2 Kings chapter 21. 2 Kings chapter 21, we'll pick up reading in verse 1. Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and he reigned 55 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. 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 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 hosts 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. And the Lord spoke by his servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has done these abominations.
He has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols. Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel. Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab.
I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. So I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, because they have done evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day. Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord." Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzzah.
Then his son Amon reigned in his place. Amon was 22 years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Meshulameth, the daughter of Haruz of Jatba. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.
So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked, and he served the idols that his father had served and worshipped them. He forsook the Lord God of his fathers and did not walk in the way of the Lord. And the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon.
Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. Now the rest of the acts of Ammon, which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzzah. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place." Amen.
Introduction: After Hezekiah
Well, we've just come off a study in the reign of Hezekiah in chapters 18 to 20, and certainly Hezekiah was a godly man. The problem with Manasseh is that he didn't imitate his father, and the problem with Ammon is that he did imitate his father. So Manasseh's reign, and then Ammon's reign. So we'll look at those tonight, and then tucked between the two is a prophecy against Judah.
This particular chapter advances the narrative in terms of Judah's impending collapse. Remember, we've seen the northern kingdom fall in 2 Kings chapter 17. There it was hinted that Judah was committing the same sort of, well it wasn't hinted, but it was stated that they were committing the same sort of sins. And then last week, specifically in chapter 20, the prophet Isaiah tells Hezekiah that Babylon will ultimately come and carry away all the treasures of of Israel or of Judah.
And so Manasseh does much to further the nation in its depravity and in its wickedness. And in many respects, he becomes the new benchmark for evil in Judah. And so
Manasseh's Reign: Verses 1–9
let's look first at the reign of Manasseh, verses one to nine. Secondly, the prophecy against Judah in verses 10 to 18, and then Amon's reign in verses 19 to 26. But we'll look first at the political policy and then the religious policy of Manasseh. Now he reigned from 697 to 642 BC.
As we see there in verse one, tells us it was a 55 year reign. I think if anything, this ought to make us appreciate term limits for civil government. Term limits for civil government is a good thing. If you have a man in there for 55 years and he's this kind of a man, That breeds oppression, and there is a seduction to commit idolatry that is given to us there in verse 9.
An ungodly leader exercises an ungodly influence upon a people. Now,
Manasseh's Political Policy
in terms of his political policy, it does not tell us that he was pro-Assyrian, but Assyrian annals or records indicate that he most certainly was. Now, there is a period where he is judged by God, according to 2 Chronicles 33, where the Assyrians take him off to Babylon at least for a time. 2 Chronicles 33 also records an instance of repentance on the part of Manasseh. Now this passage, chapter 21, doesn't indicate that. We'll take that up later.
If you're thinking about 2 Chronicles 33 and you say, but I think he repented, he did. But we'll see why that's absent from 2 Kings 21 and then see why it's there in 2 Chronicles 33. So at least for a time he rebelled against Assyria and they took him off into Babylon. But he returned from Babylon to Jerusalem.
But as I said, one particular historian states that, though Manasseh rebelled against Assyria at least once, he is a loyal vassal of Assyria throughout his long reign. S.R. Haddon, that's one of the kings that followed, or the king that directly followed Sennacherib, lists him among 22 kings required to forward building materials for his building projects, while Ashurbanipal, that's the king following, S.R. Haddon, names him as one of a number of vassals who assisted his campaign against Egypt.
So he was pro-Assyria. We know that's never a good thing when the nation of Israel, whether it's the north or the south, in this instance the southern kingdom of Judah, saddles up with a foreign oppressor, saddles up with another country or empire, and pays tribute to them. They don't trust in God, they trust in the riches that they give to that particular king in order to keep them at bay. So that's his political policy.
Manasseh's Religious Policy
What the passage details, however, is his religious policy, and it's a very pathetic and a very dark and a very degenerate policy.
