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2 Kings 21 Bible Study (Manasseh & Amon Reign in Judah/Manasseh's Idolatry) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Father, we ask that if any of us have not been satisfied with
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Your love, that you would use this Bible study to awaken
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affection in each of our hearts toward Christ.
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And Lord, we pray that we would be convinced of how sure Your
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compassion is for each of us, especially as we come to this
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chapter in this book. And Lord, lastly, we pray that
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every truth that is explored and explained would not just merely
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be filed in our minds. It would be adorned in our
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conduct. That we would, as Titus tells
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us, to adorn the doctrine of God so that the world may witness
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how beautiful this gospel is, how precious your Son, the Lord
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Jesus Christ truly is. So even now, Lord, we submit
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every faculty of our being, we ask, Lord, that you would
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protect the transmission of truth, that any scheme of Satan
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that would try to interfere would be cancelled, that you
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would help us overcome any sin, any unbelief, anything of the
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flesh that would obstruct the promises of God flourishing in
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our lives. And so, Lord, even in the
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delivery of this message, in this time of expounding help,
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may Christ alone be seen, may he alone be heard, and may he alone
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be adored. We ask these things in his
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living name, the matchless name of Jesus Christ.
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Amen. As we are approaching the end of
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the Book of Second Kings, I was curious to know how many kings
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we have left to study. Well, in the final five chapters
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of the Book of Second Kings, there are a total of 7 monarchs
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to explore together in this book.
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Now that may seem like quite a bit considering the pace of our
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study on Friday nights, but not all of these rulers receive real
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estate. Two out of the seven are given
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significantly more attention than the others.
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The first is Manessa, who is the son of Hezekiah.
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The second is Josiah, one of the most prominent reformers in the
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Kingdom of Judah. And as we come to 2nd Kings 21,
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King Manasseh will be the focus of our study this evening.
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And as we turn there, we might expect that this young man will
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continue leading God's people on the path of faithfulness as he
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receives the baton from his righteous father, Hezekiah.
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Tragically, we are going to learn instead that one of the
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greatest spiritual leaders in Judah's history fathered the
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most wicked man in Judah's history, Manasa.
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That claim is a conjecture. By the way, that is exactly what
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the author inspired by the Holy Spirit says about this man
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Manessa in the very chapter we are going to delve into
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together. And as difficult as it may be to
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learn about someone who went in the complete opposite direction
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of such an inspirational man like Hezekiah, there is much to
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glean from this man's life. He is infamous.
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Yes, he is problematic, but he has been placed in our Bibles
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for our up building, for our encouragement.
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And as we come again to this chapter, realize that in verse
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one alone there is a meal for our meditation.
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Let's start by looking at three things from the introduction of
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this chapter by looking at some details.
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Are you there with me? Second Kings 21, verse one and
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verse 2. Manessa was 12 years old when he
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began to reign, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem.
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His mother's name was Have Sepa, and he did what was evil in the
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side of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the
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nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.
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Three things I want to point out.
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Number one, let's consider Manessa's age, 12 years old, 12
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years old, occupying the most powerful seat in Judah.
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Now, we've studied enough of the Book of Kings to not be so
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surprised that such a young man, a child really has been elevated
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to such a position. But when we connect Manessa to
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his father, this, this little instruction here, this little
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detail should be a special interest to us.
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Remember that Hezekiah was supposed to die in his 30s, but
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he was granted how many more years to live?
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1515 years to live? Vanessa was 12 years old.
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Implying what? That he was born a few years
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after Hezekiah was miraculously healed after he was delivered
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from this deadly disease, which helps us understand a second
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observation. The name of this new king
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Manasseh. We've seen this name before in
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our study of the Old Testament and it made me wonder if
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Hezekiah named his son Manasseh for a similar reason.
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Why Joseph named his first born Manasseh?
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Because in Genesis 4151, Joseph said in calling his name
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Manasseh, I will do so because God has made me forget all my
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hardship and all my father's house.
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The name Manessa means making to forget.
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And I wonder again if Hezekiah did something similar because of
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the joy that Manessa brought to his life, offering a similar
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relief from his own pain that he had to endure.
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And more than that, the reward, the sense of reward, that he
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would not die without a direct descendant.
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Could it be that that was one of the reasons why he lamented on
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that bed as he turned his face to the wall, knowing that there
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wouldn't be continuation from his line?
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Some would say so. But oh, it made me think if
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Hezekiah would have prayed differently if he had just got a
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glimpse of the trouble and the harm that Manasseh would bring
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to the people of God. We can't say for certain.
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However, as dark as Manessa's story is, he will be a powerful
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example of the New Testament truth that wherever sin abounds,
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grace abounds. More Thirdly, another thing to
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consider, this is all just from verse one, his administration,
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more specifically the duration of it.
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How long did he reign for 55? Years.
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That is the longest reign in Judas history and it was a
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record held by the most vile man.
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Why? How can it be?
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I mean, you compare with David, you compare with Hezekiah even,
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and you wonder how is it that the Lord allowed such an
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individual to remain in such a position of power and polluting
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his people for this many years? We're not told, but it is a
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strong reminder that life and a long life is not always a sign
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of God's approval of how one lives.
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Is it? Let me add this, It's not long.
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It's not how long you live, but how you live that matters.
