2Ch 33: "For fifty-five years the reign of Manasseh continued,
and for most of those years it was a time of great evil and wickedness. Manasseh
quickly forgot the righteousness of his father Hezekiah, and brought the nation
of Judah to one of its lowest ebbs. His was the longest reign of any of the
kings of the Davidic throne, and brought an apostasy into a state religion. His
mother's name was Hephzibah, and he was born on the third year of Hezekiah's
miraculous extension of 15 years following the defeat of Sennacherib. Even
though the message of Yahweh was delivered to the king and nation, the sad
record is 'they would not hearken' (v 10). Therefore the divine judgment came
against the king (v 11), and he was taken into captivity into Babylon towards
the end of his reign. Then came the most remarkable change in Manasseh. In his
affliction, he prayed unto Yahweh and humbled himself. After so long a period of
absolute apostasy and wickedness, the heart of Manasseh was turned to Yahweh. He
'knew' that Yahweh was God (v 13). The idea is that Manasseh recognised the hand
of Providence in his life. He desperately desired to undo the evil he had done,
but he had slain those who could have helped. Idolatry was still rampant in the
days of his grandson, Josiah. Though Manasseh tried to repair his folly, there
was not a sincere response by the nation. Certainly that sacrificed to Yahweh
only (v 17), but they did this openly because they feared the king. Secretly
they continued to serve pagan gods and this was openly done in the succeeding
reign. The folly of Manasseh was seen in the evil reign of his son Amon, who
reflected the environment of his early upbringing. It was a period of political
instability (v 24) and of spiritual decadence (v 17). It was a time of great
shadows in the record of Judah" (GEM).
2Ch 33:2
These kings had a great deal of influence over the people's
thinking. The people were clearly weak in following -- like sheep -- in the ways
of their leader, but this is the way we are made. We like to follow leaders, and
we like to be leaders. There is a lesson for us here in both of these aspects.
When we are leading, let us be sure to be righteous; and when we are following,
let us make sure we have chosen the right leader -- the "Hezekiah", not the
"Manasseh".