Imitation of the Canaanites
We note first the imitation of the Canaanites in verse 2. Notice it says, 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. So what he is saying, the author is telling us, is that Manasseh has out-Canaanited the Canaanites. He has engaged in the kinds of immorality that brought the judgment of God upon these Canaanites in the first place.
Notice that in verse 9, we read that they were seduced, the nation of Judah, the kingdom of Judah, He seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. So, he is engaged in conduct that is absolutely wicked. It is characteristic of or even exceeds the wickedness of the Canaanites. We go back for just a moment to Leviticus chapter 18.
Leviticus chapter 18, there's several prohibitions here concerning sexual immorality. And then we find this statement at the end of Leviticus 20, 18. In verse 24 he says, do not defile yourselves with any of these things. For by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.
For the land is defiled, therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. So the land is defiled, therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it and the land vomits out its inhabitants. There's this narrative or this idea that God of Israel sends forth Israel into the land of Canaan to dispossess these poor people. that had occupied the land, that were conducting their lives in innocency and in pleasantness, and then at the behest of Yahweh, these Israelites come in and just utterly engage in genocide and wipe out these poor pathetic Canaanites. That is absolutely contrary to the facts.
The Canaanites were perverse, they were wicked, they were abominable, so God raises up Israel to send them in to take possession of the land, which is a form of punishment upon the Canaanites. But as we see in our narrative tonight, when Israel imitates or apes the Canaanites, God sends them out of the land. His judgment is righteous and it's just. It's not arbitrary.
It is not capricious. When the North engages in Canaanite behavior, the North is driven out by Assyria. When the South engages in Canaanite behavior, the South will be driven out by Babylon. God the Lord is not mocked.
If the covenant people take on the characteristics of the Canaanites, then they will be judged like the Canaanites. Notice in verse 26, you shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments and shall not commit any of these abominations either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you. For all these abominations the men of the land have done who were before you and thus the land is defiled. lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people." So you see, when we get to Manasseh's reign, the author is telling us that he has exceeded even the wickedness of the Canaanites that were in the land prior to Israel's arrival.
So the first thing, the imitation of the Canaanites.
Reinstitution of the High Places
Secondly, in terms of specific religious sins, the reinstitution of the high places. In verse 3a, we read that very specifically, he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed. Now they were tolerated among the Judean kings. Hezekiah, however, ripped them down.
He removed them. He got rid of them once and for all, but here comes Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, not imitating his father, and he reinstitutes these high places as competing places of worship with the main or central sanctuary. In this, he functions as a new Jeroboam I. He is similar to Jeroboam who erected the high places to begin with, the Jeroboam of the north.
Thirdly,
Altars to Baal and Asherah
he raises up altars to Baal and Asherah as Ahab did. You see a pattern here. Manasseh is following the very worst examples that he can possibly follow. He follows the Canaanites.
He follows Jeroboam I. Here he follows Ahab. This is just a wicked man following the wretched examples of other people. The end of 1 Kings 16, we read that Ahab did this very thing.
He not only engaged in these sorts of things, but he also built altars for Baal. Similarly, Manasseh does the same thing.
Worship of the Starry Host
Fourthly, he worships the starry host, 3C. This is forbidden by Deuteronomy 4.19. This is something unique to Assyrian religion. They promoted astral worship.
They promoted the worship of the sun and the moon and the stars, and we see that he has come under their sway, and he's engaged in this sort of worship with reference to the heavens above.
Rival Altars in the Temple
Fifth, he constructs rival altars in the temple of the Lord. Notice in verses 4, 5, and 7. Verses 4 and 5, he also built altars in the house of which the Lord had said, in Jerusalem I will put my name. That's the place of the central sanctuary.
Deuteronomy 12 is very conspicuous. God says, build my temple in my chosen city, and it's there that I will place my name. So what this man is now doing is taking Baal and Asherah and putting them in the self-same house of Yahweh of Israel. And then in verse 5, he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
And then dropping down in verse 7, 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. You see, he not only engages in these things, but he's actually brought the worship of these things right inside the very temple of God Most High. This man is a corrupt individual and he is leading Israel astray.
