1 - 9 Manasseh King of Judah
1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 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 destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, 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, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 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 son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking [Him to anger]. 7 Then he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD said to David and to his son Solomon, “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 make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.
The God-fearing Hezekiah is followed after his death by his godless son Manasseh. Manasseh was only twelve years old when he began to reign (verse 1). His reign lasted no less than fifty-five years, a period exceeding that of all the other kings. It is one of the enigmas of God’s government that He allowed such a wicked man as Manasseh to rule over His people for so long.
The name of his mother is also given. Hephzibah means ‘My lust is in her’. In that name we hear what Jerusalem means to the LORD. What kind of woman she was, is not told. Whether she was a good or a bad mother, we do not know. Judging by the development of Manasseh, she certainly could not prevent him from developing into such an ungodly king. We cannot point to a cause for all time when children go against what their God-fearing parents have told them.
Manasseh did not take his father Hezekiah as an example, but followed in the ways of the kings of Israel, of whom we have read over and over again, what is said here of Manasseh, that they did “evil in the sight of the LORD” (verse 2). He did “according to the abominations of the nations”.
He quickly undid his father’s reforms and “he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed” (verse 3). He was also inspired by Ahab, the most godless king of Israel. It is quite possible that his worship and serving of sun, moon and stars (“all the host of heaven”) came through Assyrian influence. So we see that Manasseh adopted the worst of everything and everyone and put it into practice. The judgment that God had given both to the nation and to Ahab didn’t matter him at all.
That the wicked Manasseh seemed to be able to do unhindered whatever it took also says something about the people. The revival under Hezekiah had apparently not rooted deeply in the population. The people were easily carried away on the bad road where Manasseh was leading them.
He openly provoked the LORD by building idol altars in the house of the LORD (verses 4-5). The greatness of this evil is clearly expressed by saying that Manasseh did this in the house “of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name””. Manasseh didn't care about that. He ignored the rights of the LORD to His house and just made it a dwelling place for demons. Manasseh didn’t act out of ignorance concerning the will of the LORD, but he didn’t care at all about that will.
His whole performance shows his voluntary surrender to demonic powers (verse 6). This showed in him sacrificing his children to the devil, engaging in occultism – he practiced witchcraft and used divination – and stimulating all forms of sorcery – he appointed mediums and spiritists. The conclusion is that he did not ‘only’ ignore the LORD. It was much worse. Not only did he pass by the LORD with contempt, but he intentionally acted in this way to defy the LORD: “He did much evil in the sight of the LORD provoking [Him to anger].”
Verse 7 gives another example of his gross violation of the rights of the LORD and his defiance of Him. Even more emphatically than in verse 4 we hear the indignation of God about Manasseh’s shameless courage to set the carved image of Asherah in the temple. We hear God’s indignation in what He said of His house and of His city. God’s feelings about where He had chosen to put His Name forever were deeply offended by Manasseh’s contemptuous actions.
In verse 8 the LORD continued, in connection with verse 7, to speak about what He would have liked to do. He had wanted to put His Name forever among a people whom He would never drive out of this land, if they at least listened to His law. And there it went wrong: “But they did not listen” (verse 9). They followed Manasseh and wandered in a way that made them sin worse than the heathen peoples who first had lived in the land. There was now a godless mass of people, so soon after we had seen the history of a faithful remnant during Hezekiah’s reign.
Even now, professing Christianity has been more corrupted by people than any other faith, just as Israel here was committing more sin than the gentile nations around them. That is why God’s judgment over professing Christianity will be all the more severe.
10 - 16 The LORD Announces Judgment
10 Now the LORD spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who [were] before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols; 12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing [such] calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’” 16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
Because of all the wickedness of Manasseh and his perseverance in it, the LORD had to announce judgment. He did so “through His servants the prophets.” The contents of His words are in verses 11-15. God did not remain silent and sent His warnings. When the judgment, to be carried away by Babylon, did come, no one could say that he did not know.
Verse 11 first gives a summary of the sins of Manasseh. In this summary he is emphatically called “king of Judah”. He should have appreciated that he was king of Judah. Judah means ‘God lover’. Manasseh had overlaid this name with the greatest shame. He committed atrocities, even putting the deeds of the pagan Amorites in the shade. By his wrong example he made Judah sin.
There is an announcement in verses 12-14, of what the LORD would do as punishment for these sins, while verse 15 gives the reason for the punishment. The judgment that the LORD would bring over Jerusalem and Judah would astonish those who hear of it. The standard set for judgment was the same as the one the LORD had set for Samaria and the house of Ahab. God is perfectly righteous in His judgment. He doesn't measure by double standards.
By this judgment there would be nothing left of Jerusalem. The city would be like a dish wiped clean and turned upside down (verse 13). The LORD would withdraw from the remnant of His inheritance and give it into the hands of their enemies. He would no longer be involved with them and leave them to their fate. For this fate they had chosen themselves. The “remnant of My inheritance” (verse 14) refers to the inhabitants of Jerusalem who had not perished in a previous judgment. So this was not about the faithful remnant, but who remained after the first judgment.
Many of the remnant who had lived in the days of Hezekiah were killed by Manasseh. According to tradition, Manasseh ordered Isaiah to be “cut into pieces” (Heb 11:37). He would have committed this terrible murder with a wooden saw. We also live in days comparable to the days of Manasseh. If we want to be faithful to the Lord and His Word, we must count on being persecuted (2Tim 3:12) and we will have to be willing to pay dearly for our faithfulness.
17 - 18 Death of Manasseh
17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son became king in his place.
The brief previous description of all the atrocities of Manasseh is all that the author of 2 Kings had to say. We read nothing about his conversion in this account, as is reported in 2 Chronicles 33 (2Chr 33:10-20). We only read here about his government, about his responsibility, how he ruled. In the books of Chronicles we read about the grace of God.
19 - 26 Amon King of Judah
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name [was] Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 He did evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done. 21 For he walked in all the way that his father had walked, and served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. 22 So he forsook the LORD, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the LORD. 23 The servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. 24 Then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 26 He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son became king in his place.
After the wicked Manasseh, who had ruled for a long time, came his son Amon, another wicked king. These two kings ruled between two God-fearing kings. Grace is not an inheritance, one cannot demand it. Grace is given by God without reason in man.
In the description of Amon’s reign, the full emphasis is on the fact that Amon completely followed his father Manasseh in his wickedness: “He walked in all the way that his father had walked” (verse 21). That is worse than “not walk in the way of the LORD” (verse 22). He did this as a conscious choice, because we read that he “forsook” the LORD. Forsaking is leaving consciously. The LORD is called here “the God of his fathers”. He turned his back on everything God had been to his fathers, thinking especially of David and Hezekiah in the first place.
The LORD allowed his father Manasseh to reign for fifty-five years. In all his godlessness He did not intervene. That does not mean that everyone can do what he wants. Amon received a quick judgment. After only two years reign, he was murdered by his servants.
The people of the land, the hard-working people, killed Amon’s killers. They then made his son Josiah, king in his stead. They took the law into their own hands. Somehow they wanted a king from David’s house to remain in power. Possibly they acted, because a small part of the good influence of a converted Manasseh was still present in them. In any case God used it to place Josiah, whom He would use as a special instrument for a last revival among His people, as king on the throne of David. God controls everything, including the autocratic actions of population groups, to fulfill His plan.