And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the LORD his God and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. Sermons
I. ITS IMPELLING CAUSE. 1. The grace of God. That the regeneration and conversion of a soul is a work of Divine grace is taught hardly less clearly in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 30:6; 1 Kings 8:58; Psalm 110:3; Isaiah 26:12; Jeremiah 13:23; Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 11:19; Zechariah 12:10) than in the New (John 1:13; John 3:3; John 6:44, 63, 65; Ephesians 2:1-10; Ephesians 5:14; Philippians 1:6). 2. The judgments of Providence. "The Lord brought upon him and his people the captains of the host of the King of Assyria" (ver. 11). (1) The King of Assyria here referred to was either Esarhaddon (B.C. 681-668), who succeeded Sennacherib, and therefore was contemporary with Manasseh during the first years of his reign (Sayce, 'Fresh Light,' etc., p. 152; Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' p. 25); or Esarhad-den's son and successor, Assur-bani-pal, B.C. 668 - the Sardanapalus of the Greeks (Schrader, 'Die Keilinschriften,' p. 367; Kleinert, in Riehm's 'Handworterbuch,' p. 948). An inscription of the former monarch mentions Manasseh King of Judah as one of his tributaries ('Records,' etc., 3:107), while a similar inscription of the latter sovereign introduces as one of his tributaries the same Manasseh King of Judah (Schrader, p. 355). (2) The occasion of this expedition against Manasseh is not specified. If it happened under Esarhaddon, the monuments afford no information of any rising of the Palestinian states against Assyrian supremacy during his reign - Rawlinson ('Kings of Israel and Judah,' p. 207) conjectures that he may have "entered into negotiations with Tirhakah of Egypt;" if under Assur-bani-pal, Manasseh may have been suspected of sympathizing with Saulmugina of Babylon, Assur-bani-pal's rebellious brother, who about B.C. 648 (and therefore when Manasseh had been forty years upon the throne) endeavoured to assert his independence. (3) The capture and deportation of Manasseh, whom the Assyrian king's generals "took in chains," or "with hooks," and "bound with fetters," accords exactly with the representations given by the monuments. "The practice of bringing prisoners of importance into the presence of a conquering monarch by means of a thong attached to a hook or ring passed through their upper or their under lip, or both, is illustrated by the sculptures both of Babylonia and Assyria. Sargon is seen in his palace at Khorsahad receiving prisoners whose lips are thus perforated; and one of the few Babylonian sculptures still extant shows us a vizier conducting into the presence of a monarch two captives held in durance in the same way. Cruel and barbarous as such treatment of a captured king seems to us, there is no doubt that it was an Assyrian usage. To put a hook in a man's mouth and a bridle in his jaws (2 Kings 19:28) was no mere metaphor expressive of defeat and capture, but a literal description of a practice that was common in the age and country - a practice from which their royal rank did not exempt even captured monarchs" (Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' p. 27). The 'Annals of Assur-bani-pal' speak of two Cimmerian chiefs whom Gyges King of Lydia, "in strong fetters of iron and bonds of iron, bound and with numerous presents caused to bring to his (Assur-bani-pal's) presence" ('Records,' etc., 1:70). (4) The destination of Manasseh's deportation - Babylon instead of Nineveh, as one might have supposed - is explained by the circumstance that Esarhaddon and Assur-bani-pal both assumed to themselves the title of "King of Assyria and Babylon," and instead of governing Babylon by means of a viceroy, themselves resided there a part of the year in a palace built by the former (Sayce, 'Fresh Light,' p. 152; Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' p. 25; Smith, 'Assyrian Discoveries,' p. 316; Schrader, 'Keilinsehriften,' p. 368). II. ITS ACCOMPANYING SIGNS. 1. Humility. "He humbled himself greatly before the Lord God of his fathers" (ver. 12). This grace, beautiful in all who come before God (Job 25:5, 6; Ecclesiastes 5:2), is absolutely indispensable to a penitent (Job 40:4; Isaiah 6:5; Romans 7:18), and is the certain highway to spiritual promotion (Proverbs 15:33; Isaiah 66:2; Luke 18:13, 14). 2. Prayer. "He besought the Lord his God" (ver. 12); "he prayed unto him" (ver. 13) - no doubt with the language and feeling of (1) confession, acknowledging his trespasses (Job 7:20; Psalm 32:5; Psalm 51:3; Isaiah 59:12; Ezekiel 9:6; Daniel 9:5), (2) submission, owning the just judgment of God upon himself and his people, without which no repentance can be sincere (Ezekiel 9:13; Psalm 51:4; Daniel 9:7); (3) supplication, entreating Jehovah's favour and forgiveness, and in proof thereof restoration to his land and kingdom (compare Manasseh's prayer in the Apocrypha). III. ITS CONSEQUENT FRUITS. 