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It's not the quantity, it's not the number of your years, but
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how those years are lived. Hezekiah did mourn his 29 years
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of governance. The Manessa would do in nearly
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twice that time. And when it comes to Manessa,
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the only details that we are granted about his reign are the.
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Evil crimes that he committed. That's really a large portion of
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this chapter. All the hideous things that this
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man performed in that length of time.
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And it would do us good to briefly look at some of these
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things because it will help us. It will, it will really make an
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impact on our study's conclusion.
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So I, I believe that there are at least 5 categories, 5
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indictments to Manessa's evil in the verses that we have not read
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yet. And so let's do this.
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Let's read these slowly and consider just how heinous and
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deplorable and twisted Manessa was.
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Look at verse 3. For he rebuilt the high places
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that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars
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for Baal and made an ashraz. Ahab, king of Israel had done
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and worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them.
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Highlight the first part. He rebuilt the high places that
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Hezekiah his father had destroyed.
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Now remember up to this point. Hezekiah was the only king who
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had the boldness, the courage, the love for God to dismantle
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and remove these stations of sacrifice that took the people
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away from the central place of worship where God's name was
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supposed to be called alone and his son reintroduced them.
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And there are those who I think through this, there's a
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wonderful lesson. For those who would question the
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legitimacy of reformation or a move of God like a revival by
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pointing out the absence of lasting impact as supposed
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evidence. And if you're one of those
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skeptics who would rethink if something was genuine, if it was
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really something of the Holy Spirit because long term it
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doesn't seem to have produced righteousness and and fruit,
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remember this. It would be unfair to discount
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how God used Hezekiah to bring spiritual reform to the Kingdom.
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It's possible for one generation to undo the work that the godly
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have done in past years. That's entirely possible, and it
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doesn't discredit what God has done before.
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That could be true in a local church.
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In an institution, In a city, In a denomination.
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What we find here is that Manessa's first egregious crime
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was that he reversed his father's reforms.
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And more than that. He resurrects bail worship and
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the adoration of Ashrae like the days of Ahab, and beyond that he
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institute's astral. Worship.
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What does it say here at the end of verse three that He
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worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them?
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So He ascribes divine titles to stars and planets, and He
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actually invites people also to sacrifice and Revere them.
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And this is something that the Lord specifically prohibits in
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Deuteronomy 17 verse 3, that the people of God were not to look
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at the sun and the moon and all the other celestial things and
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ascribe divinity to them and worship them.
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So this is the first thing that he does.
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He he reverses what Hezekiah reformed.
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Secondly, look at verse 4. And he built altars in the House
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of the Lord, of which the Lord had said in Jerusalem, will I
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put my name? And he built altars for all the
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hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house.
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Of the Lord. The severity of this trespass is
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not just in the fact that he builds these false altars, it's
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the location of these altars where he placed them.
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Where was it? In the House of the Lord, the
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very place where God had consecrated to be about Him and
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Him alone. And So what we see here with
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Manessa is that he had total disregard for the sacredness of
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the House of God. He could care less about how
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holy it was. He could care.
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Less about what God asked of those parameters and those
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materials and what was to take place in terms of activity.
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And the sense that you get already is that there is a
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progression here going on of escalating defiance.
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It starts here with the high places, these external areas
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where the people of Israel could conveniently worship, not just
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community worship the true God, but other gods.
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And now we're moving into the very heart of worship.
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The place that God said he would meet with his people is being
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defamed. It's as though Manasseh has no
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problem defying God to his face. And this evil is emphasized,
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it's highlighted as it is repeated in verse 7.
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Scroll down to verse 7. And the carved image of Asherah
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that he had made. He sat in the House of which the
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Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house
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and in Jerusalem, which I've chosen out of all the tribes of
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Israel, I will put my name forever.
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This is blasphemy. This is gross.
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So not only does he place altars, he places an image.
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Of a demonic God in the very courts of God.
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There's an erasure here of God's presence and his exclusivity,
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his beauty, his glory. At at best, if you can say that
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he, he's, he's being placed with these gods.
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Which is a horrible thing to even say.
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At worst, it's Manesa here trying to remove God altogether
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from the scene. So the second thing that he does
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here is that he desecrates the temple of God.
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Thirdly, this is going to be familiar to us, unfortunately.
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Look at verse 6. And he burned his son as an
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offering and used fortune telling and omens and dealt with
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mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of
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the Lord provoking him to anger. Manasseh sacrificed.
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His children. And you get the impression that
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this man is highly motivated to honor virtually everything
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except the true and living God. He revives Bill and Asher
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worship, he promotes the adoration of astrology, and now
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he Stokes the fire of Molech worship.
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In Second Chronicles 33, verse 6, a parallel account.
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We're told here that he actually sacrificed his sons, plural.
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So not just one son, but many of his sons.
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And our hearts should absolutely shatter as we are witnessing a
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descendant of David committing such bloodshed and having this
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tampering, this defiling of the royal dynasty.
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There's something special about the seed of David, as we know.
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And here's Manessa, carelessly, murderously, in the deplorable
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manner. Bringing this line to near
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extinction, this wickedness is jaw-dropping.
