Second Kings chapter 21. This is the story of Manasseh. Manasseh was 12 years old when
he began to reign. And he reigned 50 and five years
in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did that which was evil
in the sight of the Lord after the abominations of the heathen
whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. For he built up again the high
places which Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed. And he reared
up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of
Israel, and worshipped all the host of heavens, and served them.
And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord
said, in Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars
for all the host of heaven, in the two courts of the house of
the Lord, the holy place and the holy of holies. And he made
his son pass through the fire, that's in sacrifice to Molech,
and observed times and used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits
and wizards. He wrought much wickedness in
the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set a graven
image of the grove that he had made in the house of which the
Lord said to David and to Solomon and his son, in this house and
in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel,
will I put my name forever. Neither will I make the feet
of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers,
only if they will observe to do according to all that I've
commanded them and according to all that the law that my servant
Moses commanded them. But they hearkened not and Manasseh
seduced them. to do more evil than did the
nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel,
the Amalekites, the Hittites, Jebusites, and so on. They were
more evil than any of them through Manasseh's leadership. And the
Lord spake by his servants, the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh,
king of Judah, hath done these abominations and hath done wickedly
above all that the Amorites did. which were before him and had
made Judah also to sin with his idols. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God of Israel, behold, I'm bringing such evil upon Jerusalem
and Judah that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem,
the line of Samarian, the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will
wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning
it upside down. and I will forsake the remnant
of mine inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies.
And they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,
because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and it
provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came forth
out of Egypt, even unto this day. Moreover, Manasseh shed
much innocent blood, very much, till he had filled Jerusalem
from one end to another, Beside his sin wherewith he made Judah
to sin, and doing that which was evil in the sight of the
Lord. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he
did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And Manasseh slept
with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house,
in the garden of Uzzah. And Amnon his son reigned in
his stead. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name. That we would have your presence.
That you would deliver us from hearing the words of a man. But
that we might hear from you. Lord, give us the spirit of hearing. Deliver us from that which would
distract us. And enable us to hear. Lord,
we ask this for every person here. We confess our sins, we
pray for forgiveness and cleansing and how we thank you for your
grace. How we thank you for the Lord Jesus and the salvation
that's in him. How we thank you for his precious
blood that cleanses us from all sin. How we thank you for his
perfect righteousness that we can approach you and be accepted.
Lord be with us, be with us in the sense of believing, hearing,
loving one another for Christ's sake. Be with all your people
wherever they meet together. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Manessa is arguably the most
wicked man in the scriptures. That's quite a statement. but
he is arguably the most evil man in the scriptures. He was
king for 55 years over Jerusalem. His dad was Hezekiah, who was
arguably the greatest king, and he saw the example that his father
set, and it had no bearing on him whatsoever. He sought to
bring Israel down. I want to read a passage in Romans
chapter one. You can turn with me there if
you want. But it speaks of these people
who, verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication,
wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, fool of envy, murder, debate,
deceit, malignity, whispers, backbiters, haters of God, spiteful,
proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful, who, knowing the judgment of God that
they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only
do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." Now, this
would described Manasseh. Not only did he commit all these
sins, he seduced Israel. He brought Israel into doing
the same things. And they became, through his
leadership, worse than any of the heathen round about, the
Amorites, the Hittites, the Amalekites. They became worse. Now you'll
remember that God told Israel, you can read about this in Deuteronomy
9, 3 and 4, but he said, the reason I'm driving out the people
of the lands, all the people he drove out, the Jebusites,
Amalekites, Amorites, Hittites, and so on. is not because you're
righteous and I'm giving it to you, but I'm doing this because
of the wickedness of these nations, the things that they do, I'm
driving them out. And through the leadership of
Manasseh, Judah and Israel became worse than any of these nations. Now that's how bad this man was. Look in 2 Chronicles 33, So Manasseh, 2 Chronicles 33
verse 9, as a matter of fact, stay there once you get there
because we're going to look at the Chronicles account. So Manasseh
made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err and to do
worse than the heathen. Now that's what this man did.
He made them to err and to do worse than the heathen. The account of Manasseh is in
both 2 Kings and here in 2 Chronicles chapter 33, but 2 Chronicles
gives us something that 2 Kings doesn't. God saved this man. I don't know of anything more
amazing or encouraging than this. The Lord God saved this wicked
man. Now let's look at the Chronicles
account, 2 Chronicles chapter 33. Manasseh was 12 years old when
he began to reign, and he reigned 50 and 5 years in Jerusalem,
the longest reign of any king. But he did that which evil in
the sight of the Lord likened to the abomination to the heathen,
whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. He was
just like them. As a matter of fact, he ended up being worse.
Now, you remember how Hezekiah had got rid of all the idols
in the land. He even ground up to powder that
brazen serpent, and he saw the necessity of no idols in the
land, and he tore down the groves, and he cleaned up the temples
of all the idols that had been brought in. Well, Manasseh redid
all that, for he built again the high places, which Hezekiah
his father had broken down. He reared up altars for Balaam.
and made groves and worshiped all the host of heaven and served
them. He was worshiping the stars and
the moon. And he built altars in the house
of the Lord, where with the Lord instead in Jerusalem shall my
name be forever. He had absolutely no regard for
the temple. As we go on reading, he even
carved out his own idol and put it in the Holy of Holies. That
is how irreverent and brazen and wicked this man was. He seemed
to have no fear of God at all. Everything God said, he completely
disregarded. Let's go on reading. Also, verse
four, he built altars in the house of the Lord. He had no
respect for the brazen altar of sacrifice. He built his own
kind of altars, where of 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. He
had new altars put in, manmade altars against the gospel. And he caused his children to
pass through the fire in the Valley of Hymnen. Now what that
means is there was a god called Moloch that they would heat up
and it had his arms out like this. There's records of it historically
about what these people did. And in order to appease their
god, they would put their children on that and sacrifice their children.
Now you think of how depraved and given over this is. Can you imagine doing that to
your children? Now you do it apart from God's grace, I realize
that, but just think of it. This is how low he had brought
these people. He actually took his own children
and offered him up in sacrifice to the false God, Moloch. What else he did? Verse six,
he observed times and used enchantments and used witchcraft. and dealt
with a familiar spirit and with wizards. He practiced black magic,
the occult, all these kinds of evil things that we shudder in
thinking about, but that's what this man was doing. He was doing
everything evil you can think of. He wrought much evil in the
sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And look at this,
verse seven. And he set a carved image, the
idol, which he made in the house of God. Now he thought, I'm gonna
make my own God. And he carved him out of God,
and he put it in the house of God. I think of so, this man
is so brazen and so hard-hearted, of which God had said to David
and to Solomon, his son, in this house and in Jerusalem, which
I've chosen for all of the tribes of Israel, will I put my name
forever. Well, he puts a carved image
that he made there. Neither will I anymore remove the foot of
Israel from out of the land, which I've appointed for your
father, so that they will take heed to do all that I've commanded
them according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinance
by the hand of Moses. So Manasseh made Judah and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem to err and to do worse than the heathen. He made this people, through
his influence, the worst people to ever live. Now, people say,
these are the worst days that there's ever been. I hear people
say that all the time. Every generation says that. No,
I'd say this is. This is. This is how low Manasseh
had brought these people. whom the Lord had destroyed before
the children of Israel, and the Lord spake to Manasseh and to
his people, what a mercy. Here he'd done all these things,
instead of just wiping him out, the Lord still spake to him.
But they would not hearken. Do you know that you and I will
not hear unless God gives us hearing ears? I want to be swift
to hear, don't you? Not these people. They would
not hearken. Verse 11, wherefore the Lord
brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Syria,
which took Manasseh among the thorns and bound him with feathers
and carried him to Babylon. Now, how That was such a tormenting thing
for him. Verse 12, and when he was in
affliction, bound with fetters, torn up by thorns, just bruised,
tortured, who knows what all happened to this man. When he
was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God and humbled
himself greatly. before the God of his fathers. Now, here's the first thing I
want to point out. Why did he beseech God? There's only one
reason. Because God put it in his heart
to do it. That's why he sought the Lord. He never had before.
But in this time of affliction, he beseeches the Lord. He beseeches
his mercy. He beseeches his favor. And the
scripture says he humbled himself greatly before God. When he was in affliction, he
humbled himself greatly before God. Now the scripture says God
resists the proud. And he gives grace to the humble. Now this man humbled himself
for one reason. God moved him to humble himself. And he humbled himself greatly. When you're seeking forgiveness,
the only way you can do so is in humility, humbling yourself. Look at it even on human terms. When you're seeking somebody's
forgiveness, if you've sinned against somebody and done them
wrong and you want them to forgive you, you feel bad about what
you did and you want them to forgive you. You don't come to
them and say, now you need to forgive me. If you're a Christian,
you need to forgive me. You're not practicing grace if
you don't forgive me. You need to forgive me as a Christian.
It's your responsibility to forgive me. What's wrong with you? What an attitude. If that person
does forgive you, it won't be because of the way you presented
your case, but because of their graciousness. You know, when
you even seek forgiveness from a human being, you know that
forgiveness is up to them. They're sovereign in that, in
that sense. It's up to them as to whether
or not they'll forgive you. You can't put, you know, you
need to do this, you need to do that, and try to justify yourself.
You've had people do you that way. Well, you ought to forgive
me, you know, and it's, all it is is annoying. Now, that's not
the way Vanessa came into the Lord's presence. Even if you're
seeking human forgiveness, you humble yourself. Don't try to
justify yourself. You say, this is all on me. It's
my fault. I'm sorry. Forgiveness is up
to you. I sure hope you'll forgive me.
Well, that's the way you come into the Lord's presence. You
come into the Lord's presence, humbling yourself, taking sides
with God against yourself. I'm guilty. You're holy. You're
righteous. And I'm wrong. You take sides
with God against yourself. You confess your sins. That means
you agree with God. This thing of confession isn't
just articulating your sins. You don't know what they all
are in the first place, but it's agreeing with what God says.
He's right and I'm wrong. And that's the way Manasseh did. He humbled himself greatly. before the God of his fathers.
And you know from this, it's only grace that enabled him to
do that because he was such a wicked, he had no fear of God. He was so, look at what he did,
but now the Lord puts his hand on him. Here's what I love to
think about. Vanessa was an elect sinner and
no amount of sinfulness. And he had, like I said, I believe
him to be the worst character in the scripture. No amount of
sinfulness can prevent God's grace from saving his elect. Manasseh's the biggest example
of that. He humbled himself greatly after
being such a greatly wicked person, verse 12. And when he was in
affliction, he besought the Lord, his God, and humbled himself
greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed unto him.
And he, God, was entreated of him. He heard his prayer and
he heard his supplication and he brought him again to Jerusalem
into his kingdom. I think of the Lord moving the
king of Babylon to let him go. Remember, the king's heart is
in the hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whithersoever he will. The Lord worked on that king's
heart and made him let Manasseh go back to Jerusalem. And look
at this. Then, verse 13, then Manasseh
knew that the Lord, Jehovah, he was God. Now, salvation is
knowing God. Not simply knowing about Him,
but knowing Him. Where He knows my name, I know
His. The Lord said in John chapter
17, verse 3, this is life eternal that they might know Thee, the
only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. Lest I put
too much emphasis on my knowledge of Him, I love what Paul said
in Galatians 4 and 9. He says, now that you've known
God or rather are known of God. Really, I'm more concerned about
being known of God than knowing God. I want to know him, but
I want to make sure he knows me and all my salvation is in
him knowing me. Now, Manasseh knew after all
these years of of wickedness and bringing the children of
Israel and the tribe of Judah down to being worse than the
heathen through his using black magic and Satan worship and wickedness
and all, the Lord did something for him. He brought him to humble
himself greatly before him and entreat his favor. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord,
he was God. Now he brings works meet for
repentance. You see, if you have this repentant
attitude toward God, you're going to do what Manasseh did. I'm
going to do what Manasseh did. Look what he did. And after this,
he built a wall without the city of David on the west side of
Gihon, in the valley, even to the evening at the fish gate. He built a wall. And I'll tell
you what, if the Lord ever does anything for us, and we know
it's only by his grace, but we want to build a wall against
anything that's contrary to him and his gospel. We're going to
be wall builders. It's good to build. Somebody
says, we need to break down walls. Sometimes we need to build them
up. And that's what he did. He built a wall and raise it
up a very great height and put captains of war in all the thin
cities of Judah. He began to protect Jerusalem
and look what he did. He took away the strange gods
and the idols out of 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. And he repaired
the altar of the Lord and sacrifice therewith on peace offerings
and thank offerings and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of
Israel." Now look at this change. He got rid of all these idols
and the first thing he did after that is he repaired the altar
of the Lord. The sacrifice becomes everything. That's what the altar represents.
Jesus Christ and him crucified. My only way of approach to God
is through the sacrifice of Christ. Now when the Lord grants this
humbling of yourself greatly, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
becomes everything to you. He's all your salvation. You
wouldn't dare approach any other way. And the peace, the peace
offerings that come from that and the thank offerings. Now,
aren't you thankful that salvation is utterly in Christ and everything
God requires of you, he looks to Christ for. So he is repairing
these. Nevertheless, Verse 17, in spite
of all this, the people, they didn't follow his example. They
followed his first example, but not his second. Nevertheless,
the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto
the Lord their God only. They didn't follow his example
completely, but they still bypassed the temple, sacrificing the high
places where they were forbidden to sacrifice. They're now saying
we're only sacrificing to Jehovah. We're forgetting Baal and the
sun worshipers and all that kind of stuff. So you see, they didn't
follow him fully. But don't you admire the mercy
of God toward this man? There wasn't anything about him
that could draw out God's mercy. But God is merciful. God is gracious. He delights in mercy. And that's
what he did for Manasseh. Now verse 18, the rest of the
acts of Vanessa and his prayer unto his God and the words of
the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel,
behold, they're written in the book of the Kings of Israel,
his prayer also and how God was entreated of him and all his
sin and his trespass and the high places where he built high
places and set up groves and graven images before he was humbled. That's what he did before he
was humbled. Oh, I want the Lord to humble
me. I don't want to be humiliated, but I want the Lord to humble
me so I humble myself all the time. Behold, they are written
among the sayings of the seers. So Manessa slept with his fathers
and they buried him in his own house and Amnon, his son, reigned
in his stead. I'm thankful for that history. There is mercy for the absolute
worst of sinners. Thank God for that. Amen.