Latest / truthunedited / Story of King Manasseh_ From Ruthless Tyrant to Repentant Man

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Story of King Manasseh_ From Ruthless Tyrant to Repentant Man · truthunedited

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  Speaker 1: In our last video, we covered Hezikiah, the king who
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  Speaker 1: defied the odds. He stood against the mighty Assyrian Empire,
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  Speaker 1: restored true worship in Judah and witnessed one of the
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  Speaker 1: greatest miracles in history. But now the story takes a
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  Speaker 1: dark turn. In this video, we uncover the reign of Manassa,
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  Speaker 1: the fourteenth king of Judah. He wasn't just a bad king,
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  Speaker 1: he was the worst king Judah had ever seen. His
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  Speaker 1: father tore down idols, Manassa rebuilt them. His father restored
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  Speaker 1: the temple, Manassa desecrated it. His father called Judah back
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  Speaker 1: to God. Manassa led them deeper into rebellion. He reigned
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  Speaker 1: longer than any other king in Judah's history, but at
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  Speaker 1: what cost. Hezekiah's faith saved Judah from destruction and brought revival,
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  Speaker 1: But his later years were marked by pride, and when
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  Speaker 1: he was gone, his son did not follow in his footsteps.
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  Speaker 1: By the time Manassa took the throne, Israel, the Northern
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  Speaker 1: Kingdom was gone. The Assyrian Empire had wiped them off
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  Speaker 1: the map. Judah was all that remained. Would they stay
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  Speaker 1: faithful or would they follow Israel's path to destruction? Manassa's
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  Speaker 1: reign would take Judah to the point of no return.
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  Speaker 1: He ruled for fifty five years, longer than any other
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  Speaker 1: king in Judah, but by the end of his reign,
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  Speaker 1: the fate of the nation was sealed. This is part
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  Speaker 1: of our Deep Bible Stories series. Like and share this
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  Speaker 1: video and check out our exclusive ebooks. In the description
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  Speaker 1: what happens when a nation turns so far from God
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  Speaker 1: that judgment is the only way forward. Manasseh was born
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  Speaker 1: into the legacy of one of Judah's greatest kings. His father, Hezekiah,
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  Speaker 1: was a ruler who trusted God against im possible odds,
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  Speaker 1: stood against the world's most powerful empire, and led one
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  Speaker 1: of the greatest revivals in history. If there was ever
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  Speaker 1: a king's son set up for spiritual success, it was Manassa.
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  Speaker 1: But something went wrong. Instead of continuing his father's legacy,
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  Speaker 1: Manassa became Judah's most wicked king. He didn't just allow sin,
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  Speaker 1: he embraced it, promoted it, and made it law. Everything
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  Speaker 1: that Hezekiah had destroyed, Manassa rebuilt every idol his father
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  Speaker 1: tore down. Manassa raised again the very temple that Zekiah restored.
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  Speaker 1: Manassea would defile beyond recognition. How does a son of
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  Speaker 1: revival become a king of rebellion? Some have speculated that
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  Speaker 1: Hezekiah's extra fifteen years of life granted to him by
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  Speaker 1: God after his near death illness, were the years that
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  Speaker 1: led to Manassa's birth. If Hezekiah had died at the
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  Speaker 1: original appointed time, would Judah have been spared from Manassa's reign.
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  Speaker 1: Was this part of God's plan or a tragic consequence.
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  Speaker 1: Some point to Hezekiah's later years, wondering did he fail
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  Speaker 1: to prepare Manassa for leadership, Did the pressures of ruling
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  Speaker 1: blind him to his son's slow drift away from the faith?
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  Speaker 1: Or was Manassa's rebellion his own choice, a complete rejection
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  Speaker 1: of everything good? The Bible does not give us a
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  Speaker 1: definitive answer, but what we do know is this Manassa
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  Speaker 1: had access to the truth. He had seen the power
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  Speaker 1: of God, heard the prophecies, and lived in a kingdom
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  Speaker 1: restored to righteousness, and yet he still chose the world
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  Speaker 1: over God. Faith is not inherited. It must be taught, embraced,
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  Speaker 1: and lived as parents, mentors, and leaders. We have a responsibility.
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  Speaker 1: Are we raising the next generation to follow God or
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  Speaker 1: letting the world shape them. Manassa's story is a warning.
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  Speaker 1: Even in a home built on faith, a heart that
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  Speaker 1: does not seek God will seek something else. Are we
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  Speaker 1: actively passing down faith to those who come after us?
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  Speaker 1: Or are we assuming they will find their own way.