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There's there's a reason why we're feeling this build up in
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our righteous indignation. That's what the author is
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intending here. And there's still more #4 we
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read in the same verse. He engaged heavily in
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witchcraft. We've seen very little of this
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in the history of Israel's kings and Judas kings.
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The closest thing to this is, I believe, saw when he appealed to
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a witch to give him some kind of consolation and direction as he
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was at war with a foreign enemy. But that's not what we see with
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Manessa. We find Manessa here instituting
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satanic worship. Leviticus 1926 forbids this,
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forbids the telling of fortune, that the interpretation of
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omens, a law that Manessa freely disobeyed.
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Let me just make a side note here because you'd be surprised
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to know how many people who claim that the Bible is their
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compass, like to check their horoscopes from time to time,
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like to dabble with tarot cards, make a few phone calls to people
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who claim to predict the future. You are dabbling in the demonic,
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and this is something that not only the Old Testament condemns,
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but it's found in the New Testament as well.
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You don't need anything else except God, His Word, and His
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precious Spirit in your life. Beware of what seems to be
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harmless and widely accepted. I know of people who have opened
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up torment in their lives because they thought that they
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can innocently entertain things that are clearly satanic.
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Just a side note #5 this is really a summary of Manasseh's
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devilish habits, verse 7 and verse 8.
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And the carved image of Ashra that he had made, he said in the
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House of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, in
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this house and in Jerusalem, which I've chosen out of all the
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tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.
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And I will not 'cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out
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of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be
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careful to do according to all that I've commanded them, and
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according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
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Now highlight the first part of verse 9.
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But they did not listen, and Manasseh LED them astray to do
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more evil than the nations had done, whom the Lord destroyed
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before the. People of Israel, but they did
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not listen #5 The pinnacle really of the problem here is
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that he had completely ignored God's Word.
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It moves me here to discover that what the Lord said to David
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and Solomon, that's what we read in verse 7 and verse 8, right?
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That what he had said to David and to Solomon his son was
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something meant for Manessa and the people of Israel in his day.
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That's just another proof text to confirm that although the
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Bible was not written to us, it was indeed written.
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What for us, For us. That's how we should approach
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the text. That's how we should approach
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the. Oracles of God.
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You know, many people find it very frustrating to enjoy
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reading and studying the scriptures personally and
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individually. And one of my first go to
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instructions for any person is to firmly establish in your
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thinking that I am coming to the Bible.
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Yes, to study it as objective truth, but to receive it on a
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personal level. What is God?
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Saying to me, What is he saying to me?
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Not so you can find some promise to fulfill your dream.
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Not necessarily. So what is he saying to me about
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himself? What is he saying to me about
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man? What is he saying to me about
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myself? If I'm in him, if I walk away
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from him, what is he saying? You got to personalize it.
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This is His voice for you. Though in his immediate context,
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it was two others. The Lord spoke something to
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David and Solomon and it was supposed to be received by
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Manessa and his generation, and they totally disregarded.
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It and it's really a wonderful comment to wrap up all that
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Manessa did in terms of the evil that he committed.
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They did not listen. Please don't forget this many
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evils can be committed when a person no longer is moved by the
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promises in God's Word and the warnings in God's Word.
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That's what we find in verse 7 and verse 8, do we not?
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Where's the promise? Look back at verse 7.
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Reverse a more specifically, I will not cause the feet of
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Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their
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fathers. That's a promise.
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You're permanently here. I will not let any outside
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force. I will not let any kind of power
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displace you. I will keep you here forever.
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And the warning follows. If only they will be careful to
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do all that I have commanded them.
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They did not listen. There's even a greater danger
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when we find ourselves unfazed by a messenger of God who
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reminds us urgently and passionately about the Word of
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God. So here we're told here that
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they did not listen to the written word, right?
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But in the parallel account there's an added detail.
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So here, what it says in Second Chronicles 33 verse 10, the Lord
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spoke to Manessa and to his people, but they paid no
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attention. So in Second Kings, I believe
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the emphasis is on the the word of God, the written word of God,
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because there's a quotation. But in Second Chronicles, I
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believe it's the prophetic voice of God that is ultimately meant
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to point the people. Back to the Word of God, brother
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and sister. If you consistently find
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yourself unmoved when the Word of God is open and when it is
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heralded and when it is explained in the Spirit, be on
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alert. Be aware that you are in a
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perilous position, that your soul is in danger.
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Becoming dull of hearing is a symptom of a dull soul, and
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that's precisely what we find here.
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They had no personal engagement or reverence for the Word of
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God, and even when it was presented through fiery lips.
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They paid no attention dangerous and in case we're not convinced
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of the monstrous and horrific sins that this man committed the
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Lord provides a summary I guess you can say through his prophets
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in the next part of second Kings 21 as they pronounce judgment on
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Manasa and his people. Look at verse 10 of second Kings
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21. If you haven't noticed, we're
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we're going through this entire chapter.
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Usually we're slower with our Bible study, but I believe it
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will be more beneficial to zoom out and consider the whole story
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to no greater impact. Look at verse 10.
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And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, because
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Manasseh king of Judah, has committed these abominations,
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and has done things more evil than all the Amorites did who
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were before him, and has made Judah also descend with his
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idols. Therefore thus says the Lord the
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God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and
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Judah such disaster. That the ears of everyone who
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fears of it, or hears of it rather, will tingle.
