2 Chronicles 33:12,13 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 was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.
We do not find many accounts of conversion in the Old Testament. But I suppose that if the priests had been inspired to write what they heard, they would have told of many instances of deep conviction in connection with the sin offerings and trespass offerings. They probably saw many people who henceforth led a new life and ceased from the sin they had confessed over the head of the sacrifice. They must have seen much conviction, confession and conversion, but we have no records. Thus the story of the wicked king who humbled himself greatly before God is valuable. Every part reflects glory on God’s amazing grace and compels us to exclaim, Who is a God like unto Thee, passing by transgression, iniquity and sin?
We will look, (1) at Manasseh’s circumstances, then (2) consider him as a great sinner and afterwards (3) view him as a remarkable convert.
Manasseh’s Circumstances
Let us notice his circumstances; because a man’s sin may be heightened by his position, or his position may suggest some alleviating considerations. Now Manasseh was the child of an eminently-godly father: a king who, with all his mistakes, was sound in heart towards God. Hezekiah “wrought that which was good, and right, and truth before the Lord his God”. He was mighty in prayer and so found deliverance from great peril after the invasion of Sennacherib. His life was so precious that the Lord spared him for another 15 years, in answer to his cries. It is a great thing for a youth to have a godly father to train his tender mind. We cannot say with certainty that Manasseh’s mother was godly, but let us hope, as her name was Hephzibah – “My delight is in her” – that she too was delightful for piety; if so, Manasseh had the special favour of having two parents who would train him up in the way he should go. Such a start in life renders his sin more heinous. We mention next that he was born to his father after his life had been lengthened. He was an heir born after the father had expected to die childless; therefore it is not at all unlikely that he was a spoiled child. If so, he was in special danger. Such children are apt to be allowed their own way, and a youth’s own way is sure to be wrong. In such cases, fathers are apt to be like Eli, whose sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. Even though at 12 Manasseh’s character was not fully developed, it may have been warped by early days of indulgence. Parents, take note of this.
I do not know a greater trial for a family than for its head to be taken away while the children are young, just when the guiding and restraining power of the father is needed. It is sad to see it removed. Too often in such a case young people have broken away from all restraint. Manasseh, the prince born under such favourable circumstances for producing a gracious character, was much to be pitied when his father was called away, and he was left amid flatterers and idolaters.
Manasseh was placed in a giddy position as a child, for he mounted the throne at 12 years of age. A child on a throne is out of its natural place. Such high places are not for boys. Now and then such a child turns out a Josiah, but the probabilities are very much against that. “Woe unto thee, O land, when thy king is a child.” It is ill for a child to sway a sceptre, but “it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.” A fierce fire of temptation blazes around a youthful throne. Hezekiah had set up the worship of God everywhere and had done his best to root out idolatry, yet the idolatrous party was far from extinct, and the common people were sadly careless.
Isaiah describes the condition of the land: “Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider”. The nation was not steadfast like King Hezekiah: it worshipped Jehovah when compelled by royal authority, but it was ready to turn aside to its idols. The idolatrous party indulged the vices of the boy king and undermined any esteem he had of the orthodox worshippers of God. When he was old enough, he became the head of the idolatrous party, throwing his whole soul into it and, with all the force of his authority, laboured to stamp out the pure worship of the Most High and to set up those debasing idolatries which his father Hezekiah had so much abhorred.
If I should address anyone who finds himself, too early for his good, set free from the restraint of parents and placed in a position of influence over others, I plead with him to flee to the Lord for help, or his ruin will be certain. The Lord can teach the young men wisdom, the babes knowledge and discretion. Look to the Bible and to God, or you will make shipwreck of your life. You have responsibilities too heavy for you to carry alone; because your burdens are heavier, seek more power from on high; because your restraints are fewer, put yourself under the restraints of divine love.
A Great Sinner
- I have mournfully to describe Manasseh as a great sinner. In 2 Chronicles 33 you will get a view of this atrocious offender: He “did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord”. Take his 55-year reign as a whole, and notwithstanding the repentance of his later years, this is a true estimate of it all. He was a son of David, but he was the very reverse of that king, who was always faithful to the one God of Israel. David’s blood was in his veins but David’s ways were not in his heart.