Child Sacrifice and Witchcraft
Notice, sixly, he imitates his father Ahaz, or rather, he imitates his grandfather Ahaz in terms of child sacrifice. Notice in verse 6a, also he made his son pass through the fire. the language of Molech worship. It was also used with reference to Baal, as I understand. Molech was the idol that stood amidst the fire, and persons would come and take their babies and throw them up into the arms of Molech.
Well, certainly he couldn't catch, so they would bounce off of the arms of Molech, into the fire, and there die. It was a form of child sacrifice, a means by which the god was appeased or placated, and that is precisely what the king of Judah has engaged in. Again, Ahaz did this before him. He is simply duplicating it, and it's certainly prohibited in Leviticus 18 at verse 21.
A man is a godless man. Seventhly, he engages in witchcraft and spiritism. Notice in 6b. Also, he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums.
Now, this is something, again, forbidden by the law of God. Deuteronomy 18, specifically verses 9 to 13, but it's also reminiscent of King Saul. Remember at the end of Saul's illustrious career? In the absence of the word of the Lord coming to Saul, what does he do?
In the first place, he banishes witches from the land of Israel. But when he hears no word from the Lord, he seeks out a witch, the witch at Endor, so that he can get an oracle, so that he can get a word from whoever before he goes into battle at Gebeah. And so this man Manasseh is engaged in all manner of wickedness and he is very similar to the worst of the kings of Israel prior to him. House says, given this summary, it is clear that Manasseh follows all the wrong role models.
He imitates the detestable Canaanites, Jeroboam I, the builder of high places, Ahab, the advocate of Baal worship, Ahaz, the proponent of child sacrifice, and Saul, the visitor of mediums. It is hard to imagine a more damning critique. And if you look specifically at verse 3, it says, 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 worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them. And then again at verse 6, He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums.
Go back to chapter 17 for just a moment. And notice in chapter 17, which is a description of the judgment of the northern kingdom, look specifically at verses 16 and 17. So they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, made for themselves a molded image and two calves. made a wooden image, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served Baal. And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft, and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger." So going back to chapter 21, if there were no prophecy of judgment pronounced against Judah in chapter 21, verses 10 to 18, or 10 to 16, we would still be able to infer that there is judgment coming, based on the fact that Manassas engaged in the very things that were practiced in the northern kingdom, that God brought Assyria to bear down upon them, and also in the express statement that what they had done was worse than the Canaanites before that.
So there's two lines of evidence that judgment is coming upon Judah, even without the clear testimony of verses 10 to 16, which is a prophecy against Judah. The very conduct that these persons are engaged in are inviting the very wrath of God. And that is precisely what we find at the end of verse 6. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger.
Brethren, we oftentimes forget this very fact because God doesn't always immediately judge. God doesn't immediately, when we engage in sin, or we devolve or degenerate into some evil practice, He doesn't, you know, just right away lash out against us in judgment. And so we can forget that our actions have consequences, and the consequence is a provocation of God. Now, Manasseh obviously lived in absolute rejection of this reality, but as the people of God today, we ought to notice the end of verse 6.
We ought to realize the sort of context that we find ourselves in. I've suggested we're standing on a building and watching two cars. The Northern Kingdom's already crashed. We're watching the Southern Kingdom driving into a busy intersection.
It is on a crash or collision course and we are witnessing it. And one of the things that is indicative of that is that they continue to rebel and they continue to sin without any thought of God whatsoever. We looked at practical atheism on Sunday night with reference to James chapter 4. Well, there's a practical atheism that pervades the modern professing church.
We live as if there is no God. In the context in James 4, we make our plans concerning today and tomorrow and a year from now about what cities we'll visit, about buying and selling and profiting and trading and all those sorts of things, but we also are practical atheists when it comes to this idea that God is nigh, God is watching, and God is provoked when we continue to sin and reject Him. Brethren, we cannot be atheists, practical atheists. We can be doctrinal theists confessing there is no other God but the true and living God, but all the while denying that God in our conduct, making our plans without any respect to who God is, living in sin without any respect to the provocation that we are offering to God in our particular conduct.