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  Speaker 1: There have been wicked kings throughout history, ruthless conquerors, corrupt rulers,
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  Speaker 1: and men who sought power at any cost. But what
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  Speaker 1: made Manassa different was this. He didn't just embrace evil,
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  Speaker 1: he made it the law of the land. He didn't
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  Speaker 1: just sin in secret. He led an entire nation into darkness.
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  Speaker 1: For fifty five years, Manassa ruled Judah, making it a
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  Speaker 1: kingdom of idolatry, bloodshed, and rebellion against God. His father, Hezekiah,
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  Speaker 1: had worked tirelessly to restore the worship of Yahweh in Judah.
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  Speaker 1: He had torn down every pagan altar, removed every idol,
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  Speaker 1: and re established God as the only king over the nation.
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  Speaker 1: But as soon as Hezekiah was gone, Manassa undid everything.
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  Speaker 1: The high places that were torn down, Manassa rebuilt them.
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  Speaker 1: The altars to bell that were destroyed, Manassa restored them.
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  Speaker 1: The asherapoles that had been cut down, Manassa raised them again.
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  Speaker 1: But he didn't stop there. Manasse went even further. He
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  Speaker 1: desecrated the very temple of God. Imagine stepping into the temple,
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  Speaker 1: the sacred place where God's presence had once filled the
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  Speaker 1: room with glory so powerful the priests couldn't even stand. Now,
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  Speaker 1: instead of holiness, the temple was filled with idols to
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  Speaker 1: false gods, foreign altars, carved images, and statues of the sun, moon,
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  Speaker 1: and stars. The very house of God had been defiled.
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  Speaker 1: For centuries, God's presence had rested in the temple, but
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  Speaker 1: now it had been turned into a shrine for demonsans.
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  Speaker 1: Manassa wasn't just leading Judah away from God. He was
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  Speaker 1: trying to erase God from Judah altogether. But what he
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  Speaker 1: did next would prove just how far his heart had
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  Speaker 1: turned to darkness. One of the most horrifying practices of
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  Speaker 1: the pagan nations surrounding Judah was child sacrifice. The Canaanites
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  Speaker 1: worshiped Molik, a god who demanded that children be burned
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  Speaker 1: alive in the fire as an offering. God had explicitly
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  Speaker 1: commanded Israel to never participate in such horrors warning them
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  Speaker 1: that any who did would be cursed, but Manassa didn't care.
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  Speaker 1: In the valley of Hinham, just outside of Jerusalem, fires
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  Speaker 1: burned day and night. Infants were placed into the outstretched
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  Speaker 1: arms of Molik's bronze idol and burned alive. Then Manassea
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  Speaker 1: he offered his own sons. Imagine the screams. Imagine the
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  Speaker 1: priests of Molik chanting as they beat their drums to
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  Speaker 1: drown out the cries of the children. Imagine the king
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  Speaker 1: standing there watching his own sons burn, believing it would
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  Speaker 1: bring him favor with a false god. The nation of
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  Speaker 1: Judah had reached a new depth of evil. Manassa knew
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  Speaker 1: there were still faithful people in Judah, those who worshiped Yahweh,
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  Speaker 1: who followed the law, who refused to bow to idols,
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  Speaker 1: but he would not tolerate them. He launched a violent
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  Speaker 1: purge against any one who opposed his rule. Prophets, priests,
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  Speaker 1: and righteous men were hunted down. Those who spoke out
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  Speaker 1: against Manassa were silenced permanently. According to Jewish tradition, the
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  Speaker 1: prophet Isaiah was one of his victims. They say that
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  Speaker 1: manasse had Isaiah sorn in half his body ripped apart
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  Speaker 1: simply for speaking the truth. The streets of Jerusalem ran
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  Speaker 1: with innocent blood. Manassa had taken a nation that had
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  Speaker 1: once been dedicated to God, and he had turned it
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  Speaker 1: into a nation dedicated to Hell. But Manassa made one
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  Speaker 1: fatal mistake. He forgot who he was dealing with. He
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  Speaker 1: may have thought he was powerful. He may have believed
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  Speaker 1: his kingdom belonged to him, But Judah wasn't his kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: It was God's, and God was about to remind him.
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  Speaker 1: The reign of Manasse didn't start with bloodshed. It started
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  Speaker 1: with small compromises. First he allowed idolatry, then he promoted idolatry,
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  Speaker 1: then he enforced idolatry, and finally he killed anyone who
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  Speaker 1: stood for truth. This is how sin works. It starts small,
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  Speaker 1: a little compromise here, a little turning away there, But
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  Speaker 1: if left unchecked, it spreads like wildfire, until one day
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  Speaker 1: a person, a family, or even an entire nation has
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  Speaker 1: forgotten God completely. What about us? Are there compromises we
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  Speaker 1: are allowing in our lives to day? Are we justifying
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  Speaker 1: small sin thinking they won't lead to anything worse? Are
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  Speaker 1: we standing for truth? Or are we allowing the world
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  Speaker 1: to shape our beliefs. Manassa's reign teaches us that evil
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  Speaker 1: never stops at the first step. Are we guarding our hearts?
