II Chronicles Chapter 33
Please read: II Chronicles 33 –
You may often wonder as you read through the history of the kings in the Bible why they often turned back to idol worship and to certain false gods. This is exactly what the son of Hezekiah did when he took over the throne of Judah. The answer can be found in my favorite verse of the Bible.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
The devil has only one agenda and it has been the same agenda since the beginning. He wants to destroy what God has created, what God has called good. The tactics he used to lure kings and ordinary people into idolatry and away from worship of the one true God, is the same tactics he uses today. There is a lot of scripture that warns us about this spiritual warfare, but what it ultimately comes down to is - who we individually decide will be the ruler of our heart.
King Manasseh, somewhere along the line, made a decision that he would allow the forces of evil to be the ruler of his heart so that he could have what his dark heart wanted, materialism, selfish ambitions, power, notoriety, and sexual perversions. He ignored the good example his father had set for him. He ignored seeing the blessing that came when the people surrendered to God. Instead, he allowed dark spiritual voices to be the voice and the authority in his life for his direction and false wisdom. He allowed the evil one to rule his life. And while it might seem like it would be difficult for the son of a man like Hezekiah to be so led astray, we need to remember that the devil like a roaring lion is always lurking about so that he can offer pleasures and false promises that destroy a life. It is spiritual warfare.
Let's Reflect
1. Right from the beginning of the chapter, we are told that Manasseh did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD. In that second verse he is compared to what people?
2. Imagine the people of Judah watching their king build all of those altars and statues of false gods in their country once again. A king always has great influence over his people. According to verse 9 how did this king influence the people of Judah?
3. Besides idol worship we read that Manasseh turned to the occult. What words tell us that he did this?
4. Another common thread we see when the kings of Judah were wicked is how they treated the temple of God in Jerusalem. What did Manasseh do to the temple?
5. Verse 10 is probably one of the saddest verses in the Bible. What happened?
6. When King Manasseh was captured by the Assyrians, who did he pray to for help?
7. This moment in time when God caused him to be captured and most likely tortured, was the turning point in Manasseh’s life. It was his wake-up call. He recognized that he had been disobedient to God, and the Bible says that he humbled himself greatly. This wake-up call was literally God’s mercy. What changes did he make from that time forward?
8. The first verse of this chapter told us that Manasseh reigned for 55 years. That’s a long time. We learn that a lot more was written about him in other books besides the scriptures. There is always much to write about and be excited about when God turns a life around. Sadly, we cannot say the same for Manasseh’s son. His son Amon started out the same way his father did, but there is one important difference between him and his father. According to verse 23 how was Amon different than his father?
