.
Get your own
Free Website now!
|
|
Have you considered the King of Judah who got a second chance? That's right, he royally blew it when he first became king, by wasting his life serving other god's. He caused the whole nation of Judah to follow his direction.
The life of Manasseh and his rule is described in 2 Kings 21:1-18; 2 Chron. 33:1-20. At this time in history Necho I, king of Egypt, was captured and released by Ashurbanipal. A rebellion against Assyria happened during Manasseh's reign, in support of Sharnash-shum-ukin, Viceroy of Babylon. He could have participated in it. Manasseh's reformation was overturned by his son just as Manasseh ignored the changes of his father Hezekiah. Manasseh ruled roughly between 700 B.C. & 650 B.C. (Reference: New Bible Dictionary)
Manasseh was the 17th king of Judah and he ruled Judah 55 years, which was the longest of any Jewish king of Israel or Judah. Manasseh's father was Hezekiah. Nahum was the prophet during the first half of his reign and Isaiah's ministry may have extended into the beginning of his reign. Was Isaiah sawn in two by the order of Manasseh?
Manasseh rebuilt the high places that His father Hezekiah had destroyed. He built alters for Baal and made an Asherah, later setting it in the house of the Lord. He worshiped all the hosts of heaven and served them. He built alters for all the hosts of heaven in the house of the Lord. He made his sons pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination and dealt with mediums and spiritualists. Judah did not listen to God but was seduced to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.
Results of the sin of Manasseh. Because Manasseh had sinned more wickedly than the Amorites, and has made Judah sin with His idols (2 Kings 21:9,10), God brought a calamity on Judah and Jerusalem, that whoever heard of it, their ears tingled (v. 12). God used the line of Samaria and the plummet of Ahab. God wiped Jerusalem as one wipes a dish turning it upside down (v.13). God abandoned the remnant of His inheritance (v. 14). He delivered them into the hand of their enemies. They became plunder and spoil for all their enemies (v. 14). See Jer. 15:4
The commanders of the Assyrian Army captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon (2 Chron. 33:4). Manasseh then repented in his anguish, entreating the Lord, humbling himself greatly and by prayer (2 Chron. 33:12,13). God heard him, and set him back on the throne of Judah.
What does it mean to repent? Pray for God to search our hearts and lead us. (Ps. 139:23,24) Allow God's kindness to lead us to repentance. (Rom 2:4) Repentance comes before cleansing. (Acts 3:19) When we come to God, we can trust that He will have our best interests at heart. (Joel 2:12) A repentant sorrow, with no regret, causes change. (2 Cor. 7:10) Amend our ways by doing righteousness. (Jer 7:1f) Confess our sins. (1 John 1:9) Repentance needs appropriate deeds. (Acts 26:20; Matt. 3:8; Ezk 33:15) Draw near to God and he will draw near to us. (James 4:8 Mal. 3:7-10; Heb. 7:19) Rend our heart with fasting, weeping and mourning, God may relent and leave a blessing. (Joel 2:12-14)
Ps 139:23,24 "Search me, O God and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.
Ps 19:14 "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer."
Rom 2:4 ... the kindness of God leads you to repentance.
Acts 3:19 "Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."
Joel 2:12 - return to the Lord for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil.
2 Cor 7:10 "For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death."
Jer. 7:1f - amend your ways and not rely on religious sayings. Practice justice, and not oppress the alien and the orphan or the widow and don't kill nor walk after other gods..
1 Jn 1:9 Confess your sins, we will be forgiven and cleansed.
Hosea 14:2 "Take words with you and return to the Lord, say to Him, take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously, that we may present the fruit of our lips."
Hosea 10:12 "Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you."
Acts 26:20 - declare to Damascus, Jerusalem, the region of Judah and to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.