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  Speaker 1: Or are we letting sin creep in? God is patient,
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  Speaker 1: he is merciful, He is slow to anger, but he
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  Speaker 1: is not silent. When a nation drifts into darkness, God
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  Speaker 1: always sends a warning, and in the days of King Manassa,
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  Speaker 1: those warnings came through the prophets. But what happens when
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  Speaker 1: a king refuses to listen? What happens when the people
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  Speaker 1: turn their backs on God completely? What happens when truth
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  Speaker 1: is not just ignored but violently silenced. For years, God
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  Speaker 1: sent messengers to Manassa. They came with a single message,
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  Speaker 1: turn back now repent If you do not, judgment is coming.
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  Speaker 1: But Manassa hated those words, and instead of listening, he
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  Speaker 1: un leashed a reign of terror on those who dared
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  Speaker 1: to speak them. God had warned Israel before, again and again.
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  Speaker 1: Every time a king led the people into sin, God
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  Speaker 1: sent prophets to call them back. Sometimes the people listened,
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  Speaker 1: other times they hardened their hearts. But never before had
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  Speaker 1: a king been so determined to eliminate the voice of God. Altogether,
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  Speaker 1: the prophets declared, Judah, remember the covenant returned to the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: or you will face the same fate as Israel. Israel,
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  Speaker 1: the Northern Kingdom, had already been destroyed by Assyria. For
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  Speaker 1: its sins. The people were taken captive, their cities burned,
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  Speaker 1: their land swallowed up by a foreign empire. Now Judah
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  Speaker 1: stood at the same cross roads. Would they learn from
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  Speaker 1: Israel's fall, or would they walk the same path straight
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  Speaker 1: into destruction. For Manassa there was no choice to make.
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  Speaker 1: He would not turn back. He had already given his
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  Speaker 1: heart to darkness, and he had no intention of listening
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  Speaker 1: to God. At first, Manisse ignored the prophets, then he
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  Speaker 1: mocked them, Then he declared war on them. Every time
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  Speaker 1: a prophet rose up to call Judah to repentance, Manassa
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  Speaker 1: had them hunted down and killed. The Streets of Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: ran with innocent blood. Faithful men and women, priests, scribes,
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  Speaker 1: prophets were dragged from their homes, beaten and executed. Any
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  Speaker 1: One who stood for God was silenced. Manasse had turned Jerusalem,
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  Speaker 1: the city of God, into a city of bloodshed. Moreover,
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  Speaker 1: Manassa also shed so much innocent blood, that he filled
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  Speaker 1: Jerusalem from end to end Second Kings, twenty one sixteen.
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  Speaker 1: But his greatest crime was yet to come, because among
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  Speaker 1: those faithful prophets there was one man who stood above
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  Speaker 1: the rest. His name was Isaiah. For decades, Isaiah had
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  Speaker 1: spoken the word of the Lord, warned Judah about turning
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  Speaker 1: away from God. He had prophesied the coming of the Messiah.
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  Speaker 1: He had stood in the presence of the Most High
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  Speaker 1: and declared, here am I send me? And now he
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  Speaker 1: was an old man. According to ancient Jewish tradition, Isiah
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  Speaker 1: was forced to flee into hiding. He found shelter inside
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  Speaker 1: a hollow tree, a desperate attempt to escape the king's wrath.
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  Speaker 1: But Manassa's soldiers found him, and when they did, they
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  Speaker 1: took a soar, and they cut him in half. That
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  Speaker 1: the prophet who had once stood before the throne of
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  Speaker 1: God was now silenced by the blade of a wicked king.
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  Speaker 1: Some were tortured, some faced jeers and flogging, some were soared.
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  Speaker 1: In two Hebrews eleven thirty five to thirty seven, the
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  Speaker 1: voice of truth had been erased from Judah, or so
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  Speaker 1: Manassa thought, because God is not mocked. His justice may
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  Speaker 1: be delayed, but it is never denied, and the day
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  Speaker 1: was coming when Manassa would face the consequences of his rebellion.
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  Speaker 1: But Manassa wasn't alone in his sin. The people of
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  Speaker 1: Judah followed him. They had seen what he had done
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  Speaker 1: to the prophets. They had watched as he murdered any
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  Speaker 1: one who stood for righteousness, and one by one they
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  Speaker 1: fell in line. They bowed to the false gods. They
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  Speaker 1: offered their children in the fire. They turned their backs
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  Speaker 1: on the Lord. The nation that was once chosen by
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  Speaker 1: God was now walking hand in hand with demons, and
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  Speaker 1: so God declared his final warning. This time, he didn't
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  Speaker 1: just speak through a prophet. He spoke through history itself.
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  Speaker 1: God had spared Judah before, He had held back his
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  Speaker 1: judgment because of righteous kings like Hezekiah. But now there
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  Speaker 1: was no more reason to wait. God spoke, I am
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  Speaker 1: going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that
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  Speaker 1: the ears of every one who hears it will tingle
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  Speaker 1: and kings twenty one twelve. The destruction of Judah was
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  Speaker 1: now inevitable. Manassa had sealed the kingdom's fate, and soon
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  Speaker 1: Judah would face the same judgment as Israel conquered, enslaved,
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  Speaker 1: and exiled from the land. But before that day came,
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  Speaker 1: Manassa would have to learn one final lesson. He believed
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  Speaker 1: he was untouchable. He thought he could do whatever he
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  Speaker 1: wanted without consequence. He assumed God would do nothing. But
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  Speaker 1: God was about to humble him in a way he
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  Speaker 1: never expected. Because even the most wicked man can be broken.
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  Speaker 1: And what happened next no one saw coming. It's easy
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  Speaker 1: to look at Manassa and think I would never do
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  Speaker 1: something like that. But the truth is his story is
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  Speaker 1: a warning for all of us, because every one of
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  Speaker 1: us has moments where God calls us to turn back.
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  Speaker 1: Every one of us hears his voice in one way
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  Speaker 1: or another. The question is do we listen or do
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  Speaker 1: we harden our hearts and keep going our own way.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible warns to day, if you hear his voice,
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  Speaker 1: do not harden your hearts Hebrews three fifteen. Manassa didn't
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  Speaker 1: just reject God ones he rejected him over and over again,
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  Speaker 1: and each time his heart grew harder. Are there places
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  Speaker 1: in our lives where God has been speaking but we
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  Speaker 1: have been ignoring him? Are we making choices that push
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  Speaker 1: us further from Him instead of closer. God is merciful,
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  Speaker 1: he is patient, He is forgiving, but he is also just.
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  Speaker 1: If we continue to ignore his voice, we may one
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  Speaker 1: day find ourselves standing in the middle of a storm
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  Speaker 1: we could have avoided. Are we listening to God's warnings
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  Speaker 1: or are we pretending they don't exist. The halls of
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  Speaker 1: Jerusalem had once echoed with the sounds of power. The
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  Speaker 1: King of Judah had ruled without fear, defied the warnings
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  Speaker 1: of the prophets, and mocked the justice of God. He
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  Speaker 1: had turned the Holy City into a playground for idols.
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  Speaker 1: He had drenched its streets with the blood of the innocent.
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  Speaker 1: He had burned his own children in the fire, and
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  Speaker 1: declared war on the very God of Israel. Manassa believed
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  Speaker 1: he was untouchable. But then the judgment of God arrived,
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  Speaker 1: and it came not with a whisper, but with the
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  Speaker 1: sound of war drums. For years, the kingdom of Assyria
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  Speaker 1: had ruled the world. They were not just conquerors, they
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  Speaker 1: were butchers. They did not merely defeat their enemies, They
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  Speaker 1: erased them. Cities that resisted them were burned to the ground.
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  Speaker 1: Kings who opposed them were chained like animals and dragged
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  Speaker 1: through the streets. Nations that stood in their way were
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  Speaker 1: wiped from history, And now they were coming from Manassa.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible tells us the lord brought against them the
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  Speaker 1: army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took manasse prisoner,
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  Speaker 1: put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles,
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  Speaker 1: and took him to Babylon Second Chronicles, thirty three eleven.
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  Speaker 1: The king who once commanded armies was now surrounded by
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  Speaker 1: soldiers who had no mercy. The man who had once
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  Speaker 1: ruled from a throne now lay on the ground, beaten
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  Speaker 1: and humiliated. The one who had once bowed to idols
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  Speaker 1: was now bowed down in chains. They grabbed him, forcing
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  Speaker 1: a hook through his nose a sign of absolute humiliation.
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  Speaker 1: They bound his hands and feet with bronze shackles, and
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  Speaker 1: then they dragged him from his kingdom. Picture it. The
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  Speaker 1: people of Jerusalem watched in silence as their once mighty
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  Speaker 1: king was led through the streets shackled like a slave.
