Thursday
Manasseh, who did evil in the eyes of the Lord, has a change of heart. What brought about this change?
Hezekiah is succeeded by his son, Manasseh who was a horrible man. I cannot think of anything more distasteful than to sacrifice one’s own child in the fire to an evil god. We also read that he practiced witchcraft and consulted mediums and spiritists. He built altars to all the ‘starry hosts’ and put idols in God’s temple.
To say that this would make God angry is, well, quite an understatement. Manasseh has broken the very first commandment of God and then he goes downhill from there. God tries to speak to Manasseh and the people, but they refuse to listen. (I hope we are not yet there in our country.) So Manasseh is humbled before God by being taken into captivity by the Babylonians and humiliated before them. Manasseh realizes his many sins and prays to God for deliverance. Even when he had done all those evil, despicable things, God is ready to redeem him. Wow! It tells us that no matter how bad we’ve been, no matter what sins we have committed, we are not outside the grace and mercy of God. What does 2 Chronicles 7:14 promise us? “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
This is a promise for us too!
But Manasseh didn’t stop with just being redeemed, he went on to correct the mistakes of his earlier years and to put right those things he had done wrong. It is an important lesson for us to realize that God’s grace will save us, but there is also an expectation that we will let God control our lives and our actions, so that all we do might bring glory to Him.
Shalom
Pastor Kathy