So Manasseh just doesn't care. I mean, we'll see that as we move through the chapter, but for us, we ought to care, and the thought of provoking the Lord ought to cause us to cease and desist from engaging in that sort of activity. And then notice, not only the specific religious sins, but
Overarching Rejection of God
there is an overarching rejection of God. Not that you don't already get that from this description of specific religious sins, but this rejection of God is seen first in his failure to follow David. Remember, David is the benchmark of godliness that we're supposed to follow in the Judean kingdom. He doesn't do that.
Notice in verse 7, "...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 other words, this man Manasseh is a descendant of David, and this man Manasseh does not follow David whatsoever. This is one thing David was always jealous for, was the pure worship of God. David had his sins, brethren. You know that as well as I do.
If you've been here for any amount of time, you were here in the days of 1st and 2nd Samuel, which seems like a long time ago, you know that David was not a perfect man. David engaged in murder, David engaged in adultery, but one thing David never did was engage in idolatry. He never defiled the house of God. He was always jealous for the true worship of God.
And David was the man that should have been followed, with reference to the kings of Judah. As well, notice what Manasseh rejects. He rejects the blessings promised by God to his people in verses 7, B, and 8. Notice, in this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. suggests his dwelling among his people.
Manasseh doesn't want that. Manasseh would rather have Asherah and Baal in the temple complex. He says, verse 8, And I will not make the feet of Israel wander any more from the land which I gave their fathers. See, this was always a blessing to be pursued in Israel.
Because remember, they were in Egypt for a long time. God led them out via Moses in a powerful and mighty way, and he brought them to the land of Canaan. He preserved them, and in accordance with the promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12, 13, 17, 22, ratified through Isaac, and Jacob, we see that they inherit the land. And one of the blessings of the land was the land itself.
Another blessing was God's dwelling with them in the land via the temple. And then a third blessing was stability in the land, the ability to retain the land, to stay in the land, to keep the land. Well, by his conduct here, Manasseh is saying the land doesn't matter whatsoever, the dwelling of God with us doesn't matter whatsoever, and stability doesn't matter whatsoever. So he is rejecting the very things that God has set forth as great blessings and things that ought to be cherished.
Again, if we jump over into the New Covenant, What is it that we forfeit by our own sin with reference to the good gifts that God has promised us? Dwelling? Presence? Stability?
Joy? Peace? Happiness? All those things we'll willingly relinquish for the passing pleasures of sin?
This was noteworthy about Moses. He would rather suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Now, brethren, listen to what the author tells us there in Hebrews 11. There is a pleasure attached to sin.
You and I don't sin because we absolutely despise it. I mean, on one level we do, but on another level there is something about it that is enticing to us. He calls it the passing pleasures of sin. You see, Moses was able to say, would I rather have passing pleasures of sin or the enduring riches that God holds out to me?
Well, I'd rather have that, so I'll suffer with the people of God and take a pass on that stuff. That's the mindset that we ought to adopt. We ought not to reject or resist the good things that God offers us the way that Manasseh does. He sacrifices dwelling.
He sacrifices stability. He sacrifices the very land that was covenanted to Israel by God's blessed word to Abraham. And then notice he rejects the Mosaic Law. 8b, there was a stipulation attached. God will dwell, God will give them, God will provide stability.
Verse 8, 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." Now, I think this functions in two ways. In the first, it just shows us the base and gratitude and abject wickedness of Manasseh. I mean, he's just failing to obey the Mosaic law. I mean, it was pretty cut and dry.
Do this, blessings come. Do that, curses come. You choose that, you'll be cursed. So it functions to define for us the wickedness of Manasseh, but it also functions for us to see the justice of God.
