I’m actually a bit shocked I haven’t written about this before. Seriously. Shocked. I mean, I’ve been doing theology posts since 2006, here. My control panel tells me I’ve written more than a hundred and fifty theology posts. How could I not have written about Manasseh?
Quick recap: Hezekiah, one of the best of the “good kings” of Judah (second perhaps to Josiah), was told by Isaiah that he was going to die. Hezekiah went all emo and begged for a reprieve. God listened and extended his life by fifteen years. During that time, Hezekiah fathered his heir, and one of the worst kings of Judah, named Manasseh.
During Hezekiah’s reign, all the vestiges of pagan worship had been stripped from the kingdom. Manasseh brought it all back, including the worship of Molech, which involved placing babies into scalding bronze pots. Manasseh did this with one of his own sons. Not a good dude. One of the summaries of his reign was this:
2 Kings 21:16 (ESV)
16 Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.
In fact, Manasseh did so much wrong that he was basically the straw that broke the camel’s back. God had had enough and warned that because of everything Manasseh did in exemplifying the consistent idolatry of Judah (with rare exceptions like Hezekiah and Josiah), the kingdom would be going down:
2 Kings 21:10-15 (ESV)
10 And the LORD said by his servants the prophets, 11 "Because Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations and has done things more evil than all that the Amorites did, who were before him, and has made Judah also to sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day."
Manasseh’s reign was so disastrous that even Josiah’s reforms could not overcome God’s wrath on Judah. (In fact, Josiah’s tenderheartedness earned him a reprieve, in that he died before the disaster struck.)
What does this have to do with my post title for today? (Theology Thursday would normally be up there, but I left it off for brevity.)
As you probably know, I’m a Bible reader. I read the whole Bible once per year (last year I read the OT once and the NT twice), and have for the past five or six years. The really great thing about reading the whole Bible is that you start to notice parallels and passages that fill in more information on a particular topic.
Because in the case of Manasseh, there’s some major information almost completely missing from the Bible!!!! Thankfully, there’s at least a hint of what that information is:
2 Chronicles 33:18-19 (ESV, emphasis mine)
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. 19 And his prayer, and how God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sites on which he built high places and set up the Asherim and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the Chronicles of the Seers.
Manasseh’s son Amon continued behaving badly after his father’s death, but Manasseh clearly ended on a positive note. For some reason, the author of 2 Kings omitted any mention of Manasseh’s repentance, and the author of 2 Chronicles didn’t feel that recording any detail about it was necessary. Granted, they were both writing in a time in which other sources existed. Still, it might’ve been nice to have more detail.
Interestingly, there’s an apocryphal book that records the supposed prayer of Manasseh. Authentic or not, it’s a good prayer:
Prayer of Manasseh v. 11-15
11 And now I bend the knee of my heart,
imploring you for your kindness.
12 I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I acknowledge my transgressions.
13 I earnestly implore you,
forgive me, O Lord, forgive me!
Do not destroy me with my transgressions!
Do not be angry with me for ever 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,
14 and in me you will manifest your goodness;
for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy,
15 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 for ever. Amen.
And that’s all I have to say about that.