THE REDEMPTION OF KING MANASSEH
THE REDEMPTION OF KING MANASSEH
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2012
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
King Manasseh was the son of King Hezekiah of Judah. The story of the evil that Manasseh did may have been the blackest page in all the history of Judah. The wickedness that he did and the Lord’s forgiveness’ may be the greatest story of redemption, atonement and restoration in the Old Testament. It is a picture of Father God’s love and amazing grace for sin like no other. It is also a story that through judgment, the Holy One of Israel brings salvation, righteousness, and comfort.
It is a reminder to every nation that a wicked ruler has the power to corrupt morally, religiously and politically a whole nation.
There were only a few notable leaders among the kings of Judah. These included Joash, Hezekiah and Josiah. All of the northern kingdom’s kings, and most of the remainder of Judah’s were conspicuously lacking in spiritual leadership. Nevertheless, what the kings lacked in moral influence was made up for by the great prophets. Most notable among them were Elijah, Elisha, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah before the exile, Ezekiel and Daniel during the exile; Zechariah and Malachi after the exile.
Isaiah was the Lord’s prophet to Hezekiah and Manasseh. Isaiah had a long ministry to Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father, grand-father, etc. Tradition places Isaiah’s death in the reign of Manasseh of Judah, and declares it to have been a most terrible martyrdom. Isaiah having resisted some of King Manasseh’s idolatrous acts, was seized, fastened between two planks and sawed asunder. Isaiah is often described as the Prophet of Redemption. That we see the Lord’s work of redemption in Manasseh’s life is a testimony that lives from generation to generation. The name of Isaiah signifies “the salvation of Jehovah”. He was man of social position in Jerusalem. His position as adviser to King Hezekiah was that of a statesman. Through his prophetic Office, he had tremendous influence for good in national affairs. Israel’s history is a parade of men of God who were instruments of His-story.
Isaiah’s ministry and writings give a panoramic, prophetic picture of the life and ministry of the Messiah, the Servant of Jehovah, and the redemptive work of the Cross.
2 Kings 21: 1-7: (Amplified) “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began his fifty-five year (wicked) reign in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. He (Hezekiah’s son) did evil in the sight of the Lord, whom the Lord cast out before the Israelites. He built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed and he reared up altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the (starry) hosts of the heavens and served them! He built (heathen) altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said, In Jerusalem will I put my name (and the pledge of My presence).
And he (good Hezekiah’s son) built altars for all the hosts of the heavens in the two courts of the house of the Lord! He(Manasseh) made his son pass through the fire and burned him in an offering (to Molech); he practiced soothsaying and augury, and dealt with mediums and wizards! He did much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. He made a grave image of (the goddess) Asherah and set it in the house, of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my Name (and the pledge of My presence) forever.
Manasseh murdered his first born child by throwing him into the fires of Molech. He also purportedly murdered Eliakim son of Hilkiah who was a Godly adviser to Hezekiah. Shebna also an adviser to Hezekiah was able to flee Jerusalem, but died as prophesied by Isaiah.
Shebna an Egyptian was building himself a tomb comparable to the pyramids of Egypt. Isaiah prophesied to him and Eliakim in Isa. 22:14-25:
“The Lord of Hosts revealed Himself in my ears (as He said), surely this un-atoned sin shall not be purged from you until you are punished---and the punishment will be death, says the Lord God of hosts. Come go to this contemptible steward and treasurer, to Shebna, who is over the house (but who is presumptuous enough to be building himself a tomb among those of the mighty, a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him. What business have you here? And whom have you entombed here, that you have the right to hew out for yourself a tomb here? He hews out a sepulcher for himself on the height! He carves out a dwelling for himself in the rock! Behold the Lord will hurl you away violently, O you strong man; yes, He will take tight hold of you and He will surely cover you (with shame). He will surely roll you up in a bundle (Shebna) and toss you like a ball into a large country; there you will die and there will be your splendid chariots, you disgrace to your master’s house! I will thrust you from your office, and from your station will you be pulled down. In that day I will call My servant, Eliakim son of Hilkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and will bind your girdle on him and will commit your authority to his hand; he shall be father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. The key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open. I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house. They shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons. In that day, says the Lord of Hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off; for the Lord has spoken it.”