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You have studied kings enough to know that whenever.
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There is a wicked ruler who emerges.
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He's usually compared to a previous wicked king, either in
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recent or far distant memory. So it'll read something like and
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he did evil in the sight of Lord.
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As such and such. Remember this.
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It's a pattern in the Book of Kings, both 1st and 2nd kings.
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But when it comes to Manasseh, there is no comparison to a
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previous king in Judah. There isn't even a comparison
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with. A wicked, notorious king in
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Israel. The northern Kingdom.
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Who is he compared to the inhabitants of the land of
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Canaan before the people of Israel came in to take over the
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Amorites, one of the several nations that populated?
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The Promised Land before they were expelled.
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And not only is Manasseh compared to the Amorites, we're
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told that he did worse than them.
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Feel it. What was this man doing to
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actually outshine the evil of those that God had to vomit out
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of this piece of real estate? And this is intentional,
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obviously led by the Spirit. But the careful student of the
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Bible is supposed to follow this up with a question.
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Well, if God expelled the Amorites among other Canaanites
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from the land for their evil, what is he going to do with the
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Kingdom of Judah exactly? That's the point we're supposed
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to realize. Exile has to be on the way.
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God must, if He is, just deal with this people accordingly.
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And He will. He's about to do that.
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And in the same way that the Lord waited for the iniquity of
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the Amorites to reach its full measure, remember that the Lord
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said that to Abraham in Genesis 15.
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He's been doing the same with his own people, and we have now
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reached the brim of his patients.
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So he says, I'm going to do three things.
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We read one of them in verse 12. Let's look at it again.
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Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judas such a
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disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will
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tangle. In other words, the news of this
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manifestation of my divine chastisement will be so severe
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and so shocking that it will be like an alarm in people's ears.
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What's interesting is that this picture of the ears tingling
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appears in other places in the Bible, always connected to a
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pronouncement of judgement. Jeremiah was called to preach a
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message that will cause people's ears to tingle.
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Samuel, when he was just starting on a ministry, would
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also have that same responsibility.
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And I believe there's a wonderful contrast between being
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faithful with God's Word, even if it is a hard word to to give
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and receive, with what Paul told Timothy about many false
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teachers who will do what they will try to scratch itching
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ears. A faithful messenger of God will
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speak the Word of God even if it causes ears to tingle, and a
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false teacher will seek to always scratch what people want
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to hear. Manessa and his people can
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expect to hear of something that will cause them to not even
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believe what their ears are hearing.
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That's the first thing. What's the second thing?
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Look at verse 13 and I will stretch over Jerusalem, the
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measuring line of Samaria and the Plumb line of the House of
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Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it
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and turning it upside down. There are two other things.
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You're the first one is that he's going to stretch over
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Jerusalem these measuring tapes and lines.
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Now here's what's interesting. These tools are used to actually
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build when you want to construct something and there's a reversal
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here. I'm actually going to use this
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to destroy. What are we supposed to make of
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this? That God's judgements are
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precise, They are faithful, They are reliable.
28:45
They're never exaggerated. They're never out of
28:48
uncalculated. Anger or frustration?
28:51
No, no. He knows exactly what to give to
28:54
those who have broken his law. I'm going to destroy precisely
29:01
on the basis of what you have done.
29:03
I will give to you the judgement that deserves, that it deserves.
29:09
And lastly, I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish,
29:12
wiping it and turning it upside to upside down.
29:16
Meaning what? This land here that signifies
29:18
the plate. I'm going to remove all the
29:19
citizens from it. All of you that have lived here
29:22
and have enjoyed this land, you will be cleansed from this
29:26
place. And that's clarified in the very
29:28
next verse. I will forsake the remnant of
29:31
MyHeritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and
29:33
they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies,
29:36
because they have done what is evil in my sight and have
29:38
provoked me to anchor anger since the days of their fathers
29:42
coming out of Egypt. Even to this day you see that
29:45
how the Lord has been waiting for the sins of His people to
29:49
reach a certain extent before He executes judgment.
29:53
So how does Vanessa respond? This is what the prophets are
29:55
saying now. Judgement is on its way.
29:59
You've been found wanting and here's what we read in verse 16.
30:03
Moreover, Manessa shed very much innocent blood.
30:09
And if you consider the context, I believe what this also means
30:13
is that he killed some of these prophets till he had filled
30:18
Jerusalem from one end to another.
30:21
Besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did
30:24
what was evil in the sight of the Lord, This guy is hopeless
30:29
if you're honest, right? You read this, you think there's
30:32
no way the fact that he ruled and reigned for 55 years should
30:37
disturb us? And really I'm not going to read
30:42
it. But if you look at verse 17, it
30:44
just ends the way most kings end.
30:47
It just gives a summation of his rule.
30:48
It's just as obituary and we're told that he slept with his
30:51
father's and we move on to the next king.
30:56
It's one of the most disturbing portraits of any ruler in the
31:01
Bible. But that's not really how it
31:04
ends. So if you remember studying
31:07
Hezekiah last week, then you'll recall that he did not die in
31:11
his pride, but that the Holy Spirit gives us a different
31:15
vantage point in Second Chronicles where we realized
31:18
that he did eventually humble himself.
31:22
And in like manner, Second Chronicles tells us how Manessa
31:27
actually died. And I like to think that
31:31
although this man shut his eyes to the righteous example of his
31:36
father, he did remember how he ended his last 15 years of life.
31:44
And he also humbly repented. This is why in a way, I've been
31:50
speeding up in this chapter because I want us to really
31:53
focus on how this man turned around.
31:55
So let's go to Second Chronicles briefly, and I want you to see
32:01
what the Bible says about him. Second Chronicles, 33.
32:11
I find it a little ironic that Manessa's name means making to
32:14
forget because his actions suggest that he did not take one
32:20
thing to heart about his father's instruction and
32:23
example. Assuming that Hezekiah kept his
32:29
promise after he was healed, remember that there was a
32:33
chapter in Isaiah where we have we have a look into his journal
32:36
entry once he was restored to complete health.
32:39
One of the things that he said was in Isaiah 3819.
32:42
The living, the living. He says thank you as I do this
32:49
day. The Father makes known to the
32:51
children your faithfulness. So we have every reason to
32:57
believe that though Manessa was a young child when his father
33:03
died, he was old enough to understand what it means to
33:07
worship the true God, what God has done for his Father, for
33:10
God's people throughout history, in recent history.
33:14
So that makes you wonder, how is he so faithless?
33:18
My mind went straight to something that you see repeated
33:21
in the book of Proverbs where there's this appeal.
33:24
At the framework of the book of Proverbs is a father speaking to
33:27
his son. And right at the opening of
33:29
Proverbs, we read in Proverbs 18, My son, do not forsake your
33:32
father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching,
33:39
implying that it's possible for you to do so, to ignore what
33:42
you've heard, to despise what you have been instructed about.
33:47
You know Spurgeon, who said now it is a notorious fact that men
33:52
who do go wrong after a good training are the worst men in
33:55
the world. That may seem harsh, but there's
34:00
some truth to that. Men who have received good,
34:03
righteous, holy training and still live in a manner as
34:08
Manessa, live in complete defiance to the truths that
34:12
they've been granted for guidance in life are often times
34:16
the worst, and this is a reality that you and I are going to
34:20
revisit in this Sunday. Receiving illumination does not
34:24
guarantee transformation. Each of us is responsible for
34:31
the revelation that we receive in this life, and the level of
34:36
light that we are granted will determine the accountability we
34:39
will have for the truth that has been provided, often times
34:44
through our parents. And that's what we find here,
34:49
that this man, as Spurgeon said, demonstrated a behavior that is
34:57
unspeakable, and yet it was not in vain.
35:02
Something happens to this man, something so remarkable, and
35:06
it's found there in Second Chronicles 33.
35:08
Look at verse 10. Chronicles is not too far from
35:12
Second Kings. As you know, the Lord spoke to
35:19
Manessa and to his people, but they paid no attention.
35:23
Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army
35:26
of the king of Assyria, who captured Manessa with hooks and
35:29
bound them with chains of bronze, and brought him to
35:32
Babylon. And when he was in distress, he
35:36
entreated the favor of the Lord his God, and humbled himself
35:38
greatly before the God of his Father's.
35:41
He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty, and heard
35:45
his plea, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his Kingdom.
35:49
Then Manessa knew that the Lord was God.
35:59
Here's what's so fascinating about this.
36:05
I think there are at least three observations we can make, and I
36:10
don't want to make too many so that we lose track of the main
36:14
point of the study, but I want you to 1st consider the
36:17
sovereignty of God. Look again at verse 11.
36:21
Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army
36:24
of the king of Assyria. Look at that phrase brought upon
36:28
them. Who did the Lord?
36:31
And Scroll down to verse 13, the middle of it.
36:34
God was moved by his entreaty and hurt his plea and brought
36:37
him again to Jerusalem. Who's orchestrating all of this?
36:41
It's God. God is the one who removed the
36:45
protective layers for the people of Assyria to come in and to
36:49
ransack the place and to confiscate Manessa and others.
36:54
And God was the one at the right time that had Manessa returned
36:59
to his home. And we're supposed to be moved
37:03
by the absolute power and authority of our God, that
37:08
although he is shifting nations, he at the same time is using
37:11
that to give one particular man a final chance to repent before
37:17
it's too late. So understand that the ways of
37:20
God are not just all powerful, they're incredibly wise.
37:25
And God can accomplish. Many things at the same time
37:28
beyond your knowledge and mine. We are often fixated on one or
37:33
two dimensions and the Lord here is doing multiple things.
37:39
And consider that for your own life that you think one thing is
37:42
happening, one thing is being accomplished, and when in fact
37:45
there are thousands of assignments being fulfilled.
37:50
I wonder what the people of this time on the world scale we're
37:52
thinking as Assyria was moving in, as Babylon was now also
37:56
growing in their power. All these things are taking
37:58
place, and yet what's in view here is 1 particular man in the
38:01
state of his soul. This is remarkable, the
38:05
sovereignty of God in one person's life, even though he's
38:08
moving the world. To get his attention.
38:14
But as I mentioned, consider secondly the wisdom of God, the
38:17
wisdom of God in divinely ordained affliction.
38:22
Divinely ordained affliction has a way of awakening the
38:25
conscience even in the most calloused of men when sermons
38:32
bounce. Off of hearts, the sharpness of
38:36
suffering has a way of cutting through it.
