PROCLAMATION
“And when he was in
affliction, he besought The Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the
God of his fathers.” 2 Chronicles 33:12
(KJV)
EXPLANATION
The words of First and Second
Chronicles were written as one book
under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Ezra the scribe and priest and
historical Bible scholar according to Jewish tradition. King
Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign over Judah, and he reigned
for twenty-nine years. (2 Chronicles 29:1)
He was fifty-four years old when he died and his twelve year old son
Manasseh succeeded him as king of Judah. Hezekiah obeyed God and sought His counsel
before taking action. However, Manasseh
did that which was evil in the sight of The Lord. He rebuilt the high places which his father
had torn down. He built altars for Baals
and made Asherah poles, and he worshiped them.
He even built altars for the idol gods in the house of The Lord. (2
Chronicles 33:1-5) Manasseh sacrificed
his children in fire offerings to the idols.
He resorted to using fortune-tellers and sorcery and omens, in addition
to dealing with mediums and necromancers.
He led Judah astray and provoked the anger of The Lord. (2 Chronicles
33:6-9) The Lord spoke to Manasseh and
to the people but they paid Him no attention.
Therefore The Lord allowed the army of the king of Assyria to attack
Judah and capture Manasseh, to bind him with fetters and chains, and parade him
down the streets of Babylon. In his
distress, Manasseh humbled himself and prayed unto the Lord God. Being moved by his prayers, God allowed him
to be returned to his kingdom and to rule from Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles
33:10-13) He built up and outer wall around
the City of David to a great height. He
fortified all of the cities of Judah and assigned commanders to each city. Then he tore down all of the idols and altars
to foreign gods. He also restored all of
the altars for The Lord God and reinstituted the sacrifices and worship to The
Lord God. (2 Chronicles 33:14-17) Manasseh
reign as the king of Judah for fifty-nine years before his son Amon succeeded
him. Amon did that which was evil in the
sight of The Lord. He reinstituted all
of the idol worship which his father had done in the beginning of his
reign. He reigned for two years before his
servants conspired against him and killed him.
Then the people of Judah put to death all those who had conspired
against Amon and made his son Josiah king. (2 Chronicles 33:21-25)
APPLICATION
It does not matter how we have sinned, if we sincerely
humble ourselves and repent, The Lord God can forgive us and restore us into
His good graces. (2 Chronicles 7:14) If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) Blaspheming The Holy Spirit is the only
unforgivable sin. (Mark 3:29)
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