"Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother's name was Hephzibah." (2 Kings 21:1) We speculated earlier in our study of the kings about whether or not Hezekiah had any children prior to being healed of his illness. It may be that he'd fathered no children until his final fifteen years on earth, or perhaps he'd fathered only daughters, or it could be that he'd fathered one or more sons who did not survive infancy. Infant mortality rates were quite high in ancient times, even in wealthy families who could afford better nutrition and better medical care.
Ancient tradition has it that Manasseh's mother, Hephzibah, was the daughter of the prophet Isaiah. There are no statements in the holy Scriptures to back up that claim, however, so we can't automatically assume this is true. There is another ancient tradition that says that King Manasseh was responsible for the death of Isaiah. If that's the case, and if his mother was Isaiah's daughter, then he ordered the execution of his own grandfather. Manasseh will be so idolatrous that I am certain Isaiah and other prophets spoke out against him, but whether or not Isaiah was his grandfather and whether or not he ordered Isaiah to be executed we do not know.
What we do know about Manasseh is that he was one of the most idolatrous kings of the Bible and that he reigned the longest over Judah than any other king. His long reign means he had a long time to be a wicked influence on the people of Judah. "He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them." (2 Kings 21:2-3, 2 Chronicles 33:2-3)
Why does he go astray like this? His father was one of the more godly kings of Judah. Hezekiah had put a great deal of effort into eradicating idolatry in Judah and he was instrumental in turning the hearts of many of the people back to the Lord. I doubt that all of the people were faithful to the Lord during Hezekiah's reign but he was a good spiritual influence on a large number of them. You'll recall that a great revival broke out after he ordered the temple to be purified and put back into its proper use. People were coming from all over the nation and from the northern kingdom of Israel to worship the Lord at the temple. Why, then, was Hezekiah not a good influence on his son?
In yesterday's study we talked about how the author of 2 Chronicles stated that Hezekiah was prideful, even after the Lord miraculously healed him and even after the Lord miraculously delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians. Did Hezekiah begin giving himself the credit for his blessings? Did he become complacent and spiritually lazy during the extra fifteen years granted to him by the Lord? Why did he not bring his son up in the fear of the Lord? It may be that he did talk to Manasseh about the Lord but that, due to Manasseh's young age at the time of his father's death, the young king was very easily led into wrongdoing by officials in the kingdom who were not faithful to the Lord. It might not have been difficult at all for his advisors to push him in the wrong direction. I think what happened may have been a combination of Hezekiah not being as diligent in his son's religious instruction as he should have been and Manasseh's impressionable age when he came to the throne. But this is another subject upon which the Bible is silent and we can only speculate about what went wrong with Manasseh.
The narrative indicates that Manasseh began undoing all of his father's religious reforms as soon as he began wearing the crown of Judah. He dabbled in the pagan rituals of all the nations that had inhabited Canaan before the Israelites arrived there. There was no religious practice in which he was unwilling to indulge, including desecrating the temple of the Lord and engaging in child sacrifice. "He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, 'In Jerusalem I will put My name.' In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing His anger." (2 Kings 21:4-6) The author of 2 Chronicles provides us with this same information except he says that Manasseh sacrificed more than one child: "He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom." (2 Chronicles 33:6a) I don't think there are any contradictions in the Scriptures and the discrepancy between these two accounts may be because Manasseh sacrificed one son and one or more daughters, hence the author of 2 Kings making mention only of a son. We noted this same type of discrepancy when we studied King Ahaz of Judah, when the author of 2 Kings said he sacrificed his son in the fire but the author of 2 Chronicles said he sacrificed his "children" (plural) in the fire.
Who would have thought that the son of King Hezekiah would turn out so badly? Many Bible scholars and commentators have offered the opinion that it would have been best if Hezekiah had died of his illness so he could never have fathered Manasseh. However, if he had not fathered Manasseh and if he did not have any other sons, we do not know who would have become king in Hezekiah's stead. We don't know whether the throne would have passed to a close relative of Hezekiah or whether someone outside the family might have taken the throne by force. Either way, the new king might have been just as wicked as Manasseh and the nation may not have fared any better under the leadership of that person.
In tomorrow's session we will continue our look at the deeds of this king and the idolatrous influence he had on the people of Judah. Idolatry in Judah is what eventually leads to the fall of the nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment