The Two Lives of Manasseh

Introduction

Are you ready for this Sunday’s question? Let’s change it up a little bit. This Sunday’s question is a true or false question. Let’s see if you get it right. True or false, change is easy. I think many of you maybe have answered false, and you’re wrong. Change is easy. I’ve done it. And it was easy. I used to be young, good looking, and athletic. But I changed. I’m no longer young. Some of y’all didn’t get that. I think we recognize then in most arenas, most meaningful arenas over which we have control. Change isn’t easy. In fact, change is real hard. And that’s certainly true of spiritual change. If change was easy, and what’s the biblical word for change? Repentance. If repentance or change was easy, everybody would be doing it, wouldn’t they?

Or maybe not everybody, but a lot more people, because I still hold out hope for humanity that most people are good and want to be good and want to do right. And so more people would be doing it if it was so easy. Change is hard, but change is necessary, isn’t it? Children of God would all agree. But let’s talk about change this morning. In fact, I want to go back to the Old Testament. It may be one of the most stark examples of change. A man by the name of Manasseh. If you will start with me in the book of 2 Kings, chapter 21. We’ll be looking at several passages of scripture this morning, and it’ll always benefit you to turn along in your own Bibles and read and study with us.

It keeps you engaged in the lesson. It also helps to imprint in your heart that what we’re talking about and what we’re reading is the Word of God, if you have it open and reading it yourself. And we’ll be looking at two kind of primary text in the Old Testament. And so you might put your bookmarks or your fingers or a pencil or what something you can hold your place here in 2 Kings 21, and then we’ll be looking at another one here in a minute. You know the time period that we’re looking at. We’re in the midst of the divided kingdom. The children of Israel have settled into the land of Israel.

They had the united kingdom. You can name those kings, can’t you? Saul, David, and Solomon, but then the kingdom divided. And now we’re in that divided period of kingdom. And now it gets tricky. We can name the United Kingdom kings. That’s easy. Now, divided kingdom, you’re an advanced Bible student if you can name the kings of the divided kingdom, because there’s so many of them. And most of them are bad. In fact, in the northern tribes of Israel, all of them are bad. But Manasseh stands out as one of the worst. Let’s look at his worseness, if you will, here in 2 Kings chapter 21. Let’s begin reading in verse 1. It says, Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. And he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem.

His mother’s name was Hepzeba. 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, for he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. Let’s pause there.

Manasseh is one of the worst kings, if not the worst king in the southern tribes of Judah. He’s rivaled only by maybe Ahab, who was a king in the northern tribes of Israel. Having good parents isn’t a guarantee that you’re going to be a good person. But the opposite of that is true as well. Having bad parents isn’t a guarantee that you’re going to be a bad person. And so his father, Hezekiah, had removed the high places, but he rebuilt them. Keep reading verse 3. He raised up altars for Baal and made a wooden image as Ahab, king of Israel had done, and he worshipped all the hosts 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. Let’s pause again. I don’t know that we can actually say it’s worse to sin inside the church building than outside the church building. But maybe it is, because there’s a sense of defiance and blasphemy in that. And certainly in the temple of God, not only did he reinitiate idol worship in Judah, but he brought it right in to the temple of the Lord, which was supposed to be God’s and God’s alone. It was to be the dwelling place of God. Verse 6, he also made his son through the fire.

That wasn’t a team building exercise where his son walked over coals of fire. That means he offered his own son as a burnt offering to a foreign God.

He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. We could pause there. In fact, just stop there. It keeps going, but that’s enough, isn’t it? To see just how bad of a character Manasseh was. And not only did he do those things himself, but because of his position as ruler, as king over the people of Judah, the children of God, he led them astray in doing those detestable things before God. And so what do you think about Manasseh? God says he did evil. He lists off the evil things that he did. And you know the saying, a tiger can’t change his stripes. Isn’t that the same? But Manasseh did. As bad and as evil and as wicked as he was, he changed.

Look with me. In fact, hold your finger there again in 2 Chronicles 21 or put a bookmark there. And go to 2 Chronicles chapter 3. 2 Chronicles chapter 33, and now let’s start reading verse 9. In kind of a summation verse, 2 Chronicles 33, verse 9 says, So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. Can we pause again? You see that not only did he personally do those things, but he seduced. He was a leader, he had influence, even spiritual influence over the people. And so he pulled them into his sin, a sin that is described as worse than the sin that the Canaanites, whom God had destroyed had practiced.

Now there’s two ways of interpreting that is. Number one, it was just outright worse. But maybe it was just worse in the sense that they were held to a higher standard. It’s worse that they worshiped idols than it was that the Canaanites worshipped idols. Either way, he says it was worse. And it was worse than the nations whom God destroyed. There’s a hint there, isn’t there? God destroyed those people for doing those things. Now you’re doing worse things. What’s going to happen? Keep reading. Verse 10 of 2 Chronicles 33. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the armies of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks. And that’s exactly what it sounds like.

