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 ‬the‮ ‬Lord‮? ‬.‮ ‬.‮ ‬.‮ ‬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 ‬.Jer.‮ ‬2:8,‮ ‬26‮)‬.‮ ‬Even‮ ‬of‮ ‬Jerusalem‮ ‬itself‮ ‬he‮ ‬says,‮ '‬There‮ ‬is‮ ‬not‮ ‬one‮ ‬that‮ ‬seeketh‮ ‬the‮ ‬truth.‮'-(‬5:1‮)‬.‮

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.‮

‭TC Jan 1878

17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?

Date: Circa 620 BC - Since Asaph's appointment: 380 years

WHEN Hezekiah died, all Judah did him honour, by burying him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the house of David.

It seemed incomprehensible that his wonderful example and wise arrangements could be set aside so swiftly, yet that is precisely what occurred when Manasseh became king.

That the son of a righteous man could perpetrate such evil was difficult to understand. But Manasseh inherited the throne when he was but twelve, and it was quickly evident that his apostate advisers sought to control the direction of the kingdom through this boy king, who held power before he had mastered wisdom.

All that Hezekiah had achieved was undone, for Manasseh, when grown to adulthood, reversed every decision of his father, building again the same high places and the very altars which he had torn down.

It was a heart-rending triumph of evil over good, as the king built altars for the host of heaven, caused his children to pass through the fire, and used enchantments and witchcraft. Worse than this, Manasseh not only seduced the people to evil, 1 but suppressed all dissent by murdering the faithful, until Jerusalem was filled with blood. 2

It was only at the end of his life that he repented, and sought to reverse the worst of his excesses.

His son Amon however, promptly returned to the worship of Manasseh's idols, trespassing more and more as he continued to promote idolatry throughout his kingdom.

1    2 Kings 21:9; 2 Chronicles 33:9.

2    2 Kings 21:16.

Bro Roger Lewis - The House of Asaph