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  Speaker 1: The same man who had filled the city with the
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  Speaker 1: blood of the righteous was now being taken away as
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  Speaker 1: a prisoner. The man who at once laughed at the prophets,
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  Speaker 1: was now powerless in the hands of his enemies. Manassa,
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  Speaker 1: the most power awful man in Judah, was now nothing.
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  Speaker 1: They led him away, step by step, toward a fate
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  Speaker 1: worse than death. For years, Manassa had believed that he
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  Speaker 1: could do whatever he wanted. He built altars to Bal,
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  Speaker 1: He sacrificed his own children. He defied God again and again.
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  Speaker 1: But where were Bal and Moloch? Now? Where were the
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  Speaker 1: gods he had trusted? Where were the spirits he had worshiped?
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  Speaker 1: Where was the power he had built for himself? They
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  Speaker 1: were silent. His idols could not save him, His wealth
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  Speaker 1: could not by his freedom. His false gods had abandoned him.
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  Speaker 1: And now, as he was dragged in chains to Babylon,
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  Speaker 1: he had nothing left. For the first time in his life,
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  Speaker 1: Manassa was truly alone. They threw him into a dark
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  Speaker 1: prison cell, the same kind of dungeon where he had
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  Speaker 1: once thrown the prophets of God. The air was damp,
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  Speaker 1: the walls were cold, the silence was suffocating. For the
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  Speaker 1: first time in fifty five years, there was no throne,
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  Speaker 1: no servants, no power, just him and the weight of
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  Speaker 1: his own choices, and in that silence, for the first
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  Speaker 1: time in his life, Manassa finally saw the truth. He
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  Speaker 1: had destroyed his people, he had mocked the God of
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  Speaker 1: his ancestors, he had turned his back on everything righteous,
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  Speaker 1: and now he had lost everything. But in that moment,
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  Speaker 1: something happened, that something no one expected. Manassa finally did
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  Speaker 1: what he had never done before. He prayed. Manassa had
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  Speaker 1: been warned again and again, but he refused to listen,
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  Speaker 1: and now he had lost everything. How often does this
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  Speaker 1: happen in our own lives? How many times does God
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  Speaker 1: warn us through his word, through his spirit, through circumstances,
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  Speaker 1: yet we continue to go our own way. There is
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  Speaker 1: a way that seems right to a man, but in
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  Speaker 1: the end it leads to death. Proverbs fourteen twelve. Sin
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  Speaker 1: always looks like freedom at first. Rebellion always feels like
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  Speaker 1: power at first. Ignoring God always seems harmless at first.
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  Speaker 1: But where does it lead. For Manassa, it led to chains, humiliation,
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  Speaker 1: and suffering. For us, it may not look the same,
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  Speaker 1: but the result is just as real. Some people ignore
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  Speaker 1: God's voice until their lives fall apart. Some continue in
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  Speaker 1: sin until their families are broken. Some refuse to listen
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  Speaker 1: until they lose everything. Why do we wait for rock
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  Speaker 1: bottom before turning back? If God is speaking to you
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  Speaker 1: to day, if he is calling you to change, don't
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  Speaker 1: wait until the chains come. Don't wait until it's too late.
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  Speaker 1: Manassa had one more chance, but not everyone gets that opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: The Bible tells us to day, if you hear his voice,
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  Speaker 1: do not harden your hearts Hebrews three fifteen. Are we
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  Speaker 1: ignoring God's warnings? Are we living as if our acttions
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  Speaker 1: have no consequences? Or are we humbling ourselves before we
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  Speaker 1: hit rock bottom? The cold stone walls of the prison
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  Speaker 1: pressed in around him. The once mighty king of Judah,
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  Speaker 1: who had ruled for over five decades, who had murdered prophets,
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  Speaker 1: who had filled Jerusalem with blood, now sat in chains,
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  Speaker 1: broken and humiliated. The world had forgotten him, His enemies
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: had defeated him, his own people had abandoned him, and
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: for the first time in his entire life, Manasse had
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: nowhere left to run. For years, Manasse had built his
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: kingdom on rebellion and defiance. He had led Judah into idolatry.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: He had sacrificed his own sons to false gods. He
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: had shut the doors of the temple of the Lord
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: and replaced it with the worship of bail, and he
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: had done it without remorse. He had mocked the warnings
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: of the prophets, he had laughed at the commands of God.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: He had silenced any one who who dared to stand
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: in his way. Manassa had spent a lifetime running from
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: the voice of God, but now locked in the darkness
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: of a Babylonian dungeon, with no throne, no kingdom, and
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: no power, there was nowhere left to run. The Bible
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: gives us a single shocking sentence. In his distress, he
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: sought the favor of the Lord, his God, and humbled
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: himself greatly before the God of his ancestors Second Chronicles,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: thirty three twelve. For the first time in fifty five years,
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: Manassa fell to his knees and cried out to God,
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: the same God he had rejected, the same God he
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: had mocked at the same God he had declared war against.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: And yet in his darkest hour, Manassa begged for mercy.