They took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed to him. And he received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Manasseh. Brought Manasseh back into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Now I know you already knew that story, or parts of it at least, but if you didn’t know that story, you would be utterly shocked that a man like Manasseh, as bad as Manasseh, could change. And so the story and the example of Manasseh is recorded in scriptures may be just maybe to remind us that change is hard, but it is possible.

1. We Can Provoke God to Anger by Our Sins

Even a drastic spiritual change is possible. And so let’s look if we can learn some lessons from the two lives of Manasseh. I’m sorry, but we got to start with the negative. And so let’s talk about that first life of Manasseh. And the first lesson that we can learn is that we can provoke God to anger by our sins. Manasseh did.

But he took him captive. It says that the Assyrians led him away with hooks. That would have been a hook pierced through his flesh. Some scholars and historians think it might have been through the cheek, through the mouth and lip and a hook. That’s the way they would drag you. And guess what? As they were dragging you, if you stumbled and fell, they didn’t pause and wait for you to get up. They certainly didn’t help you to get up. They just kept dragging. And they took him captive, and it just simply says, and maybe the understatement of this morning that he was in affliction. Now, what’s a neighboring king going to do to a king who has refused to subject himself, and now I’ve had to come in and take you by force and take you away.

How is he going to be treated in prison? He was in affliction. All because, as 2 Kings tells us, he did evil in the sight of God. And the same is true today. Hold your bookmarks there and go with me to the New Testament, to Romans chapter 1. Both old and New Testament agree in reminding us of two things. Number one is God is involved and cares about his creation. And when that creation that he is involved with and cares about transgresses his will, especially repeatedly and rebelliously, it angers God. Romans 1 verse 18, the Apostle Paul says, For the wrath of God, Romans 1:18, the wrath, the anger of God is revealed from heaven against all ungliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth and unrighteousness of God.

The wrath of God. That’s not just an old testament expression. That’s a new testament expression as well. And although we live in a time when the worst thing you can do is offend someone, and the worst thing you can be is intolerant. I need to remind you that you’re all sinners. And without Jesus Christ and the salvation that He offers, you will all spend an eternity in hell. Let me rephrase that. We’re all sinners. And without the forgiveness and the salvation that’s offered in and by Jesus Christ, we’ll all spend a miserable eternity in hell. We anger God by our sins. Manasseh did. We all do. But Manasseh woke up, didn’t he? Now it was late in life. Much damage had already, many times irreparable damage had already been done.

2. Sometimes We Need Something to Bring Us to Our Senses

And it was only when he had hit rock bottom that he wake up and turn to God. But sometimes we need that. Sometimes we need something to bring us to our senses. We’ve been studying and continuing to study the minor prophets in our Bible class, and I hope you’ll stick around for that this morning as we look at the prophet Amos. And many times the prophets are telling them these past events, like the locust invasion in Joel’s case, these past events should be jarring reminders that God gets mad when you rebel against him. So you better change.

It might be that bad news that’s received by someone who’s close to you. It might be the rebellious behavior of your children. It might be a near death experience.

Or it might be like the prodigal son. You remember that story. We rejoice at the prodigal son coming to his senses and going back to the father and pleading with that father and the father’s wonderful love and grace and accepting him back. But don’t forget what it took for that son to go back to the Father. He had to hit rock bottom. He had to be bankrupt financially and spiritually before he came to his senses and said, I’ll go back to my father.

3. Learn Those Lessons

Don’t roll your eyes and say, Well, of course. And also don’t do that when they get caught. Because do I need to remind you that the man after God’s own heart only repented and came back when he was exposed publicly? Did God roll his eyes? When our Lord told a story of redemption, did he not tell about somebody that had to hit rock bottom before they came to their senses? And so don’t be spiritually cynical. Rejoice. That’s what the angels in heaven will do. The second lesson we need to learn from that point is that learn those lessons. Don’t let those earth-jarring events be for nothing. You remember what the wise man said in the book of Ecclesiastes in Ecclesiastes chapter 7 in verse 2, you know this verse.

It says, For it is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. For that is the end of all men. And the living will take it to heart. It’s better to go to a funeral than it is to go to somebody’s birthday party. Why? A birthday party is going to be fun. There’s going to be cake there after all. But you’re not going to learn anything. But when you go to a funeral, as unpleasant as that experience might otherwise be, there’s a lesson there, isn’t there? Because every funeral that you attend should remind you that written upon your forehead is the famous saying, This one too shall pass. Because I’m going to tell you, as in my capacity as a preacher, I’ve been to a lot of funerals.

4. Don’t Wait for That

I’ve been to funerals of people who were over a hundred years old. I’ve been to funerals of people that were the same age as me. I’ve been to funerals of people that were a lot younger than me. Twenties, teenagers. It’s better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting. And so let’s lose those events to learn and to bring us back to God. Last lesson on this point, and we’ll move on, is found in the book of Luke. Luke chapter 13. Begin reading with me in Luke chapter 13 and in verse 22. It says of our Lord, Luke 13, 22, he went through the cities and villages teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. Then one said to him, Lord, are the few, are there few who are saved?