1. Acceptance. Jehovah "was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom" (ver. 13). So God still listens to the cries of sincere penitents when they call upon him for forgiveness and salvation, for emancipation from the condemnation of the Law and the enslaving yoke of sin (Job 33:27, 28; Isaiah Iv. 6, 7; 57:15; Jeremiah 3:12-14; Luke 18:14; James 4:8). That Manasseh should have been restored to his throne and kingdom harmonized well with the mild character of Esarhaddon, who appears from the monuments to have accorded similar treatment to a son of Meredach-Baladan, and to an Aramaean chief of the Gambalu, both of whom on submitting to his authority were forgiven and reinstated in their former positions (Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' pp. 27, 28). Like clemency was extended by Assur-bani-pal to the King of Arvad's Vakinlu's sons, who, on kissing the great king's feet after their father's death, were favourably received - Azibahal the eldest being appointed to the kingdom of Arvad, and the others presented with clothing of linen and bracelets of gold ('Records,' etc., 1:69). Tammaritu King of Elam likewise experienced the great king's favour on making humble submission and acknowledgment of his offence (ibid., p. 78). 2. Illumination. "Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God" (ver. 13). (1) The discovery Manasseh made was true even before he made it, at the very time when he thought it to be false. That Jehovah alone was God had been distinctly claimed by Jehovah himself (Exodus 9:14; Exodus 20:3), by Moses (Deuteronomy 4:35), by Hannah (1 Samuel 2:2), by David (2 Samuel 7:22), by Solomon (1 Kings 8:23, 60), and by Isaiah (Isaiah 44:5, 6, 21). So the fact that men may sometimes say or think there is no God (Psalm 14:1) does not prove that there is none. (2) The ignorance of this sublime truth of the unity and soleity of Jehovah lay at the basis of Manasseh's devotion to idolatry. So the" Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minds... through the ignorance that is in them" (Ephesians 4:17, 18). (3) Manasseh's apprehension of this truth was rather the result than the cause of his repentance. Manasseh turned to God when in distress out of a sense of sin, with an earnest desire after mercy, and (it may be assumed) with a sincere resolution after new obedience. It is not certain that at that stage he realized the theological fact that Jehovah alone was God. This dawned on him first, it would seem, in all its clearness when, in answer to his prayer, he became a conscious recipient of the Divine mercy. His experience in dealing with Jehovah - so different from that he had been acquainted with in serving idols - convinced him that these were nothing, and that Jehovah alone was God; and the discovery of this truth rendered his relapse into idolatry impossible. So men never clearly know God till they become participants of his mercy. 3. Reformation. "He took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord (ver. 7), and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord,... and cast them out of the city" (ver. 15). Compare the earlier reformations of Joash (2 Chronicles 23:17), and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:1), and the later of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:3, 4). So in every case of true conversion there must be a putting away of known sin (Isaiah 1:16; Isaiah 55:7; Matthew 3:8). 4. Separation. The people continued to sacrifice on the high places, though only unto the Lord their God (ver. 17). On their part it was a compromise. Willing to advance half-way on the path of reformation, they would not make a clean severance between themselves and idolatry. Manasseh did not so. 5. Consecration. "He repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings" (ver. 16). So far as he himself was concerned, he was done with the high places; and his regal authority, backed up by his personal example, he faithfully employed to induce his subjects to have done with them also. LESSONS. 1. The benefits and design of affliction. 2. The value and use of prayer. 3. The graciousness of God towards penitents. 4. The marvellous illumination that comes with the new life. 5. The certainty that holiness will flow from a personal experience of mercy. 6. The intermixture of imperfection with the best services of saints. - W.
