Manasseh eventually humbled himself and his prayers were heard by God and God moved on His behalf!