History indicates that Eliakim’s office ranked second only to King Hezekiah. He was the Secretary of State. Shebna was demoted after advising Hezekiah to show diplomats from Babylon all of his treasure, his great riches and the source of his wealth. After Hezekiah’s miraculous healing and the Lord turn back the sun-dial of Ahaz ten degrees, the Babylonians heard of the miraculous healing and sign. They conspired to deceive Hezekiah. 2 Chronicles 32:30b: “…Hezekiah succeeded in everything he undertook. Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the prince of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him to try him that he might know all that was in his heart…” Hezekiah did not give the glory to God for all the good that was done to him, for his heart became proud (at such a spectacular response to his prayer); therefore there was wrath upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Shebna was the one who advised Hezekiah to sign a treaty with the King of Babylon. (2 Chronicles 32: 25-31)
Isaiah hearing of this said to Hezekia: “Hear the word of the Lord of Hosts; behold the days come, that all that is in your house and that which you fathers have laid up in store until this day call be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left says the Lord. Your sons that shall issue from you, whom you shall beget, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon”
After King Hezekiah died, the loyal and Godly Eliakim took on the role of father to Hezekiah’s sons and chief adviser to the young King until Manasseh was twenty-one. When Manasseh turned twenty-one, due to his insecurity, he began consulting with the false prophets of Baal and with the dead, as well as sorcery. The so-called New Age movement is centuries old. Practices such as astrology, channeling, voodoo, crystals, divination and witchcraft date back to ancient Canaanite and Babylonian beliefs. These pagan beliefs are rooted in the four lies used by Satan in the Garden of Eden and were condemned by God in ancient times, just as they are now.
It is believed that Eliakim was murdered along side Isaiah. Shebna escaped, but died just as Isaiah had prophesied. According to Zephaniah 1:1, Hezekiah had at least one other son, Prince Amariah. “The word of the Lord which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.” Zephaniah was the great, great grandson of Hezekiah. (Hezekiah’s mother was Queen Abijah, daughter of Zechariah, a priest in the temple and served King Uzziah. Tradition records that Queen Abijah was killed by Ahaz, Hezekiah’s father. Zechariah was imprisoned by Ahaz, and released when Hezekiah became King.)
Shortly after Eliakim and Isaiah were killed, the family of Eliakim and the Levite priests escaped from Jerusalem with the temple vessels to Egypt. Some propose that Prince Amariah went with them.
History records that during the reign of Manasseh, a community of Jewish soldiers and Levites were given exile on the Elephantine Island in Egypt. The writing and records indicate the temple was an exact replica of Solomon’s Temple and had been built by Jewish priests and Levites fleeing the persecution of King Manasseh’s reign. Isaiah prophesied of this, Isaiah 19:19: “”In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord.”
2 Chronicles 33:9-11: “Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the heathen whom the lord had destroyed before the Israelites. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not listen. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh with hooks and bound him with fetters and carried and brought him to Babylon.”
This is a fulfillment of two of Isaiah’s prophecies:
1. (Isaiah 39:6) Hezekiah’s sons will be taken to Babylon.
2. Isaiah 37:29: “Because you rage against me, and your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way which you came.”
It is believed that Manasseh was arrested because the Assyrians found papers of a treaty with Egypt sealed with the royal ring of the House of David agreeing to fight with Egypt against Assyria. They thought Manasseh was disloyal. He was imprisoned in a dungeon for one year in Babylon in total isolation. It is considered that Prince Amariah would have signed the treaty with Egypt when Assyria invaded Egypt. He would have owned a royal ring. The Jewish settlement in Egypt fought valiantly when Assyria invaded Egypt. This is another indication that Prince Amariah could have been with the exiles. In which case, the Prince would have been a Godly man.