In other words, when we get to this prophecy against Judah in verses 10 to 16, there is nobody who can say, well, that doesn't seem fair. That seems like an overreaction. I can't believe it. For a little misstep on the part of Manasseh, God's going to bring Babylon in and judge and shut down Judah?
The law was very clear. It was very well defined. And if you trace the history of Israel, it was very much an exercise in God's patience that they lasted this long. I mean, it doesn't take long for them to become Canaanites.
You look at the book of Judges. Joshua is very positive, very favorable. They go in, they start dispossessing the land of the Canaanites, and then in Judges, what do we find? They start to devolve.
They start to degenerate. They start to take on the very characteristics of the Canaanites that they were supposed to dispossess. We see through the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings this increasing Canaanization of the nation of Israel. And as a result, they are now excommunicated from the land.
It's going to vomit them out the way that God specified in Leviticus chapter 18. So it shows us, in his rejection of the Mosaic Law, that he's a wretch, but that God is just in bringing this judgment to bear upon them. And then, in terms of his rejection of Yahweh, we saw this a little bit with Ahaz. Ahaz got a hankering for some new kind of worship in chapter 16.
Well, so does Manasseh. He brings in Asherah, he brings in Baal. And for those of you who have not been here, Baal is the male deity and Asherah is the female deity. And copulation was a big deal with reference to Baal and Asherah.
The way that one worshipped these particular gods was through fornication. The idea being is that the worshippers fornicated to try to get Baal and Asherah to engage likewise and then there would be fertility upon the land. It was absolute wickedness and wretchedness and so for Manasseh to bring this into the very temple of the Lord is another exhibition of just how bad he is. In verse 7, the way the author tells us, 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.
It's almost as if the author himself is saying, you can't even believe what this guy is doing. You can't even understand the great lengths to which he has degenerated. So he is a religious innovator. Now, if you know me, you'll know that I don't appreciate religious innovation.
God hates innovation when it comes to worship. God hates creativity. Now, I know that would meet with a lot of objection in the modern church in terms of their arts and communications sectors in their, you know, upon their, in their staffs, but I'm going to tell you flat out, God loathes creativity and innovation in worship. God wants one thing in worship from us, and that's obedience, the way he says it.
Don't add to it, don't take away from it. But Lord, we have better ways of doing things. Don't add to it, don't take away from it. What's so tough about that principle?
Deuteronomy 12, 32, 1 Timothy 3, Hebrews 12, when will we learn that God is the king of his house and he gets to tell us how to approach him? I mean, it's very common in our homes. We don't allow people to come in and jump on our couches. We don't allow people to come in and just start making bacon.
We don't allow people to come in and just do whatever it is they want to do. We have rules in our home, and when we invite persons into our home, we have this expectation that they'll obey our rules. And if they do start making bacon, we'll tell them, we're not going to have bacon right now, so please put that away. And yet when it comes to the church, it's a free-for-all.
When it's the church, we can repel in if we're the hip pastor with the head mic on. If it's the church, we can have puppets, ponies, and programs instead of the centrality of preaching God's Word. Why is it that Deuteronomy 12, 32, 1 Timothy 3, and Hebrews 12 don't matter anymore? Because we're creative and we're innovative, and God gave us these gifts.
Then use them in your home. Use him anywhere else but in the house of God where he has commanded how we are to approach him. Innovation and creativity has no place in the house of God. Proven makes this observation.
He says, Manasseh does not simply follow the example of others. However, he himself is the supreme innovator in religious practice. He practices sorcery and consults mediums and spiritists. And he takes it upon himself to install the starry hosts, sun, moon, and stars as objects fit for worship alongside the Lord and the Asherah pole in the temple.
The Lord of hosts has thus become merely a God among hosts. with a consort goddess for company, open to manipulation by occult means. It is the religion of a man who has entirely ceased to believe in the one true God, the creator of heaven and earth, transcendent in respect of the natural world and beyond all human control. Now, brethren, make no mistake about it. If we were to be there at this particular time, we would probably perceive there are some more nefarious ends in view than just the bastardization of the worship of Yahweh.