And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God. I. MANSSSEH'S CAREER IN CRIME.II. HIS RETURN TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF GOD. III. THE GRACIOUS RESULTS OF HIS PENITENCE. Improvement. 1. The lamentable wickedness and duplicity of the human heart. 2. The freeness, fulness, and efficacy of Divine grace. 3. The consequences of salvation are reformation and obedience. (T.B. Baker.) Homilist. Manasseh is an eminent instance of the power, richness, and freeness of the Divine mercy. Observe —I. THE SINS WHICH HE COMMITTED. 1. Their contributory cause. His early freedom from restraint, his coming to supreme power when only twelve years of age. 2. Their special nature. The catalogue is appalling. 3. Their aggravated nature. (1) (2) (3) (4) II. THE REPENTANCE WHICH HE EXERCISED. 1. Its cause. (1) (2) 2. Its nature. (1) (2) (3) (4) III. THE MERCIES WHICH MANASSEH RECEIVED. 1. Temporal nature. 2. Spiritual He was brought to the spiritual knowledge of the God of his salvation. "Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God." This knowledge led him to fear, trust, love, and obey. This obedience was accompanied by the deepest self-renunciation and abasement to the end of his life. Lessons. 1. To those who are insensible of their sinfulness. 2. To those who are ready to sink into despair under the weight of their sinfulness. 3. To those who are disposed to presume on the mercy of God. Manasseh's son Amon was quickly cut off in the midst of his sins (vers. 21-28). He seems to be a beacon set up close by the side of his penitent and accepted father, to warn all persons against presuming on the mercy manifested to Manasseh. (Homilist.) Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. I. HIS CHARACTER AS A SINNER.1. He was a notorious sinner. 2. He was not a hopeless sinner. II. HIS CONDUCT AS A PENITENT. 1. The period of his repentance is specified. "When he was in affliction." 2. The nature of his repentance is described. (1) (2) III. HIS SALVATION AS A BELIEVER. 1. He obtained the pardoning mercy of God. 2. He received a saving knowledge of God (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.) II. THE MERCY OF GOD IN SO BRINGING AND RECEIVING HIM. III. THE REMAINING AND LASTING PORTION OF THE EVIL OF SIN, EVEN AFTER THE INDIVIDUAL IS PARDONED. In the Second Book of Kings it is repeatedly declared that Judah was destroyed on account of the sons of Manasseh. 1. A man looks back with sorrow and contrite concern upon the follies and sins of his youth; but what of his companions in guilt? Some, perhaps, whom he seduced into sin, and many whom he encouraged and confirmed in sin. 2. Some writers have employed their pens in the odious cause of immorality and irreligion. Such persons have lamented their errors; but the publication has done its work; the poison has been circulated, and the corruption is incurable. (J. Slade, M. A.) II. THAT SIN IS FREQUENTLY THE CAUSE OF SEVERE AFFLICTION. III. THAT AFFLICTION, WHEN SANCTIFIED, EXALTS TO PRAYER, AND PROMOTES HUMILIATION. IV. THAT PRAYER AND HUMILIATION ARE ALWAYS ATTENDED WITH DISTINGUISHED BLESSINGS, AND PRODUCE VALUABLE EFFECTS. V. FROM THE WHOLE. 1. The patience of God. 2. The sovereignty of God. 3. The wisdom of God in adapting means to the conversion of men. 4. The mercy of God in saving the chief of sinners. (S. Kidd.) I. WITH HIS EARLY ADVANTAGES. John Newton states somewhere, "When I was in the deepest misery, and when I was committing the most atrocious sin, I always seemed to feel the hand of my sainted mother pressing my head." II. WITH THE AFFLICTIONS BY WHICH IT WAS PRODUCED. III. WITH THE EFFECTS WHICH IT UNFOLDED. IV. WITH THE SOVEREIGNTY OF DIVINE GRACE. (A. E. Farrar.) 1. It was in direct contrast to the good reign of. his father. 2. His sin involved many in guilt. He "made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err." 3. He was not moved by the sight of the same wickedness in those whom he despised (2 Kings 21:9). 4. His sin was not checked by God's punishment of others. The heathen had been driven out from the land because of their wickedness. Judah occupied their place and adopted their vice. II. THE LIFE OF MANASSEH UNDER GOD'S CHASTISEMENT. We learn from recently discovered Assyrian inscriptions what is meant by "among the thorns." The word thus translated means a hook, which was put through the under lips of captives. The depths of Manasseh's degradation may be imagined. Yet it was sent in mercy to turn him to God. III. HIS REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION. IV. HIS RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WORSHIP OF GOD. Lessons. 1. Never to be ashamed of repentance. 2. We see the meaning of God's chastisements. 3. The power of a single man when he has turned from sin to God. 4. The necessity of solitary communion with God. 5. The patient love of God. (Monday Club Sermons.) 1. Affliction. 2. Solitary reflection. 3. Prayer. II. Consider next HOW THE GRACE OF GOD OPERATED IN MANASSEH. 1. He humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 2. He was made to know that the Lord was God. 3. He brought forth fruits meet for repentance. III. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MADE HIS CONVERSION PECULIARLY STRIKING. 