March 31, 2025, 2 Kings 21:1-9
March 31, 2025, 2 Kings 21:1-9
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did
what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according
to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places that
Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars for Baal and
made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped
all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And
he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which
the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host
of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 And he
burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens
and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the
sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. 7 And
the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set 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, I will put
my name forever. 8 And I
will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave
to their fathers, if only they will be careful to do according to all that I
have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses
commanded them.” 9 But they
did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations
had done whom the Lord destroyed before the
people of Israel.
As a result of a longer life, Hezekiah fathered the most
cruel king to rule over Judah. Manasseh’s evil influence would lead the nation
of Judah would be so pervasive that nothing could compensate for it and save
the nation from God’s holy judgement. Would things have been any different if
Hezekiah had simply accepted God’s will for his life? We can never know the
answer to that question but we can know that God’s plan is good and perfect.
May we live in His will and accept completely what he has in store for us.
Debbie Walker
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