The book of 2 Kings, Bible Lesson 25.
Just for your thoughts:
The book of 2 Kings, Bible Lesson 25.
The life of Manasseh is an example that God forgives even the worst sinner. There are many mysteries in the Holy Bible that we cannot fully understand.
One such puzzle is this: Hezekiah was the greatest reformer in the Old Testament, yet his own son Manasseh became the king who brought the greatest harm to God and His temple among the rulers of Judah.
The sins committed by Manasseh – list:
He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had destroyed (2 Kings 21:3).
He built altars for Baal, the Canaanite god (2 Kings 21:3).
He set up an Asherah pole (2 Kings 21:3).
He worshiped the sun, moon, and starry hosts (2 Kings 21:3, 5).
Inside the temple of the Lord, the very place God had chosen, he built altars and sacrificed to idols (2 Kings 21:4–5).
He sacrificed even his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery, witchcraft, and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists.
He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
He placed the carved image of the Asherah idol he had made inside the temple of God.
This was the very temple about which the Lord had said to David and his son Solomon: “In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my Name forever.” (2 Kings 21:7)
Not only did he sin himself, but he also led Judah and Israel into more wickedness than the surrounding nations.
He refused to listen to the voice of the Lord, though God warned him through His prophets (2 Chronicles 33:10).
No one else misled the people of Judah and Israel as Manasseh did. Therefore, the Lord brought against him the commanders of the king of Assyria. They captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon (2 Chronicles 33:11).
In his distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors (2 Chronicles 33:12). Then he knew that the Lord is God.
The lessons God teaches us through these events:
1.No sinner is too far away from God.
2.Whoever truly repents will never be cast away by Him.
Genuine repentance is the only way to draw near to the Lord.
3.Until death, the door of repentance remains open for every sinner.
4.The end of a matter is more important than its beginning. Even if someone’s spiritual journey begins brightly, if it ends fruitlessly, the initial good has no value.
5.Godly parents cannot say for certain that children like Manasseh will never be born to them.
6.Yet, God is not unjust to forget the tears, fasting prayers, and consecrations of parents on behalf of their children.
— Ezekiel Shanmugavel