2 Chronicles 33 – 36
Verse 33:1 introduces a new king:
Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
First thing that caught my eye was how young he was talking the throne; imagine any 12 year old becoming president. He is not the youngest one to become king of Israel, but his longevity was what surprised me especially after the next verse. Most kings who are “evil in the sight of the Lord” don’t last 55 years. King Manasseh had God’s wrath hit him, but unlike most kings who puffed up and got proud, Manasseh repented.
Verse 33:12 is where he does this:
And when he was in distress, he entreated the favour of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.
Good news is God allowed him to flourish and restore the damage that they had done. The people followed although in verse 17 it appears they are not quite doing the sacrifices right, but only the “the Lord their God!” When reading stories like these and having just read the recounting of why Moses was not allowed into the Promised Land I wonder about the definition of “repentance”.
Did Moses do it wrong or was his “sin” worse since he ignored God directly? I though all sins were the same in God’s eyes, so why did Moses repenting not gain him access to the Promised Land? Consequences are the only thing I can figure, I am sure Moses was forgiven, but the consequence for his disobedience was no entry to the Promised Land. Now Manasseh was running blind as we see in the next chapter when King Josiah takes control, at 8 years old!
Eighteen years into Josiah’s reign they start to rebuild the temple. In verse 34:14 they find the book of the Law:
While they were bringing out the money that had been brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given through Moses.
Josiah was repentant and tore his clothes after hearing the word of the Lord. He is realizing that the Lord’s wrath will be greatly poured out on the people for drifting from God. But once again in 34:27 the Lord forgives:
because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord.
God forgives after true repentance and keeps the kingdom whole for a time. I read this and wonder if our asking for forgiveness is “contrite” and we really need to understand the consequences of our sins and really repent. But once again after Josiah’s death Judah declines and the kingdom in chapter 36 is taken over by Persia and I believe that Israel remains under the control of other powers than the Jewish people until after World War II. As history unfolds we may be seeing “end times” happen before our eyes … we’ll see as we read on.