His life is even more intensely black, for it is said that “he did evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel”. How deplorable that someone who was cradled in piety could not be satisfied until the very scum of society, which God had thrown away with detestation, should be his models. Yet we have known young men to be doubly perverse – possessed, as it were, by the devil. We are all depraved, but in some that depravity is seen in an extraordinary love of everything irreligious. I have in my mind’s eye – and it makes my heart melt – sons of men who were always happy to aid me in the Lord’s work, but now these sons find their most congenial company among the drunken and profane, the debauched and gamblers. This is the unhappiest thing that can occur to us parents. You who have buried your little children and have wept so bitterly may far prefer that sorrow to having your sons and daughters live to plunge into glaring sin.
Next, Manasseh undid what his father had done. “He built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down.” I have known many a man who has no respect for God, yet has such regard for his father’s memory that he would not scoff at what his father held sacred. But this man had no such reverence. He gloried in building up what his father had thrown down and in throwing down what his father had built up. This is a great evil. And are you doing what you know would have broken your father’s heart? Would your conduct have brought your mother to her grave? Are you fighting against the Lord God of your father? May the Lord in mercy restrain your guilty hand lest the curse of Absalom come upon you. Do not turn aside from your father’s God; follow in your mother’s godly footsteps.
Manasseh sinned in a great variety of ways, for he seemed to meddle with all forms of idolatry. He was not satisfied with one false god, or one set of idolatrous rites, but he reared up altars for Baalim, made groves, and worshiped the host of heaven. He adored Moloch, and passed his children through the fire. He revived the cast-off gods of the Canaanites, whom God had destroyed for their sins. There are men who must transgress with greediness. They never seem content unless they are fighting against the Lord with all their might and are pulling down His wrath upon their heads.
Some of Manasseh’s sins were peculiarly foul. The worship of Baalim and Ashtaroth was associated with such abominations that one is sorry to have known of them. Such worship must have unutterably defiled the mind of the worshipper and rendered him fit for vice of the most degrading kind. Worse still that a king of Judah and a son of Hezekiah should ordain orgies which polluted the mind beyond conception. It was not enough for him to adore the sun when it shone, but he must worship the idols of the Philistines, of Egypt, Assyria and Tyre. Instead of the holy worship of Jehovah, the worship of devils was ordained by the King’s authority.
Manasseh went to the utmost in evil and defied the Lord to His face, for “he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall My name be for ever. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.” O the infinite patience of the Most High that He bore with such an insult! Must His courts be desecrated with the image of jealousy? Must altars to the hosts of heaven be set up where only the Lord of hosts should be adored? Yet Manasseh dared to do this, carrying rebellion against the Lord to its utmost extent.
Another proof of his habitual sinfulness is found in his treatment of his children: he was not satisfied with sinning himself, his offspring must be handed over to the evil one. “He caused his children to pass through the fire.” Moloch is said to have been represented by a great hollow image made of brass, which was filled with fire till the flames came pouring forth from its mouth. Some, like Manasseh, passed their children between its burning arms, so that they were consumed alive. It was a cruel consecration of the poor infants to the monstrous demon Moloch.
Manasseh is not alone, for many fathers and mothers seem bent on ruining their children’s souls. What shall I say of the man who teaches his boy to drink and compels him to learn profanity from his father’s lips? How much better is the woman who teaches her daughter worldliness, love of finery, gaiety and vain company? Do not many train their boys to be greedy and their girls to be lovers of pleasure? Surely the passing of children through the fire to Bacchus, to Mammon, to Venus, to the very devil himself, is common enough still, and who shall estimate the enormity of the crime?
Nor is this all. Manasseh went to extremes in personal, deliberate sin, for it is said that for himself he “observed times” – that is, “lucky” and “unlucky” days. And he “used enchantments” – those devices by which men think they can produce certain events or foretell them. “He used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards.” It does not matter whether these things were deceits by which he was duped, or real dealings with demons – the sin is the same because, in his intention, intercourse was carried on that is abominable in the sight of the Most High and is to be abhorred by every believer. Whether true or pretended, attempts at witchcraft and communion with spirits mark a mind far gone astray from God. Remember that such people cannot enter heaven, for “without are dogs, and sorcerers,” who are declared to be shut out of the holy city.
