FRAMEWORKS:
2 Chronicles 33: Manasseh
& Amon, kings of Judah
[Introductory
Notes: The record
of Manasseh found here [and in 2 Kings 21] is quite remarkable
in that:
i)
he was possibly one of the worst kings of Judah [see v.2-10]
ii)
yet when God disciplined him with exile, he genuinely repented
[v.11,12]
iii)
and so the Lord restored him to his rule in Jerusalem [v.13]
iv]
where he strengthened Jerusalem and cleaned away all idol worship.
What
is also noted is that although Manasseh came back to the Lord,
the people at large didn't and he failed to do anything about
that. Yet it is an incredible demonstration of God's mercy when
He obviously can see the potential of repentance, however evil
the person may be. When his son, Amon, follows him he is a bad
king and only lasts two years.]
v.1,2
Manasseh's reign starts
v.1
Manasseh
was
twelve years old when he became king, and he
reigned in Jerusalem for fifty-five years.
v.2
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord
, following
the detestable practices of the nations the Lord
had driven
out before the Israelites.
v.3-11
Manasseh's evil
v.3
He
[i] rebuilt
the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he [ii]
also erected altars to the Baals
and made Asherah poles. He [iii] bowed
down to all the starry hosts and worshipped them.
v.4
He
[iv] built
altars in the temple of the Lord
, of which
the Lord
had said, ‘My Name will remain in Jerusalem for ever.'
v.5
In
both courts of the temple of the Lord,
he built altars to all the starry hosts.
v.6
He
[v] sacrificed
his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, [vi]
practised divination and witchcraft,
sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much
evil in the eyes of the Lord
, arousing
his anger.
v.7
He
[vii] took
the image he had made and put it in God's temple, of which God
had said to David and to his son Solomon, ‘In this temple and
in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,
I will put my Name for ever.
v.8
I
will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land
I assigned to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to
do everything that I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees
and regulations given through Moses.'
v.9
But
Manasseh [viii] led
Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more
evil than the nations the Lord
had destroyed
before the Israelites.
v.10
The
Lord
spoke to Manasseh and his people, [ix]
but they paid no attention.
v.11-13
Taken to Babylon, Manasseh repents and is returned to Jerusalem
by the Lord
v.11
So
the Lord
brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria,
who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him
with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
v.12
In
his distress he sought the favour of the Lord
his God and
humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.
v.13
And
when he prayed to him, the Lord
was
moved
by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him
back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew
that the Lord
is God.
v.14-16
Manasseh brings restoration to Jerusalem
v.14
Afterwards
he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon
spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate
and encircling the hill of Ophel; he also made it much higher.
He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in
Judah.
v.15
He
got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple
of the Lord
, as well as
all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem;
and he threw them out of the city.
v.16
Then
he restored the altar of the Lord
and sacrificed
fellowship offerings and thank-offerings on it, and told Judah
to serve the Lord,
the God of Israel.
v.17
Nevertheless the people didn't turn back to God
v.17
The
people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but
only to the Lord
their God.
v.18-20
Concluding Manasseh's reign
v.18
The
other events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his
God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord
, the God of
Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel.
v.19
His
prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his
sins and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places
and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself –
all these are written in the records of the seers.
v.20
Manasseh rested with his ancestors and was buried
in his palace. And Amon his son succeeded him
as king.
v.21-25
Amon's brief and bad reign
v.21
Amon was twenty-two years old
when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for two
years.
v.22
He
did evil in the eyes of the Lord,
as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshipped and offered sacrifices
to all the idols Manasseh had made.
v.23
But
unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself
before the Lord;
Amon increased his guilt.
v.24
Amon's
officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace.
v.25
Then
the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King
Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his
place.
Continue
to Ch.34