Other comments on this day's readings can be found here.
Reading 1 - 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 [at the time of] 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" (GE Mansfield).
Reading 2 - Hosea
"When the LORD began to speak through Hosea, the LORD said to
him, 'Go, take to yourself an adulterous wife and children of unfaithfulness,
because the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD' "
(Hos 1:2).
"For us, so many centuries later, not the least of its
{Hosea's] values is its astonishing revelation of the tender love of God towards
those who are His, His yearning desire that they 'might not perish' but might
turn unto Him and be saved. This love is expressed in Hosea with such
earnestness, that if we had not had this sanction of the word of the prophet
himself, we might well not have dared to presume that it could be so great. In
the light of Hosea we may enter a little better into the convictions of the
apostle Paul that nothing, literally nothing, can 'separate us from the love of
God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord' [Rom 8:38,39]" (Fred Pearce, "The
Christadelphian" 113:99).
Reading 3 - Acts 15:39
"They [Paul and Barnabas] had such a sharp disagreement that
they parted company" (Acts 15:39).
"Perhaps it is something of a comfort in our own problems to
know that for a time two great apostles were not in the same fellowship!...
[but] in God's providence such a disastrous division was not to be" (Alan Eyre,
"The Christadelphian" 108:60). Indeed, compare Gal 2:9,13; 1Co 9:6; 1Ti 4:11
especially: later, Paul speaks highly favorably of Mark; apparently, there was
no continuing rift.
"Here it appears either Paul or Barnabas went too far. It must
have been a violent disagreement to separate two associates who were so closely
united. Indeed, the text indicates as much.
"Such examples are written for our consolation: for it is a
great comfort to us to hear that great saints, who have the Spirit of God, also
struggle. Those who say that saints do not sin would deprive us of this comfort.
Samson, David, and many other celebrated men full of the Holy Spirit fell into
grievous sins. Job and Jeremiah cursed the day of their birth; Elijah and Jonah
were weary of life and desired death. No one has ever fallen so grievously that
he may not rise again. Conversely, no one stands so firmly that he may not fall.
If Peter (and Paul and Barnabas) fell, I too may fall. If they rose again, I too
may rise again" (Martin Luther).