And he said to them, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the door has risen up and master of the house, excuse me, has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open for us, and he will answer and say to you, I do not know you, where are you from? And you will begin to say, we ate and drank in your presence, and we talked in the streets, but he will say, I tell you I do not know you where you are from. Depart from me, you all you workers of iniquity. The last lesson is in the point that sometimes we might need something to bring us to our knees to shock us to repentance.

5. In His Second Life, We Can Start Over

The last point is, don’t wait for that. Because it might not ever come. If it comes, it might be too late. But the last point we will learn from the two lives of Manasseh comes in his second life, if you will.

And we’ve gone as far away from God as we think is possible. When we think surely God will not love me anymore, or forgive me, we can start over. Again, I bring you to the story of the prodigal son. He felt that way when he hit rock bottom, didn’t he? Because he talked about being a servant in his. I can’t go back to where I was. I’ve rebelled, I’ve wasted my inheritance as a son. Father won’t accept me back as a son, but maybe, maybe if I catch him on his good day, he’ll let me come back as a servant. But don’t ever forget the story of the prodigal son is not about the son, it’s about the father.

And the father never once said, Come back as a servant. Because you don’t kill a fatted calf and bring out a robe and a ring for a servant, but you do for a son. Let’s go back to 2 Chronicles chapter 3. We ended off in verse 13 where it says, Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. But keep reading in the next few verses. Verse 14 says, After this, he built a wall outside the city of David on the west of Gaion in the valley, as far as the entrance of the fish gate. And it enclosed Ofel, and he raised it up to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. He took away. He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord.

And all the altars that he had built in the mount in the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he cast them out of the city. Then he repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. I want to make a sub point here before we get to the Lord. How did he know how to do that? Started king when he was twelve. Now we don’t know how quickly he started being the miserable failure he was as a king. But it must have been for a long time. How did he know what offerings to offer and what needed to be restored? Now there may be several answers to that, but I want to offer one answer.

It may have been because of Hezekiah his father. That though initially, and maybe we could argue for the bulk of his life, he rebelled against the ways, not just of God, but of his earthly father, and did not walk in his footsteps. There was still a seed planted somewhere in there by his parents. So that when he did come back to God, he knew where to go and how to do it.

6. God Would Take Him Back

But Manasseh comes back and he starts his life over. Now, unfortunately, we have to be full disclosure here, have to be honest, he wasn’t able to turn the people around as we would have hoped and he would have hoped, but he was able to save himself. And I’m going to tell you that is absolutely earth-shattering remarkable on two accounts. That somebody as no good, low down, good for nothing, as Manasseh was, could change. Isn’t that remarkable? We started off with a true and false question, and I think most of you answered false, and you were right. Change is hard. But he did it, and that’s remarkable. The second thing that is remarkable, more remarkable, is that God would take him back after what he had done.

You spit in my face like that. You defile my house like that. And I’m just going to take you back like nothing ever happened. God will.

Maybe the most righteous of his countrymen doubted his sincerity. God took him back. The New Testament is full of examples. The Corinthians. Remember that list of sins, what we would consider contemptible sins in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, 9, 10, and 11. And the apostle Paul says, and such were some of you. I’m paraphrasing. Such were some of you, but you changed. And God took you back. What a remarkable thing that we can change. And that everybody who’s a Christian is starting over. Look with me in the book of Romans in the New Testament, the book of Romans chapter 5. Here’s why we can change. Because grace is offered. Romans chapter 5 and verse 20 says, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. Has there ever been a law that man did not violate?

Conclusion

Everywhere there was law, there was sin. But that’s not the end of Romans 5, verse 20. Because it says that where sin abounded, grace abounded much more. You cannot out sin the grace of God. There is no sin so great. There are no sins so innumerable that God would exhaust his grace. Now we need to put an asterisk here because Paul will in chapter six. Don’t abuse that. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Remember that? No, no. So let’s not abuse that beautiful blessing and privilege. But Manasseh in the old testament, and maybe Saul of Tarsus slash the Apostle Paul in the New Testament forever stand as examples that you can change. And that God will take you back. And so this morning we ask you have you provoked the Lord to anger?

Have you rebelled against him like that prodigal, wasteful, extravagant son who turned his back on his father, went into a foreign country? Have you hit rock bottom? Or is something happened in your life to make you maybe wake up and realize that you’re not going to live forever? That there is a better way.

But it can be done. You have an army of brethren, brothers and sisters here, we’ve talked about family a lot lately, who will help you through that difficult transition and change, who will love you and encourage you and sometimes admonish you. And you have a heavenly father represented by that prodigal father who will welcome you home and kill the fatted calf and put a ring on your hand and a robe on your shoulders because you decided to change. Can we help you to like Manasseh begin your second life to become a new creature, a new creation in Christ this morning? Then why not let that desire known to be known right now as together we stand and as we sing?