Manasseh was twelve years old when he began his fifty-five-year [wicked] reign in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. (2 Kings 21:1)
Manasseh was the longest-reigning king in Jerusalem. He ruled for 55 years. Why would a good God allow a wicked King to rule his people the longest? Difficult to understand.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king: This means that he was born in the last fifteen years of Hezekiah’s life, the additional fifteen years that Hezekiah prayed for. Those additional fifteen years brought Judah one of its worst kings.
And he [good Hezekiah’s son] built altars for all the hosts of the heavens in the two courts of the house of the Lord! (2 Kings 21:5)
The host of heaven has two basic meanings depending on the context.
1 Heavenly Bodies = stars - as created things and/or as objects of idolatry
2 Heavenly Beings = angels or spirit beings
He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord (2 Kings 21:7)
Asherah was the Canaanite fertility goddess, and she was worshipped by performing ritualised acts of prostitution. This indicates that Manasseh converted the temple an idolatrous brothel dedicated to Asherah.
Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, filling Jerusalem from one end to another—besides his sin in making Judah sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord! (2 Kings 21:16)
Bible scholars tell us that Prophet Isaiah was sawn in half during the reign of Manasseh.
Many think that Hebrews 11:37 (they were sawn in two) is a reference to the martyrdom of Prophet Isaiah.
“They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.” (Hebrews 11:37)
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (2 Kings 21:17)
2 Chronicles 33:11-19 details a great repentance on the part of Manasseh. The LORD let the Babylonians bind Manasseh and carry him to Babylon as a captive as a result of the fact that he and his people refused to heed the warnings that God had given them.
There, while he was in adversity, he beseeched the LORD and severely humbled himself in front of the God of his fathers (2 Chronicles 33:12), and God answered his prayer and reinstated him to the throne of Israel.
Manasseh then demonstrated the sincerity of his repentance by removing the idols and the foreign gods from Jerusalem, and he gave Judah the command to worship the LORD, the God of Israel (2 Chronicles 33:16).
Manasseh was the longest-reigning king in Jerusalem. He ruled for 55 years. Why would a good God allow a wicked King to rule his people the longest? Difficult to understand.
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king: This means that he was born in the last fifteen years of Hezekiah’s life, the additional fifteen years that Hezekiah prayed for. Those additional fifteen years brought Judah one of its worst kings.
And he [good Hezekiah’s son] built altars for all the hosts of the heavens in the two courts of the house of the Lord! (2 Kings 21:5)
The host of heaven has two basic meanings depending on the context.
1 Heavenly Bodies = stars - as created things and/or as objects of idolatry
2 Heavenly Beings = angels or spirit beings
He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord (2 Kings 21:7)
Asherah was the Canaanite fertility goddess, and she was worshipped by performing ritualised acts of prostitution. This indicates that Manasseh converted the temple an idolatrous brothel dedicated to Asherah.
Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, filling Jerusalem from one end to another—besides his sin in making Judah sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord! (2 Kings 21:16)
Bible scholars tell us that Prophet Isaiah was sawn in half during the reign of Manasseh.
Many think that Hebrews 11:37 (they were sawn in two) is a reference to the martyrdom of Prophet Isaiah.
“They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.” (Hebrews 11:37)
Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? (2 Kings 21:17)
2 Chronicles 33:11-19 details a great repentance on the part of Manasseh. The LORD let the Babylonians bind Manasseh and carry him to Babylon as a captive as a result of the fact that he and his people refused to heed the warnings that God had given them.
There, while he was in adversity, he beseeched the LORD and severely humbled himself in front of the God of his fathers (2 Chronicles 33:12), and God answered his prayer and reinstated him to the throne of Israel.
Manasseh then demonstrated the sincerity of his repentance by removing the idols and the foreign gods from Jerusalem, and he gave Judah the command to worship the LORD, the God of Israel (2 Chronicles 33:16).
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