SOME LEADERS ARE JUST BAD

 PROCLAMATION

“And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards; he wrought much wickedness in the sight of The Lord, to provoke Him to anger.”  2 Kings 21:6 (KJV)

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  The human author is unknown although some Bible scholars attribute this book to the prophet Jeremiah.  Manasseh the son of Hezekiah was twelve years old when he began his reign as the king of Judah.  He did that which was evil in the sight of The Lord.  He built up the things for idol worship which his father Hezekiah had destroyed.  He even sacrificed his son by fire. (2 Kings 21:1-6)  Manasseh led Judah to do more evil than the nations which The Lord had destroyed.  Because of this, The Lord said that He would bring such a punishment upon Jerusalem and Judah that the ears would tingle on whosoever hears of it. (2 Kings 21:7-12)  When Manasseh died his son Amon reigned as king of Judah.  He did that which was evil in the sight of The Lord as his father had done.  He reigned for two years before his servants conspired against him and slew him.  The people of Judah rose up and slew all of the people that conspired against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his stead. (2 Kings 21:13-26)

APPLICATION

The Lord God does not like any sin.  However, some sins are worse than others.  Some sins are an abomination to Him, like pride, lying, killing the innocent, wicked scheming, being quick to sin, false witness, and sowing discord. (Proverbs 6:16-19)  There are some sins which are referred to as the seven deadly sins: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth.  There are also some sins which provoke God to anger.  These are the sins idolatry which reject The Lord God and favor something or someone else. (Exodus 20:3-5)  It is not good for us to sin in such a manner that we make God angry.  We do not want to incur the wrath of God.  We should not put anything ahead of our worship of The Lord.  If we seek Him first, then everything else that we need will be given unto us. (Matthew 6:33)  Do not deny, insult, condemn, or disrespect The Lord God.  The worst sin is blasphemy against The Lord God or The Holy Spirit of God, for this sin cannot be forgiven. (Mark 3:28-30)