Manasseh could never have enough of these detestable pursuits. He who would not believe in God could freely believe in lying wonders. How sad to see a mind capable of thought and reason bowed down at the feet of witches and mutterers of spells! How horrible to see a man making a league with death and a covenant with hell! Still such a man may yet be recovered out of the snare of the devil by almighty grace. Friend, if you have wandered into infamous wickedness you do not need to despair, for Jesus lives to save the vilest of the vile.
Manasseh repeated these sins; after one forbidden idol had been enshrined he set up another yet more foul, and after building altars in the courts of the temple he “set a carved image, 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 before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever”. Thus he piled up his transgressions.
All this while, both by his influence and authority, he made the nation blaspheme. The whole land followed its king, except a remnant according to the election of grace; all these bore all the fury of Manasseh’s wrath. The nation was prone to idolatry and willingly went with the court. A few wept and sighed in secret but had no power to alter the sad state of things, for the king was too strong for them. Do I speak to anyone whose life leads others astray? Are you in a position of influence? Are you a parent, whose children will inevitably copy you? You have the power to sin a hundred times at once, for you make others commit the sin in which you indulge. Think of this and beware. Why should you destroy others as well as yourself? Do not be guilty of the blood of your neighbours. Do not murder your children’s souls.
Nor was this all; he persecuted the people of God furiously: “Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another” (2 Ki 21:16). He was so zealous in carrying out his idolatries that he could not endure the sight of a man who would not bow before his images. We cannot vouch for the tradition that he put the prophet Isaiah to death by having him sawn in sunder, but it is not at all improbable. Persecution is one of the most heinous of sins and greatly provokes the Most High, for He has said of His people: “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of His eye”. Manasseh’s was a heaven-provoking crime. The Apostle mentions “trials of cruel mockings”. We have known people use towards brothers and sisters, and even children, such threats, taunts and modes of abuse that they have made their lives bitter as with heavy bondage. This is a very serious offence against God. You cannot anger a man more than by ill-using his little ones, and he who insults and grieves God’s children will find that the Lord will avenge His own elect though He bear long with them.
One more touch finishes this dark picture: “The Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people, but they would not hearken”. Manasseh refused warning. He did not sin without being rebuked. He would not bow before the loving admonition of the Most High. This makes his sin exceedingly sinful, for “he, that being often reprov’d hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy”. Without rebuke, a man’s sin may be far less than it is after rejecting God’s admonitions. To stifle conscience and refuse loving warning is to incur fearful guilt.
Such was this Manasseh: the very chief of sinners. I feel certain that there is not a grosser sinner among those I address than he was; I might almost say there never lived a worse, and yet he was saved by divine grace! Never dare to doubt the possibility of being forgiven. If such a wretch as Manasseh was brought to repentance, surely no one need despair.
A Remarkable Convert
- Listen to what almighty grace did for Manasseh; he was a remarkable convert. His afflictions were an instrument at the start of his conversion. The King of Assyria came against him and he was unable to resist; the royal idolater found his idols fail him. He was “taken among the thorns” – led in chains to Babylon. The Assyrians were a fierce people; Manasseh having provoked them, felt all the degradation, scorn and cruelty which anger could invent. He who had trusted idols was a slave to an idolatrous people; he who had shed blood very much was now in jeopardy of having his own shed. He was a prodigal in a far country, where he fain would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him. How vain now to cry to Baal! Magic with its lying wonders could not release him; no, nor witches with their enchantments.
But in his extremity, infinite mercy visited him, and his soul found vent for misery in prayer. “He besought the Lord God of his fathers.” I admire the historian’s words. Manasseh dishonoured his father as well as his God, but now he thought of his godly ancestors and their holy faith. He thought, meditated, considered, reviewed his life and loathed himself; he remembered how his father prospered by Jehovah’s aid. He cried unto the Lord. O friend, will you also not cry to the God whom you have offended? Will you not say, “God be merciful to me a sinner”?
But notice what went with his prayer. If you would have mercy from God you must be like him: “he humbled himself greatly”. He had been a great man before; he was high and mighty. Manasseh, who would have his own way and dared to defy the Lord to His face; but now he lay low as a penitent and begged as a sinner. Would he not now use the language of his forefather David: “Have mercy upon me, O God . . . blot out my transgressions”? What a broken prayer Manasseh’s must have been, and what groans and sobs and sighs were heard by the great Father of spirits, as Manasseh sought His face in the gloomy cells of Babylon! Let this be your frame of mind, O sinner. Be ashamed at your sin and folly. Confess it with mourning and abhor yourself on account of it. May the Holy Spirit bring you to this mind!