38:40
When it came to the word of the Lord, didn't listen.
38:43
When it came to the prophets of the Lord, he paid no attention.
38:46
When it came to hooks in his flesh and the heavy shackles
38:51
around his shoulders and tying around his ankles and keeping
38:55
his wrist together, that's when he began to think seriously
38:58
about his sin. And about.
39:00
The grace of God. The wisdom of God.
39:04
That's what it took from Manessa to be dragged out of his home
39:08
and to be placed in a foreign dungeon before he even
39:12
considered the goodness of God, the power of God, the love of
39:17
God, the forgiveness of God. And don't miss this important
39:22
point. Look back at this year in verse
39:25
12. The middle of it, and humbled
39:28
himself greatly before the God of his father's.
39:32
That's so specific. The God of his father's, the God
39:38
that he heard, his dad Hezekiah talking about it.
39:43
It came to mind here. Not in Jerusalem, not when he
39:49
had unrestrained power, not when he was unhinged.
39:52
The final moments of his life, what he heard from his father
40:00
came to him. Don't be discouraged because of
40:03
the lack of fruit in your evangelism or the lack of fruit
40:08
in your discipleship. Even if it's your your children,
40:12
you're not seeing the maturity that you want to see.
40:15
You're not seeing the zeal you want to see.
40:19
I won't name the brother, but last Sunday we had a few
40:23
membership interviews. And with every membership
40:26
interview, we asked people to give a synopsis of their story.
40:31
And this precious brother had mentioned that another brother
40:33
from this church a few years ago.
40:35
I handed them a nice Bible when he was totally lost and he put
40:39
this Bible away and he didn't look at that Bible for three
40:44
years. And in that Bible was a
40:46
handwritten note, contact information if you ever had any
40:51
questions. And when he was at the lowest of
40:54
the low he fetched for that Bible, he wiped the dust off of
40:59
it. He opened it up, went through
41:02
the Gospel of Matthew. He found that contact card.
41:05
He came to this church and he got saved.
41:08
Yes, three years. That seed was dormant for three
41:15
years. You never know, Manessa.
41:20
What did he do? He humbled himself greatly
41:23
before the God of his fathers. Lastly, the mercy of God.
41:34
He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard
41:37
his plea. Now, if we read Manessa's story
41:41
and restoration and isolation, it's still moving.
41:46
But when you remember that we're witnessing Hezekiah's son
41:50
repenting, that is even more incredible.
41:54
Because the same God who heard the desperate faith of a man who
41:58
was encircled by a foreign enemy known as Assyria, and who saw
42:03
the tears of the same man who in his weakness turned to the wall
42:07
to get some privacy and whisper to prayer, is the very same God
42:12
who swiftly heard the prayer of a miserable man like Vanessa.
42:20
How many times in studying Hezekiah's life we've seen how
42:22
God saw him and heard him in that state of prayer.
42:26
And he is no different with someone like this.
42:31
How quick he is to respond to repentance, How eager he is to
42:37
restore the repentant. It says that he was moved by his
42:43
entreaty. What about all the things that
42:45
he did in Second Kings 21? So great and so fierce is the
42:49
mercy of God. He didn't keep Manessa in that
42:54
penalty box for a few more years.
42:57
He immediately responded the moment he humbled himself.
43:03
That's why we can freely tell sinners at a meeting like this
43:06
or when you're evangelizing on the streets, that if you were to
43:08
confess Christ now, in that moment, if it's in genuine
43:12
repentance and faith, you can be justified.
43:17
A lot of Christians who believe in the power of the gospel are
43:19
skeptical of that. And I understand we have to be
43:23
careful, we have to be slow and we have to examine fruit.
43:26
But don't ever for a moment think that God is not willing to
43:32
in a second erase someone's record of sin.
43:36
Such is the power, the depth, the royalty of that precious
43:41
blood that flowed so honorable in the sight of God that
43:46
whenever anybody appeals to it, God will honor it because of
43:49
that sacrifice. It's not so much the Sinner,
43:54
yes, although he loves sinners. It's the price that was paid for
43:56
sinners. If we consider the power of the
43:59
New Covenant, that makes forgiveness even more fierce
44:03
than what we see here. There's an interesting sentence
44:10
at the end of verse 13. Then Manessa knew that the Lord
44:15
was God. What do you mean he knew that
44:18
the Lord was God? I thought he called out to the
44:19
God of his father's. Didn't he know exactly who he
44:22
was speaking to? How was it that after he
44:24
returned to Jerusalem, oh, he realized, oh, OK, now I know
44:26
that you're God. The word no here is not some
44:29
intellectual ascent. It's not some knowledge,
44:34
understanding information that was deposited in his brain
44:38
necessarily. It's an experiential knowledge.
44:42
So the way to properly understand this is that after
44:44
Manessa had repented, after the Lord showered grace upon him,
44:48
there is this experience of God that he knew so much that can be
44:54
said. I mean, a whole sermon can be
44:55
preached on that verse alone, the end of that verse.
44:59
But I'll just say this, It is not accidental that Manessa knew
45:03
the Lord in a real and personal way after he truly repented.
45:12
There are many people who are frustrated in the reality of
45:18
God, of the reality of God in their lives.
