God’s Abundant Mercy

The next time some spirit tries to make you or someone you know feel that they “have gone too far,” consider the story of Manasseh the ancient king of Judah. This is an excellent account to look at for not passing judgment on anyone else as well. Let’s take a look at how far he went, and he indeed went a LONG way away from the righteousness of God: “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever. Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken” (II Chrn. 33:1-10). Now if in reading these things you can’t truly realize just how much wickedness this king did, and caused the people of God to do, then you should make a thorough study of the books of the law; Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. A careful examination of those books which contain the bulk of the law that God gave to Israel, will show that Manasseh did not just break that law vehemently; he utterly decimated it and destroyed it with a fervor, and caused God’s people to do the same. He was indeed the most wicked king in the history of Israel and Judah, and he also reigned longer than any of them. That is a really bad combination of things, and in fact his wicked reign assured that the people of Judah would be removed from their homeland, as the northern kingdom of Israel had been before them (Jer. 15:1-4; II Kin. 17:22,23).

Manasseh was so bad, that of all the kings that reigned over Israel and Judah, there was really no close second to his wickedness; and that included some seriously wicked men. But it’s the rest of his story that I would like to highlight today, for the sake of those whom the devil tries to convince that they are just too bad or have gone too far in the wrong direction to get things righted with God. Also as previously stated, it is a powerful lesson against passing judgment on someone else for their failures. So I’ll pick up right where we left off and we can look at the conclusion of this amazing story: “Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God. Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only. Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers” (II Chr. 33:11-19).

Manasseh obviously turned to God with all of his heart in his imprisonment, otherwise God would not have been responsive and attentive to his prayer, nor shown him favor. God restored this man to his kingdom, and Manasseh showed his appreciation to God by doing everything he could to right the wrongs that he had done. His son proved to be wicked, having been influenced by his father’s long run of doing evil; but Manasseh’s repentance is mentioned again in the record of his son’s short reign: “But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them; And humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more” (II Chrn. 33:22,23). So if God could be moved to restore Manasseh to his kingdom, and give him the opportunity to repent and finish his life rightly; it is certain that he will restore the soul of anyone today, if one will come clean with all the heart before him. Think about that before passing judgment on yourself for your failure of God’s holiness, or before doing the same toward someone else for their misdeeds. We should also take into account that at the time Manasseh lived God had not sent his Son to pay the greatest cost ever paid, in order to redeem fallen man. That means that if there’s any difference between now and then regarding the space we have to make wrong things right with God, we have far more opportunity now to right our wrongs; because we have the slain and resurrected Christ mediating between us and God. “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Rom. 8:34). The answer to that question is simply that it is NOT God condemning us if we have failed. As the text reads, Jesus is everlasting proof of that. Amen