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: The king who had sacrificed children prayed the man who
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: had murdered the righteous repented. The ruler, who had filled
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem with idolsumbled himself before God. And then something happened
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: that no one expected. God heard him, God saw his
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: broken heart, and God forgave him. And when he prayed
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: listened to his plea. So he brought him back to
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manassa knew that the
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Lord is God. Second Chronicles, thirty three thirteen. Imagine the
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: moment one day the doors of his cell burst open.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: The Assyrians, the same empire that had dragged him away
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: in chains, now released him. The king who had lost
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: everything was now being restored. He was going home. But
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: this was not the same Manassa who had been captured.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: This was not the same man who had defied God.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Manassa had changed, and everything was about to be different.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: When Manassa walked back through the gates of Jerusalem, the
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: people must have been stunned. They had seen him leave
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: in chains, disgraced and defeated. They had thought they would
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: never see him again, and yet here he was. But
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: he wasn't just back on the throne. He was a
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: different man. The Manassa, that had once led Judah into
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: pagan worship, now tore down the very idols he had built.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: The king, who had once sacrificed his sons to demons,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: now restored the worship of the Lord. The man who
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: had once silenced the prophets, now listened to the word
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: of God. The Bible tells us he got rid of
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: the foreign gods and removed the image from the Temple
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: of the Lord, as well as all the altars he
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem, and
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: he threw them out of the city Second Chronicles, thirty
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: three fifteen. For years Jerusalem had been a city of darkness, corruption,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: and idolatry. But now one by one, the false gods
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: were torn down, the temple of Bale destroyed, the altars
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: to Mollich smashed to pieces, the carved idols burned and
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: removed from the land. And then Manassa restored the Altar
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: of the Lord. For decades, that altar had stood in silence,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: abandoned and forgotten. Now, for the first time in years,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: worship returned to Jerusalem. The people brought sacrifices again, not
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: to Bale, not to Molich, not to demons, but to
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Manassa had spent most of his life leading
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: his nation into darkness. Now he was using his last
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: years to lead them back to God. But was it
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: too late? Manasse's story should not exist by all human standards.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: He deserved to be destroyed. He had done unthinkable things,
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: worse than almost any king before him, and yet in
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: the end God forgave him. The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: slow to anger, abounding in love. Psalm one hundred three,
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: colon eight. If God could forgive Manassa, could he forgive you?
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Are there sins in your past that you think are
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: too great for God's mercy? Are there loved ones you
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: have given up on, believing they can never change. Are
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: their mistakes in your life that you think can never
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: be undone? Manassa's story proves something incredible that no one
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: is too far gone. But there's another truth we can't ignore.
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: Manassa had to lose everything before he turned to God.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Why do so many people wait until they hit rock
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: bottom before they finally surrender? Seek the Lord while he
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: may be found, Call on him while he is near
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Isaiah fifty five, colon six. If God is speaking to
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: you to day. Don't wait for the chains, the suffering,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: the fall before you listen. Because Manassa wasted decades in rebellion,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: years he would never get back. What about you? Are
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: you waiting for disaster before you turn to God? Or
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: will you choose repentance before it's too late. The streets
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem had changed, The idols were gone, the false
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: altars had been smashed, the temple had been restored. Manassa,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: the king who had once led Judah into unimaginable darkness,
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: was now using his final years to restore the nation
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: to God. But even as he rebuilt, the past could
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: not be erased. For over five decades, Manassa had ruled
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: as Judah's most wicked king. He had led an entire
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: generation into rebellion. He had encouraged child's sacrifice, witchcraft and
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: idle worship. He had defiled the very temple of God
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: with foreign gods. And even though he had repented, even
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: though he had tried to undo the damage, the reality
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: was simple and devastating. Sin has consequences. The people of
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Judah had spent too many years in rebellion, and while
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: some turned back to God alongside manasse many did not.
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: The seeds of wickedness had been planted too deeply. The
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: idols may have been torn down physically, but they still
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: lived in the hearts of the people. Could one man's
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: repentance truly change an entire nation? Manasse had once ruled
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: with an iron grip, forcing the people of Judah to
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: worship false gods. Now, in his final years, he tried
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: to lead them back to the truth. But something was different. Before,
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: when he commanded them to sin, they followed without question. Now,
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: when he called them to righteousness, many refused to listen.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: The people continued to sacrifice at the high places, but
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: only to the Lord their God, Second Chronicles thirty three seventeen.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: They were half hearted in their devotion. They were comfortable
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: in them compromise. They didn't fully return to God. They
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: simply adjusted their old ways, blending sin with worship. Manassa
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: had spent decades shaping Judah's culture, and now, even after
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: his repentance, his influence remained like a shadow over the land.