During his imprisonment, Manasseh repented to the Lord for all that he did. The Amazing Grace is the Lord forgave him and restored him back to his throne in Judah.
2 Chronicles 33: 12-13: “When he was in affliction, he sought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.”
This is an excerpt from the novel of Chronicles of the Kings, Among the Gods, by: Lynn Austin on the redemption of King Manasseh:
King Manasseh speaking: “When I was in prison and all the props I depended on, like power , wealth and false gods, were taken from me, I was left with only myself—the real me—and I hated myself. If I were God, I wouldn’t forgive me, either. I’ve ignored His Laws and offended His holiness for most of my life, and I could well imagine how great His anger and wrath must be as He prepared to punish me as I deserved. I was filthy with guilt. Unlovable, unworthy…” Manasseh’s voice suddenly broke, and he paused, “but when I cried out to Him in desperation, he looked down on me---stinking, loathsome, and shivering with fear---and He lowered himself to that terrible prison where I lay waiting. He came down to me…and He took away my guilt and He washed me clean. Then…He gathered me into His arms. God stood waiting for me all this time, not with wrath, but with mercy, ready to forgive…God opened a hole beneath His throne of grace to hear my prayer so that sinners for all time would know that no one is beyond the reach of His grace. If God could forgive someone like me…”
2 Chron. 33:18-20: Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespasses, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled; behold they are written among the sayings of the seers. So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.”
The Book of the Kings of Israel would be 1 and 2 Kings. The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings is cross referenced 2 Chron. 21:17. The “sayings of the seers” is considered to be a lost book.
The Prayer of Manasseh is recorded in the Catholic Bible and the Jewish Canon. One of my sources did suggest it is in some Christian bibles.
The Prayer of Manasseh
O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors
Of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous offspring;
You who made heaven and earth with all their order;
Who shackled the sea by your word of command,
Who confined the deep and sealed it with your terrible and glorious name;
At whom all things shudder, and tremble before your power,
For your glorious splendor cannot be borne,
And the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable;
Yet immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy,
For you are the Lord Most High, of great compassion,
Long-suffering and very merciful,
And you relent at human suffering.
O Lord, according to your great goodness
You have promised repentance and forgiveness
To those who have sinned against you,
And in the multitude of your mercies
You have appointed repentance for sinners,
So that they may be saved,
Therefore you, O Lord, God of the righteous,
Have not appointed repentance for the righteous
For Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against you,
But you have appointed repentance for me, whom am a sinner.
For the sins I have committed are more in number than
The sand of the sea;
My transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!
I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven
Because of the multitude of my iniquities,
I am weighted down with many an iron fetter,
So that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief;
For I have provoked your wrath
And have done what is evil in your sight,
Setting up abominations and multiplying offenses,
And now I bend the knee of my heart,
Imploring you for your kindness,
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
And I acknowledge my transgressions.
I earnestly implore you,
Forgive me O Lord, forgive me!
Do not destroy me with my transgressions!
Do not be angry with me forever or store up evil for me;
Do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
And in me you will manifest your goodness;
For unworthy as I am, you will save me according to
Your great mercy,
And I will praise you continually all the days of my life.
For all the host of heaven sings your praise,
And yours is the glory forever, Amen.
The Prayer of Manasseh (NRSV).
Preached by: Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
Scripture from K.J.V. and Amplified unless otherwise noted; Comments and conclusions are my own. The inspiration for this message came from reading the five volumes of Chronicles of the Kings by: Lynn Austin on the lives of King Hezekiah and Manasseh. I quoted from the book as indicated. I researched all of the scripture and historical facts to confirm accuracy. Where the only information available is tradition or supposition, I have so indicated. Also reference Principles of Present Truth from Isaiah and Kings by: Kelly Varner