Dan 4:27 Daniel's advice to Nebuchadnezzar was to break away form your sins and do righteousness and show mercy to the poor in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity. James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
Joel 2:12-14 "Yet even now, declares the Lord, Return to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, weeping, and mourning; and rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God., for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, and relenting of evil. Who know whether He will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him, even a grain offering and a libation for the Lord your God?
God is drawing us to Him. God is good. He is ready to forgive, and abundant in loving kindness to all who call upon Him. (Ps 86:5) He has prepared a way for us to come to Him. He sent His son Jesus to die for us that we might have eternal life. (Jn. 3:16) God is kind. The kindness of God leads us to repentance. (Rom. 2:4) God is gentle. The gentleness of God makes us great. (Ps. 18:35) Don't think God doesn't want us or can't use us because of our past. God will build us up and use us. God's power will flow through us and enable us to work for Him. Zech.4:6 God makes strength out of weaknesses (2 Cor 12:9). God uses the past to build on for the future. How does He do this? God uses our testimony of what He has done for us and allows us to bring people into the Kingdom because of what God has done for us. God is love. (1 Jn. 4:8) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) God loved us so much that He died for us. God loved us so much that He left the comforts of heaven and lived as a man. He also lived as a laborer that He might identify with us and that we might identify with Him. (Heb. 2:14-18; Phil. 2:5-8) God is light. (1 Jn. 1:5) Jesus shows us the way. Jesus is the light at the end of the tunnel. Jesus is the north star in a land of chaos. Jesus is the light that lights up an airport runway to bring us home. Jesus is the lighthouse that warns us of impending doom. Do you feel you are a loser? With Jesus we overwhelmingly conquer. (Rom 8:37)
Draw near to God and He will give us a new life. The lesson of Manassah shows how God will accept us into His kingdom no matter what kind of sin or how many we have done. Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. It is not those who are well who need a physician but those who are sick. (Luke 5:31,32) Repent; maybe God will relent from the judgment He has planned against us. (Joel 2:12-14)
It is never too late to turn to God! He is patient toward us not wishing that any should perish. (2 Pt. 3:9) If we turn to God He will turn to us ( James 4:8). If we confess our sins, He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
We should not wait until we have lived it up. Sure, there is pleasure in sin for a season, (Heb 11:25) but we will reap what we sow. (Gal. 6:7) Choose Jesus, for today is the day for salvation. (2 Cor. 6:2) God is calling us today. We never know how long we have to live. God is a loving God and reaches out to save us. If we decide to wait until later there may never be a later time. His spirit will not always strive within the hearts of man (Gen.6:3); our life may end abruptly.
We don't have to clean up our act to come to God. Jesus will accept us, just as we are. Jesus has not called the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:31,32) Do we solve our problem before we go to the counselor, do we wait until we are well to go the doctor? Jesus knows our weakness and frailty and He knows we are but dust. (Ps. 103:14) He lived on the earth like us and He knows the temptations we face yet without sin. (Heb. 4:15) God will forgive us and He will wipe away all our sins including His remembrances of them. (Isa. 43:25 Heb 8 12; Heb. 10 17 Jer 31:34) He is praying that we will come to Him. (Rom 8:27) It is our decision and Jesus is waiting for us.
Manasseh continued his reign after he repented by: removing the foreign god's, the idol from the house of the Lord and the altars which he built on the Mt. of the house of the Lord. He set up the altar of the Lord. He offered peace and thank offerings and ordered Judah to serve the Lord.
God will restore what we have lost! Joel 2:25 "And I shall strengthen the house of Judah, and I shall save the house of Joseph, and I shall bring them back, because I have had compassion on them; and they will be though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them." Zech 10:6 Isa 55:1-2 "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy . . .?" John 4:13,14
Rev 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, 'Come'. And let the one who hears say, 'Come'. And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost."
Water from the Rock Bible Study
Copyright © 1997 Rogers Scott McCrae
All Scripture quotations are from, New American Standard Bible.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --- Scott McCrae
|
This website is hosted for free by .
Get your own
Free Website now!
|