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: The people had become so accustomed to darkness that they
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: couldn't fully embrace the light. Manassa had changed, but had
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: his kingdom changed with him. The Bible does not describe
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: how Manassa died. We only know that, after fifty five
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: years on the throne, his rule came to an end.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: He was buried in his own palace gardens rather than
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: the royal tombs of David's line. Perhaps it was a
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: sign a recognition that his reign had been too tainted
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: for him to rest with Judah's righteous kings. Or perhaps
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: it was a final act of humility, a man who
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: had once exalted himself above God now choosing a quieter
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: burial as a sign of repentance. But whatever the reason,
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: Manassa was gone, and the question remained, would his repentance
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: last beyond his lifetime. Manassa had learned from his mistakes,
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: but his son Ammon never did. The Bible tells us
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Amon was twenty two years old when he became king,
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: and he reigned in Jerusalem for two years. He did
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Manasseh had done. Second Kings twenty one nineteen to twenty
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: Ahmon learned nothing from his father's repentance. Instead, he embraced
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: the worst parts of Manasse's rule. He restored the idols
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: that Manassa had torn down. He brought back the false
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: gods he worshiped, the same demonic powers his father had
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: once served. The change in Manassa's life had come too
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: late to impact his own son, and within just two years,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Ahmond's wickedness led to his assasemascination, a brutal end to
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: a reign that had barely begun. Judah had learnt nothing.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: Had Manass's repentance even mattered. We do not know what
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: went through Manas's mind in his final days. Did he
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: look back on the destruction he had caused and mourn
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: the years he had wasted. Did he see the people
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: still worshiping at high places and wonder if he had
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: done enough? Did he see his own son's rebellion and
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: wish he had raised him differently. Manassa was forgiven by God,
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: but the consequences of his sin did not disappear. Even
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: though he returned to the Lord, his people were still lost.
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: Even though he repented, his own son rejected the truth.
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: Even though he tried to fix the nation, the damage
• 31:49
  Speaker 1: had already been done. This is the tragedy of Manassa's life.
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: He learned the truth, but far too late. Manassa's story
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: is a reminder that God's mind is limitless, but the
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: consequences of our choices remain. We can be forgiven, but
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: that doesn't mean the damage we cause is instantly erased.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. A man
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: reaps what he sows Galatians six seven. The seeds Manasse
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: planted in his early years grew into a harvest of destruction.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: His repentance saved him, but it did not undo decades
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: of rebellion. So the question is are we living in
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: a way that will leave behind regret or righteousness? Are
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: we raising the next generation to follow God? Or are
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: we letting them be shaped by the sins of this world?
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: Are we leading by example today or will we only
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: realize the truth when it's too late. Are we waiting
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: until disaster comes to turn back to God or are
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: we choosing to walk with him right now? Manassa had
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: two halves to his life, one of rebellion, one of repentance.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: Which half will define yours. Manassa's story is one of
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: two extremes. He was one of Judah's most wicked kings,
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: leading the nation into unspeakable evil, but he was also
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: one of Judah's most shocking redemption stories, proving that God's
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: mercy can reach even the worst of sinners. His life
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: teaches us two great truths. Sin has consequences. What we
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: do matters not just for ourselves, but for generations to come.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: God's grace is greater than our failures. No one is
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: beyond redemption if they truly repent. But the question is
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: which part of Manassa's story will we learn from. Manassa
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: ruled longer than any king in Judah's history, fifty five years,
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: and for most of those years he led the nation
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: into ruin. He rebuilt the idols his father had destroyed.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: He filled Jerusalem with bloodshed, He defiled the Temple of
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: God with pagan worship. He sacrificed his own children in
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: the fire. He persecuted and killed God's prophets. Even though
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: he later repented, the damage had already been done. The
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: entire culture of Judah had changed under his leadership. For
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: over five decades, the people had been conditioned to accept idolatry, witchcraft,
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: and evil as a normal part of life. His influence
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: shaped a generation, and though he turned back to God
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: in the end, many never followed his example. The people
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: the Lord their God Second Chronicles thirty three seventeen. They
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: were not fully devoted. They had become so accustomed to
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: mixing truth with deception, so comfortable with compromise, that even
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: after Manassa tried to reform the nation, they never truly
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: returned to God with their whole hearts. And that would
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: eventually lead to Judah's downfall. But despite all the evil
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: he committed, despite all the pain he caused, Manasse's story
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: did not end in destruction. He was captured, he was humiliated,
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: he was dragged to Babylon in chains, and in his
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: suffering he finally turned to God. He humbled himself, he
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: prayed for mercy, He repented, and God forgave him. Even
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: after all his wickedness, God still had mercy. Think about that,
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: this was the man who had led Judah into more
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: sin than any king before him, and yet when he
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: genuinely repented, God restored him. In his distress, he sought
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: the favor of the Lord his God, and humbled himself
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: and listened to his plea Second Chronicles, thirty three, twelve
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: to thirteen. This is a powerful truth. No one is
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: too far gone for God's mercy, no matter how deep
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: the sin, no matter how long we've been running, no
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: matter how much damage we've caused. If we humble ourselves
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: and truly turned back to God, he will hear us.