The Lord heard Manasseh. Glory be to infinite grace! Bloodstained hands were lifted to heaven, and yet the Lord accepted the prayer. A heart that had been the palace of Satan, a proud rebellious heart humbled itself before God, and the Lord pardoned the penitent. As a testimony to His infinite mercy, He moved the king of Assyria to take Manasseh out of prison and restore him to his throne. The Lord does great marvels, and shows great mercy to the very chief of sinners. O that this might persuade some to test this gracious God! Manasseh did not have such a clear revelation as you; you have heard of God in Christ Jesus reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Let the wounds of Jesus encourage you; let His intercession for sinners cheer you. God is ready to pardon. Come even now and seek His face, you vilest among men.
Now, can you picture Manasseh going back from Babylon? The believers in Jerusalem have had a little respite while he has been a captive. Perhaps they even ventured to the temple and restored the worship of Jehovah. What dread seizes the minds of the timid among the godly! The righteous plead with God that He would not give over His people like sheep to the slaughter.
But perhaps some of them watched him and, when he passed by a shrine of Baal, they noticed he did not bow. And what was their joy when they heard his proclamation that, from henceforth, Judah should only worship Jehovah. What triumph the saints felt when the king sent men to the temple to pull down the carved image and take down the altar which defiled the house of the Lord. Loud was the psalm of delight when they saw the king offering peace offerings and thank offerings to Jehovah, and knew that henceforth there was to be no Baal worship, no obscene symbols, for all these things were swept away. Then they blessed the Lord with all their hearts, singing, “In Judah is God known: His name is great in Israel. . . . There brake He the arrows of the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle.” O that such songs might be sung in the church of Christ because of some of you!
Manasseh did his best to undo what he had done, for those who are really converted show it in a practical way. Restitution must be made for wrong done, or repentance is a sham. We must labour to remedy all the evil we have done, or our penitence is only skin deep. That conversion which does not turn the life is no conversion at all, but the Lord had turned Manasseh and he was turned indeed. Glory be to God for His mighty work in this royal sinner’s case, for the unbounded grace and omnipotent power which changed such a wretch, so that the fierce destroyer became a reformer in the house of the Lord. Can He not do the like with you? Can He not turn you also from the power of Satan unto God?
Two things remain. First, adore divine grace. Never limit its power, but believe it is able to convert the most abandoned; believe it can save you. Since the Lord Jesus ever lives to intercede for those who come unto God by Him, He is able to save them to the uttermost. You cannot have too large ideas of divine grace, for where sin abounded, grace much more abounds.
Second, never turn God’s grace into an excuse for continuing in sin. Though we have seen how grace gave Manasseh’s case a good ending, yet, all in all, it is sad. Manasseh’s life was wasted. Although he sought to mend matters, he could not fully undo what he had done. The people were nothing like as eager to follow the right as they were the wrong; it was not easy for the masses to turn round suddenly, and so the people sacrificed on the high places, though only to Jehovah, and their hearts still went after their idols. The polluting idolatries had degraded the people, and there was no drawing them back. Indeed, their sin was so great that God resolved that the sin of Judah under Manasseh should never be forgiven, and it never was.
A respite was given, for Josiah reigned for a little time, but it was God’s purpose that the sin should never be put away. “Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of His sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.” (2 Ki 24:3,4). So, though a man may be pardoned, he may have been the occasion of sin in others which will never be blotted out. Will any of you venture upon such a hazardous business? Even if you knew that your own house would be saved, would you burn other men’s houses? Would you wish to be the cause of other men’s ruin even if you were sure that in the end you would repent? No, lay hold on Jesus and eternal life now, that you may not have a misspent life to mourn over.
It is an awful thing to have led a life which, on the whole, is rather a curse to others than a blessing. I tell you what divine grace can do, but do not continue in sin. You have sinned enough already. Pray God to make you lead a life which, from this moment on, shall glow with God’s grace. How much better to live like Josiah than Manasseh! Seek for mercy, all of you. Do not neglect it because of its greatness, but hasten to receive it. Since we all need mercy more than I can imagine, let us cry for it at once in hearty earnest. Let us come to the fountain which is opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and wash there. Let us, by faith in Jesus’ blood, wash and be clean. The Lord make us do so, for Jesus’ sake.