45:25
And they almost approach. God making himself known to them
45:29
in an arrogant way, in a way that tests Him.
45:33
May I suggest to you that the what the Lord is waiting for you
45:36
before He manifests himself is for you to be sick and tired of
45:40
your sin and to truly repent wholeheartedly repent.
45:50
So I've said this before, I don't want to be redundant, but
45:52
hopefully it helps somebody who grew up in a Christian home like
45:58
myself. I responded to, I've been to
46:00
meetings where they had altar calls.
46:01
I probably responded to 18 of them.
46:06
Sometimes there were messages that were more inclined to be
46:09
encouraging. Other times they were more
46:11
inclined to be fearful. Then, no matter how it was
46:14
packaged, whenever an invitation went out.
46:17
I just want to make sure that you know if you're giving an
46:19
invitation. The more times I can say yes,
46:22
the better chances I believe I have of being accepted.
46:24
So yeah, assign me. If you want me to walk up front,
46:25
no problem. It means I go to heaven.
46:27
I'll walk up front as many times as you want me to walk up front.
46:30
Never born again, never truly transformed, never truly walking
46:36
in the way that Jesus says you're supposed to walk if you
46:38
are filled with the Holy Spirit, if you even have the Holy
46:42
Spirit, if you're sealed of the Holy Spirit.
46:43
There is not a trace of that in my life up to the age of 20.
46:46
And when I really was born again, at some point I thought
46:50
to myself, why did it take me calling out to God in a basement
46:55
apartment in the second year of my college education for me to
46:59
really know what it means to be born again?
47:03
And it came to me all those other times leading up to that
47:07
point. I really still wanted the world.
47:13
I wanted Christ. But down deep inside, I felt
47:17
like church and Christian upbringing held me back from
47:21
something that others were enjoying.
47:23
And so I I want that I'll take Christ if you if you're offering
47:27
him. But I also want to indulge.
47:30
I also want to explore. And as long as my repentance was
47:33
half hearted, I never really knew God.
47:38
You will never really know God. Even if you give him 99% of your
47:45
heart, you will not really know him.
47:51
So is there any more proof of this kind of a thing?
47:55
Yes. My mind went to a passage in
47:58
Acts 319 to 20 where Peter told those Jews after a miraculous
48:03
healing of a man who was lame for many years.
48:07
Repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted
48:11
out and that times of refreshing may come from the presence of
48:15
the Lord in the ends of by saying and that he may send the
48:21
Christ appointed for you Jesus. There are three things that are
48:26
attached to three rewards if you will that are connected to
48:29
repentance to turn from your sin completely. 1 is that your sins
48:36
will be blotted out and the word they're so intense it actually
48:39
means for for a removal ink from parchment.
48:44
Like a deleting of record, as permanent as it may seem.
48:49
Secondly, that times are refreshing may come from the
48:51
presence of the Lord and more people would connect us with the
48:54
third one and speaking about the promise of the Messianic rule
49:00
and reign, especially because Peter speaking to a Jewish
49:03
audience as though to say Israel.
49:06
The sooner you repent and recognize your Messiah, the
49:08
sooner he will come and bring what he promised.
49:12
One that will greatly outshine all the things that you've known
49:15
in your history. That is dependent upon your
49:18
repentance, which I think is true largely.
49:21
But I believe there's a personal application with the second
49:23
point here, that there is a genuine satisfaction, cleansing
49:28
wholeness that is known only through the canal of repentance.
49:35
So when does the presence of the Lord manifest?
49:39
After you repent, After you truly repent.
49:45
Well, more can be said about that, but allow me to come to
49:48
the last portion of Second Kings 21 as we close together.
49:56
So Manessa, like his father, ended.
49:59
Well, that's glorious. But then we have this little
50:06
snippet about Manessa's son, and I'm going to read it in one
50:11
sitting here, and then just make a couple of brief observations
50:16
that are connected to this man. Manasseh Amon was 22 years old
50:20
when he began to reign, and he reigned 2 years in Jerusalem.
50:23
Two years, 55 years, two years. Wow.
50:31
His mother's name was Mushulameth, the daughter of
50:33
Heruz of Jatba. And he did what was evil in the
50:37
sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.
50:41
He walked in all the way in which his father walked, and
50:43
served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them.
50:46
He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk
50:48
in the way of the Lord. And the servants of Amon
50:51
conspired against him and put the king to death in his house.
50:54
But the people of the land struck down all those who had
50:56
conspired against King Amen. And the people of the land made
50:59
Josiah his son, king in his place.
51:01
Now the rest of the acts of Amen that he did, are they not
51:03
written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of
51:05
Judah? And he was buried in his tomb in
51:08
the garden of Ouza, And Josiah his son reigned in his place.
51:14
It's even more specific in its explanation in Second Chronicles
51:18
33. But we won't turn there.
51:20
All I want to, all I want to say is how is it that if Manessa had
51:24
such a radical repentance, and what's beautiful is on your own
51:27
time, look at the rest of Second Chronicles 33 and you realize
51:31
just how true Manessa's repentance was.
51:33
He goes back to Jerusalem and he brings reform because repentance
51:38
actually has fruit with it. It's it's amazing what he does
51:41
with the little time that he has left.
51:42
He did great damage, but he tried to undo his own wrongs.