• 36:14
  Speaker 1: This is the hope that Manassa's story offers. If God
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: could forgive and restore a king as wicked as Manasseh,
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: what does that mean for us? Even though manasse repented,
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: even though he tried to undo the damage he had done,
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: his legacy had already been sealed. His son Ammon, never
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: learned from his father's repentance. Instead, he followed in his
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: father's earlier sins. The Bible says Aimon did evil in
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manassa had done.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: He worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manassa
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: had made Second Kings twenty one twenty to twenty one.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Aimon embraced Manassa's rebellion, but rechies rejected his repentance, and
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: just two years into his reign, he was assassinated by
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: his own servants. Manassa had changed, but his early years
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: had already shaped the next generation. This is why our
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: choices matter. Even if we repent, even if God forgives us,
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: our influence remains. We can't erase the past, and if
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: we're not careful, our mistakes can shape the future long
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: after we're gone. Manassa's life is a tale of two legacies,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: one of rebellion, a king who led his people into sin,
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: one of repentance, a man who found mercy in his
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: final years. The question is which one will we learn from?
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: And are we ignoring God's warnings like Manase did for
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: most of his life. Are we compromising in small ways,
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: allowing sin to slowly take root. Are we waiting until
• 37:54
  Speaker 1: we hit rock bottom before turning back to God or dash?
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: Are we willing to humble ourselves now before the consequences
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: catch up to us. Are we leading our families, communities,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: and future generations toward God rather than toward destruction? Are
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: we using the time we have now to build a
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: legacy of faith instead of regret. The truth is we
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: all leave a legacy. The only question is what kind
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: of legacy will it be? Manasse's story is one of
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: the most shocking transformations in the Bible. For decades, he
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: led Judah into darkness. He built altars to foreign gods
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: inside the temple of the Lord. He sacrificed his own
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: children to false gods. He shed innocent blood, turning Jerusalem
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: into a city of death. He ignored God's profits, silencing
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: those who warned him. He went too far, further than
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: any king before him. And yet he wasn't too far gone,
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: because even after all his rebellion, even after facing God's judgment,
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: even after being dragged to Babylon in chains, when he
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: humbled himself and cried out to God, God forgave him.
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: That's the kind of grace we see in Manassa's story,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: the kind of grace that goes beyond human logic, the
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: kind of grace that restores even the most broken lives,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: the kind of grace that none of us deserve, but
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: God gives anyway. The question is do we believe in
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: that kind of grace, not just for Manassa, not just
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: for people in the Bible, but for ourselves. Do we
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: trust that no one is beyond saving, even those we
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: think are too far gone. Do we believe that God
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: can still restore us no matter how far we've fallen.
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Do we accept that His mercy is bigger than our
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: worst failures or dash? Are we holding on to guilt,
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: thinking we're too broken to be redeemed? Are we looking
• 39:53
  Speaker 1: at others and believing they'll never change? Are we limiting
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: God's grace to what makes sense to us instead of
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: what he has already proven in his word? Because if
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: God could forgive Manassa, he can forgive any one, even you,
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: even me. Manassa repented. He tried to undo the damage,
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: but some scars don't heal over night. Judah never fully
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: recovered from the sins he introduced, and his own son
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: Amon rejected his father's repentance. Amon saw his father's evil
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: but ignored his transformation. Amon continued the cycle of rebellion
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: and it cost him everything, which brings us to a
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: final question. Are we learning from the past or are
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: we repeating its mistakes. If this story challenged, you make
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: sure to like and share it with some one who
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: needs to hear it. And if you want to go
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: even deeper, check out our exclusive ebooks. In the description
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: Next Time, King Amon, the king who refused to learn
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: Vanessa repented, but his son chose destruction. Armon ignored his
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: father's transformation and walked straight into rebellion. His reign was short,
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: but his downfall was swift. Are we learning from those
• 41:16
  Speaker 1: who came before us? Or are we walking the same
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: dangerous road? Stay blest,