It was probably a means to control people, probably a means to appease Assyria, probably a means whereby he exercised this kind of sort of manipulation both over the gods and over the persons that he was king over. And then notice in terms of the seduction of Judah in verse 9. So this wicked man seduced Judah to do even more wickedness than the nations that were cast out before them. In other words, Manasseh led Judah to do worse than the Canaanites.
Matthew Henry said, those will have a great deal to answer for that not only are wicked themselves, but help make others so. Now, Manasseh's a terrible human being. I mean, there's no doubt. I mean, he's wicked, he's vile, he's wretched.
I can't say enough bad about the guy because look at, you know, verses 2 to 8. But brethren, Judah was seducible. See, an ungodly leader can't make a godly people sin. You know that whole idea, well, the devil made me do it.
No, he didn't. He may have presented some temptations, but your wicked heart led you astray. Well, my friends made me do it. No, they didn't, unless they held you down and poured that bottle of whiskey down your throat.
They didn't make you do it. You wanted to do that. Look at verse nine. But they, that's a plural form. not him, 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. One of the brothers tonight prayed about the wickedness of our political leaders. Isn't it intriguing how many people follow these wicked leaders? See, a wicked leader can't make a godly people do wicked stuff.
A wicked leader can seduce wicked people, and that's precisely what's happening. And again, not enough bad to say about Manasseh, but when the end comes, it's not only because of Manasseh. Now later, in the second Kings, or in the latter chapters, when we get to the fall or collapse of Judah, we see blame laid right at the feet of Manasseh. But if you look at verse 15, Notice, it's not all Manasseh's fault.
I mean, we can't just say, well, you know, everything was great until Manasseh came along. Because they have done evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day. So yes, this wicked wretch of a man seduced Judah, but they were seducible. Brethren, it is possible to be a godly man or a godly woman in an ungodly regime.
We are never forced to sin. We are never forced to commit acts of iniquity. If people follow godless leaders, it's because those people want to follow godless leaders. When you look around and you see everybody running after the beast, know that they want to run after the beast.
These people were seducible.
Prophecy Against Judah: Verses 10–18
Let's look at the prophecy against Judah. Notice this prophecy of judgment in verses 10 to 16. It's intriguing. Verse 10, the Lord spoke by His servants, the prophets saying.
This phrase is used four times in Kings. It's used with reference to the fall of Samaria twice, and it's used with reference to the fall of Jerusalem twice. The same sort of language Jesus uses going into the Olivet Discourse. I think another sort of at least indirect affirmation that what Jesus is dealing with in Matthew 24 is not in our future.
It was with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. He's using the same literary techniques that are found here in 2 Kings with reference to the fall of Samaria and the fall of Jerusalem when he rehearses the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but that's a digression or a study for another time. But notice the reason for judgment. Because Manasseh, king of Judah, has done these abominations, he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him and has also made Judah sin with his idols.
The author here is very pastoral or very apologetic, and by apologetic I don't mean he's sorry, but he is defending, he is telling us. I mean, I think most readers by the end of verse nine are saying, you know, is God gonna judge these people? I mean, look at this, this is just terrible. But every step of the way, the author is telling us they've committed abominations, they've done wickedness, they've done evil.
So when we get to 2 Kings 25 and the collapse of Judah, nobody can say, well, why did this happen? And one of the particular purposes of 1 and 2 Kings is to instruct the people why they're in exile. I'm just going to tell you flat out, that's why repentance is in 2 Chronicles 33 and it's not in 2 Kings 21. Why does the author leave it out?
