9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom Yahweh destroyed before the children of Israel.

Manasseh - seducer and persecutor

He‮ ‬reared‮ ‬up‮ ‬altars‮ ‬for‮ ‬Baal‮ ‬and‮ ‬Asherah,‮ ‬and‮ ‬worshipped‮ ‬all‮ ‬the‮ ‬host‮ ‬of‮ ‬heaven‮ ‬in‮ ‬the‮ ‬courts‮ ‬of‮ ‬the‮ ‬Lord‮'‬s‮ ‬house,‮ ‬and‮ ‬filled‮ ‬Jerusalem‮ ‬with‮ ‬innocent‮ ‬blood.‮ ‬Amon,‮ ‬his‮ ‬successor,‮ ‬walked‮ ‬in‮ ‬the‮ ‬ways‮ ‬that‮ ‬his‮ ‬father‮ ‬walked‮ ‬in,‮ ‬and‮ ‬served‮ ‬the‮ ‬idols‮ ‬that‮ ‬his‮ ‬father‮ ‬served‮; ‬and‮ ‬these‮ ‬kings‮ ‬were‮ ‬followed‮ ‬by‮ ‬priests,‮ ‬prophets‮ ‬and‮ ‬people,‮ ‬as‮ ‬we‮ ‬find‮ ‬Jeremiah‮ ‬complaining,

‎‮ '‬The‮ ‬priests‮ ‬said‮ ‬not,‮ ‬Where‮ ‬is‮ ‬Yahweh ‮? ‬.‮ ‬.‮ ‬.‮ ‬The‮ ‬pastors‮ ‬also‮ ‬transgressed‮ ‬against‮ ‬me,‮ ‬and‮ ‬the‮ ‬prophets‮ ‬prophesied‮ ‬by‮ ‬Baal‮ ‬.‮ ‬.‮

 ‬The‮ ‬house‮ ‬of‮ ‬Israel‮ ‬is‮ ‬ashamed:‮ ‬they,‮ ‬their‮ ‬kings,‮ ‬their‮ ‬princes,‮ ‬their‮ ‬prophets, Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us." Jeremiah 2:27

No‮ ‬wonder,‮ ‬then,‮ ‬that‮ ‬they‮ ‬permitted‮ ‬the‮ ‬Temple‮ ‬to‮ ‬go‮ ‬to‮ ‬ruin,‮ ‬and‮ ‬the‮ ‬copy‮ ‬of‮ ‬the‮ ‬Law,‮ ‬belonging‮ ‬to‮ ‬it‮—‬perhaps‮ ‬the‮ ‬very‮ ‬autograph‮ ‬of‮ ‬Moses‮—‬to‮ ‬be‮ ‬lost.‮ ‬No‮ ‬wonder‮ ‬if‮ ‬Josiah,‮ ‬with‮ ‬such‮ ‬a‮ ‬father‮ ‬and‮ ‬grandfather,‮ ‬such‮ ‬priests‮ ‬and‮ ‬such‮ ‬a‮ ‬court,‮ ‬had‮ ‬been‮ ‬ignorant‮ ‬of‮ ‬the‮ ‬denunciations‮ ‬of‮ ‬the‮ ‬Law.‮

‭The Christadelphian, Jan 1878