2 KINGS 21
Read 2 Kings 21:1-26
After the very good king Hezekiah we get the worst king ever in the southern kingdom, Manasseh. He is introduced with a list of all the bad things that he did as king: he followed the detestable practices of the nations that occupied the land before the Israelites (and we remember that included child sacrifice, and we are told that Manasseh sacrificed his own son (v6)), he rebuilt the pagan altars his father had destroyed and he himself worshipped all these pagan gods and goddesses. In fact, he undid all the good work that Hezekiah had done (see 2 Kings 18:3-8) and worse. The state of the nation was worse than it had ever been because Manasseh led the people astray to such an extent that “they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites” (v9). Isn’t that a damning assessment? The people of God were more evil than pagan non-believers. But it is something that we, even today, need to be aware of. Sometimes Christians don’t behave very well, and sometimes they even fall short of the standards expected by our own unbelieving society. It is a poor witness to God when believers stand out in society because of their bad behaviour.
As he often did, God challenged the king through his faithful prophets and pronounced a dire judgement on the nations. The prophecy is of disaster because of their unfaithfulness to God and God used a graphic image; “I will stretch out a measuring line used against Samaria, the plumb line used against Ahab” (v13). The implication is that they will be measured, and they will be found wanting. We know what happened to the northern kingdom (known here after its capital city, Samaria) and to its people so badly corrupted by that most evil king, Ahab. They were overrun by enemies and taken into exile; they ceased to exist. That was the judgement upon the southern kingdom too – the same fate awaited them (and we remember that this was hinted at when the northern kingdom of Israel was taken into exile (2 Kings 17:13 and 17:18). Then God used another image, of doing the washing up, “I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down” (v13). The idea is that the place will be completely cleaned out – just like a dish wiped and turned upside down so that nothing can stay in it. Judgement is coming and it will be decisive. Deliberately turning away from God and setting one’s heart against him has terrible consequences.
Manasseh’s rule was long (55 years) and terribly destructive. Could God have intervened and made it shorter? Undoubtedly he could, but as we have seen, God’s judgement upon sin is sometimes to let people continue in their sin (and Paul speaks to this in Romans 1:18 and onwards). Eventually Manasseh’s life came to an end. We are not told how but it seems to have been a peaceful end, or at least, not by assassination. So, would things look up with a new king? There was no chance of that: Manasseh’s son Amon seemed to be a Manasseh clone. We are told that he walked in all the ways of his father (v21) by worshipping idols and turning his back on the Lord. By now the people had had enough and he was assassinated.