51:49
But you know what he couldn't undo?
51:51
His son. His son having a real faith,
51:55
real walk with God, even after Manessa repents.
52:02
As hopeful as this Bible said I hope has been to you, we have to
52:06
be honest with how the Scripture presents this situation.
52:11
Repentance cancels guilt, but oftentimes it does not cancel
52:20
ripple effects, does not always reverse consequences, and that's
52:27
what we find here. Your compromise in mine,
52:31
especially if we are leaders in any capacity, can have lasting
52:36
consequences and so powerful our decisions to sin, especially in
52:45
prolonged seasons of sin, that even though we may recover,
52:50
those that we are affiliated with may not ever recover.
52:56
So Manessa is able to turn around, come to the Lord, and
52:59
die in faith. His son was so influenced by his
53:04
sin that he could never escape it for himself.
53:08
Why do I bring this point up to you?
53:09
Because as much as we want to enjoy and relish in the grace of
53:13
God, and it's always available to us, that should never, ever
53:16
for a moment encourage you to entertain sin with the hope that
53:21
I'm going to be forgiven and God is waiting to restore me.
53:25
Yeah, He may restore you, but you have no idea what kind of
53:27
impact you'll leave on other people.
53:31
I'll give you another example of this in case you're not
53:33
convinced so early in the story of Abraham.
53:37
There's a famine in the land and Abraham goes to a completely
53:41
different place, the land of Gerar.
53:45
In one instance. Before that, he actually goes to
53:47
Egypt. Now, when he goes to Egypt, he
53:50
lies and he gets into all this mess and all this compromise.
53:54
And that's in Genesis 12. But when you go to Genesis 13,
53:57
we read there that he goes back to the altar that he built at
53:59
first. So he he's restored to his
54:02
worship and his love for God and he's walking in the light again.
54:08
Who went down to Egypt with him? It wasn't just his wife, his
54:12
nephew Lot. Read the rest of Genesis 13.
54:18
What you'll find is Abraham is restored in his fellowship with
54:21
the Lord. Lot never recovers what he's
54:26
seen and experienced in Egypt. Read it carefully.
54:33
Their resources were so overwhelming both for Abraham
54:36
and Lot that they had to split ways.
54:37
And Abraham gives Lot the decision to make whatever
54:41
direction, his place of abode, his home, his new, his new
54:45
future. And he looks towards Sodom and
54:48
the Holy Spirit so specific and saying what it looked like to
54:52
Lot. And one of the descriptions is
54:53
it looked like the land of what, Egypt.
54:59
So Abraham, who led his family into Egypt to begin with, was
55:02
able to be restored, but Egypt never left Lot fathers, older
55:15
brothers, husbands, pastors, even mothers.
55:24
Be careful the decisions that you make, because there are
55:28
others who are watching you. There are others you may be
55:31
exposing your sin to. And yes, God got in a moment's
55:36
notice, change the direction of your life, but who's to say that
55:40
would be the same for those that you led in the wrong path?
55:45
So there should be at the same time this overwhelming sense of
55:48
joy and delight and rest, of knowing the grace of God, but
55:51
also a fear, a holy fear, not a legalistic fear, but a genuine
55:56
fear of the Lord. To say, I know I'm not perfect.
56:01
I know I'll never be perfect until the Lord glorifies his
56:03
body. But with a story like this, oh
56:06
Lord, give me the ability to shun all sin, to reject it, to
56:13
repel it, to deny it. Because sin is so cancerous, it
56:19
never stays with us, does it is able to contaminate people
56:25
around us. And Manessa's story, although a
56:28
gloriously hopeful 1, is a sobering 1 to remind us that we
56:33
may hate sin and love righteousness all the more.
56:37
Let's pray and ask God to help us.
56:59
Father, even if there be a manasa type listening to this
57:03
study today, we pray that you would breakthrough any walls,
57:11
any layers of iniquity that have made them insensitive to your
57:17
conviction. Lord, before suffering may be
57:20
their portion, we ask that you would use this Bible study to
57:23
soothe in them and to persuade them to see repentance as a gift
57:31
and something that you are willing to respond to
57:33
immediately. And Lord, we do pray also for
57:39
those who are walking in repentance, perhaps being
57:43
tempted to do something, thinking that it will be
57:46
contained to ourselves, that even if there are consequences,
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it would just be for us and we can manage them.
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Lord, destroy all deception and help us to live as faithfully as
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possible so that we would inspire others to love you and
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not deny you or be deceived the way we might have been deceived.
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So that we pray that from now until the end the fragrance of
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Jesus Christ would rest on us and that our lives would be salt
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so that people would thirst and want living water.
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But tonight we rejoice in you and we thank you that you've
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placed this in our Bibles so that we can see just how
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splendid and glorious you are. Thank you that you've allowed
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grace to be the means to energize us to be godly.
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Lord, we give you all praise and honor tonight.
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In Jesus name we pray, Amen. The praise team will come in a
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moment, but listen, don't rush. If you want to stand, you can
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stand. If you want to remain seated and
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just pour your heart out before the Lord, you can do that as
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well. If you need to repent, repent at
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times of refreshing may come into your life.
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But let's just respond to this study and trust that the Lord
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hears us. If he was willing to hear a man
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like Vanessa, how much more us who are in Christ?