Well, it doesn't matter at this point. Judah's doom is sealed. But as well, 1st and 2nd Kings are written to basically explain why the nation is in captivity in Babylon. 1st and 2nd Chronicles are written to encourage the people after the exile to rebuild, to get going, to own their god, to own their temple, to own their king, to do those things that are consistent with the religion of Yahweh. So there's different theological emphases in terms of 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
That's why some positive things in the Chronicles aren't mentioned in Kings. It's not that there's discrepancy or contradiction. It's that there's a theological sort of a focus that the authors are highlighting. And what 1 and Kings want to tell the people in exile is, here's why you're in exile.
Here's why you're in Babylon. Here's why you're growing, you know, whatever it is you're growing there in Babylon. Here's why you're in this basic slave state. It's because of all this stuff.
So no one would ever be able to say, well, I don't know why we're here. Well, absolutely you know why you're there, because you continue to violate the covenant that God had ordained or God set forth. And so the author continually tells us what is going to happen and why it is happening. And then note with reference to the description of the judgment.
He says their wickedness exceeds even the Amorites. Now, the Amorites were one of the seven cities mentioned, one particularly under the ban in Deuteronomy chapter 7. In other passages, the Amorites seem to be sort of the chief of the pagan nations. I mean, if you had to have, you know, the worst of the Canaanites, the Amorites would be that.
And so the author's saying Judah's worse than the Amorites. It's like he couldn't heap up enough derision upon Manasseh and Judah at this particular time. I mean, the amazing thing in the remainder of 2 Kings, it's not judgment, it's Josiah. That's what's truly amazing.
I mean, when we get to chapter 22 next week, that's when we really ought to sing amazing grace. Because Josiah wears a billboard that says God's gracious. The fact that Josiah comes after Manasseh and Ammon and this prophecy against Judah is proof positive of the long suffering of God. If anybody ever tells you, well, the Old Testament, it's all full of war and blood and mayhem and doom.
Take them to 2 Kings 22 and say, man, this was a perfect opportunity for war and chaos and doom, and God sends Josiah. That's patience, brethren. So
Description of the Coming Judgment
notice the description of the judgment in verses 12 to 15. I'm leaning on Davis here. He has a great little section on this particular section. In the first place, it is a terrifying judgment.
That's the literary convention of verse 12. Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. That's used twice in the Old Testament, along with this particular passage. It's in 1 Samuel 3.11.
It's in Jeremiah 19.3. The particular word for tingle is a bit difficult to nail down. In Habakkuk 3.16, it is translated quiver. So the idea is probably fear.
Ear tingling doesn't necessarily mean that your ears started to buzz or whatever. You know, you hit your funny bones sometimes, it feels like your elbows buzz. That's not what's happening. The idea is terror.
Whoever hears this, they're going to quiver. Their ears are going to tingle. They're going to shake or quake in their boots when they see the judgment and wrath of a god who has been provoked by such wickedness. Secondly, it is an inevitable judgment.
Notice in verse 13, I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab. Davis says, Yahweh uses building imagery, but of deconstruction rather than construction. And I shall stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab. Yahweh had already made history of both Samaria and of Ahab's dynasty, and Jerusalem was next in his demolition program.
The measuring's been done. It's coming. It's inevitable. Thirdly, it is a complete judgment.
Notice in verse 13b, I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. You lick the plate, right? You lick it clean of all the good stuff and then you turn it upside down and nothing falls off. I'm sorry.
Some of us lick plates when nobody else is around. My wife's such a good cook. You see what he's saying. He's going to wipe the plate and turn it over.
I think you used to test the kids. Well, I'm done. Well, take your plate and turn it over. If food falls off, you ain't done.
You've got to eat. You've got to finish. So he moves from the construction site metaphor to the kitchen, just so everybody's following. And then notice fourthly, it is a just judgment, verses 14 and 15.
So I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies because they have done evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt even to this day. It's just because the book of Deuteronomy specifies clearly in chapter 28 verses 47 to 67 what Israel can expect should they go into the land and they become Canaanites. And then notice, before we move on to the end of Manasseh, it's almost as if the author wants to tell us it wasn't just religious sins or cultic abuses, but it was ethical problems too. Moreover, Manasseh, verse 16, shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin, by which he made Judah sin, and doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
Now, I think that some of you have heard me emphasize this reality. A forsaking of the first table of the law inevitably leads to a forsaking of the second table. In other words, when we become idolaters and we reject the living and the true God, we don't care about image bearers. When we reject commandments 1 to 4, 6 to 10, 5 to 10 don't matter.
If we're going to bring Baal and Asherah into the very temple of the Lord, we're going to kill people in the streets. That's just the way it goes. So you see, if you are not faithful to your God, you're not going to be faithful to your fellows. And that is brought out.
It's intriguing. Gil says, putting to death the prophets that reproved him. Most commentators suggest that that's more than likely the bulk of the blood that he shed. Remember, Jesus said it's impossible that a prophet should die outside of Jerusalem, Luke 13, 33.
Again, Jesus, when he's doing the Olivet Discourse, or as he's on his journey to Jerusalem, it just sounds so much like 1 and 2 Kings. It sounds so much like the prophet Jeremiah, because it's the same subject matter. You see, what God does here is He sends them into Babylon. After 70 years, He brings them out of Babylon.
They then become Babylon in Jerusalem. They haven't changed, they haven't reformed, they haven't been, you know, remedied. They continue, and it finds its pinnacle in the rejection of Messiah and the crucifixion. That's why God brings judgment to bear upon them in AD 70.
It is a curse of the covenant. It is the days of vengeance that the prophet Isaiah wrote of. So we see that Manasseh filled up Jerusalem with the blood mostly of prophets. So Gil says, putting to death the prophets that reproved him and his people for their idolatries, and such who would not comply therewith.
And it is commonly said, both by Jewish and Christian writers, that Isaiah was slain and even sawn asunder by him. Hebrews 11.37 speaks of one being sawn in two. Commentators, as he said, Jewish and Christian, say that that was Isaiah under Manasseh. Now, I mean, if verses two to eight don't convince you, or two to nine don't convince you that Manasseh's wicked, I mean, the man who killed the man who wrote Isaiah 53, that's just, how do you do that?
You've got to really, really be degenerate to kill the prophet Isaiah. And then the end of Manasseh is recorded for us in verses 17 and 18. It's a standard formula. In fact, in 1 and 2 Kings, the summary formula occurs 15 times, or thereabouts.
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did and the sin that he committed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzzah. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. That standard formula that we have seen many, many times.
Well, within that formula, there is an occasional tidbit of information about the reign of that particular person. For instance, in 1 Kings 15, we learn of Asa that he had diseased feet. In 1 Kings 22, again, in that little summary statement, that little formula, 1 Kings 22, we learn that Jehoshaphat was good at war. Already recently, in 2 Kings 20, at verse 20, what do we learn about Hezekiah?
For those of you who were here last week, he built a very advanced aqueduct or tunnel or water system to bring water into the city in times of siege. Look at what's included with reference to Manasseh in terms of the tidbit of information. The rest of the acts of Manasseh, all that he did, and the sin that he committed. I mean, Hezekiah is known for his waterway.
Jehoshaphat is known for his battle on the fields. Asa is known for the disease in his feet. And what's Manasseh known for? The sin that he committed.
Davis again says, that does not mean the rest of Judah's kings were stalwarts of righteousness But only that Manasseh was so much the epitome of wickedness that one could not tell his story without wallowing in the details of his wickedness. The sin which he sinned was written, recorded in clear and fluent Hebrew in all its shame and scandal. What a memory to leave. Manasseh, the only king, specially noted for his sin.
That's a pathetic thing, isn't it? That is just absolutely terrible that he ends this way.
Amon's Reign: Verses 19–26
And then the reign of Amon, it won't take long. He reigned from 642 to 640. It doesn't take long because he just did exactly what his father did. Manasseh sinned by not imitating his father Hezekiah.
Amon sinned by imitating his father Manasseh. And you see, I think that this passage, at least this section, teaches us something about family.