Brought again to His kingdom

2 Chronicles 32:27-33:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles, ²⁸ storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds for the flocks. ²⁹ He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great wealth. ³⁰ It was Hezekiah who stopped the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did. ³¹ Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

³² Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. ³³ So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place.

33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 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 broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, 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, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.” 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 sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. ⁷ Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “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 again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.” ⁹ Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

¹⁰ The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.¹¹ Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon. ¹² When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. ¹³ When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

In today’s text, the account of Hezehiah and Manasseh we see a pattern that was often repeated throughout Israel’s history. There would be a time of following after God followed by a time of turning from Him. The text says: Now Hezekiah had immense riches and honor; and he made for himself treasuries for silver, gold, precious stones, spices, shields and all kinds of valuable articles, storehouses also for the produce of grain, wine and oil, pens for all kinds of cattle and sheepfolds for the flocks.  He made cities for himself and acquired flocks and herds in abundance, for God had given him very great wealth…  And Hezekiah prospered in all that he did…  Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and his deeds of devotion, behold, they are written in the vision of Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the upper section of the tombs of the sons of David; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem honored him at his death. And his son Manasseh became king in his place. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.  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.   Even today righteousness and devotion to the Lord is not by birthright. It is not an inheritence passed down to children from their parents. Obviously though, at twelve years of age Manasseh was not ready for the responsibility of ruling the nation. At twelve years old a person is not ready for the responsibility of ruling their own life. So certainly there were others who influenced Manasseh and led both him and the nation of Israel into destruction. Manasseh’s father died, but how often today do we see parents who turn their children over to be influenced by various evil elements in our culture?  Should we be surprised then that so many then are led to do evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the world?

The text says:  The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.  When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.  When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.  Like Manasseh, it is not until people are in great distress, when there seems to be no other way out, that they will humble themselves and pray to God. Proverbs 22:6 was true for Manasseh and should encourage every parent today. It says:  Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.  Children may be mislead and may stray from the path, but if they have a foundation in what is good, what is right; in God, the will return when they are in distress.  The text says:  When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Manasseh resembles the prodigal son Jesus spoke of in Luke 15:11-32. Having all that was good in his father’s house he still chose to follow the way of the world. For Manasseh, his natural father was not there to watch and wait for him to return. But the story of the prodigal is really about God not earthly parents. He allows each of us to choose our own path. When we wander away and live among the swine in the muck and mire of the world He watches and waits. God does not embrace our sin, but when we humble ourselves and turn again to Him, He runs to us and embraces us. He cleans us up and restores us to all the blessings of His household.

The text says: When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom.    When we come to the place where we realize that we are not worthy of God’s goodness, when we truly humble ourselves before Him, God showers us with His grace and mercy and restores us to Himself and to our position. Like Manasseh, we are born and created to reign and rule with God. In Genesis 1 :26 God said:  “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  Sin caused Adam and Eve and all of mankind to wander from their place of authority. When we humble ourselves and return to Him, He restores us to what He intended from the beginning. Like Manasseh, we are brought again to the kingdom of God. In Luke 17:21 Jesus says:  “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”  We then should be the people who take the kingdom of God to the world.

‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.  ‘Give us this day our daily bread.  ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’