1. It was the conversion of an atrocious sinner. 2. Of an aged sinner. 3. It took place at a distance from the ordinary means of grace. (H. Belfrage, D.D.) I. ABOUNDING INIQUITY marked Manasseh's course. 1. He was the son of Hezekiah the servant of the Lord. We place this foremost as an aggravation of his sin, that in spite of a father's example he cast off the fear of the Lord and sinned with a high hand against his God. That father, indeed, was early taken from him, for Manasseh was but twelve years old when he began to reign; still, the memory of Hezekiah's piety could not have been utterly forgotten. Too marked had been the interposition of Jehovah in that father's deliverance from Assyria and in his recovery from sickness for the report to have passed away. But Manasseh heeded not these things; "he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger." 2. Manasseh added to his disregard of a godly parent this iniquity also, that he led his children unto sin," he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom."... Some godless parents have shown a happy inconsistency, in that whilst pursuing themselves that path "whose end is destruction," they have desired for their offspring that they should seek the Lord. The force of example, indeed, meeting as it does with "the evil that is bound up in the heart of a child," will in such cases often prove too powerful to be withstood. But Manasseh took no such course, but dedicated his children as well as himself to the service of the false gods. Alas, the reproducing power of evil! Thou that art a citizen of the world, intent on gain or pleasure, can it be expected but that thy children should walk after thee in the same destructive road? 3. Manasseh bade defiance to Jehovah in His own sanctuary. Not only did he build again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, but "he set a carved image," the idol which he had made, "in the house of God." It was not enough that he himself should bow down to idols, and that his children should also do them homage, but with yet more prsumptuous sin he declared himself, in the face of all Israel, an idolater, and desecrated to this base end the very temple, of which the Lord had said, "My Name shall be there." It is the very character of Jehovah that He is "a jealous God," "His glory will He not give to another." 4. But further, Manasseh "shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another." The faithful who warned him were doubtless the ones especially sacrificed to his vengeance, and it is supposed that Isaiah suffered death under this fearful persecutor of the Church of God. For the wickedness of Manasseh could not plead this even in palliation that he was unrebuked: "The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken." What depth of malignity is there in the unchanged soul! what pollutions! what ingratitude! what rebellion! Were it not for the restraining grace of God, what a scene of bloodshed and of all enormity would this earth be! II. MORE ABOUNDING STILL THE GRACE OF GOD. 1. In chastisement the first faint streak of mercy manifested itself. The voice of plenty had spoken to him in vain, the voice of warning had been treated with neglect, but now the voice of correction speaks in tones not to be gainsaid. The alarm of war is heard in that guilty court. 2. His deep penitence bore witness to the workings of grace. He humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers That word "greatly" speaks much as recorded by the Spirit of truth. As with the gospel itself, so with the chastenings of the Lord, they are either "a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death." 3. The voice of prayer went up from that prison-house, "He besought the Lord... and prayed unto Him." Tears, many it may be, fell before one prayer was uttered. 4. Abounding grace, shone forth, too, in the answer granted to prayer. "God was intreated of him." He heard his cry, and hope sprung up in his downcast soul. 5. The workings of God's grace were further evidenced by the fruits of faith in life according to godliness. Manasseh restored to his kingdom, has now but one object in view, the glory of God, and that object he consistently pursued. The idol is east out from the temple, and the altars of the false gods out of the city, and the people are commanded "to serve the Lord God of Israel." He turned not aside from his purpose to bring back to Jehovah those whom formerly he had led away to sin; and this godly course he pursued unto the end.Lessons. 1. The first is, that there is a fulness of grace in God as our reconciled Father in Christ Jesus beyond the power of heart to conceive, or of tongue to utter. 2. But this history also reminds us of the dreadful nature of sin. Deep are its furrows, lasting its effects. Manasseh is pardoned, but,could he repair the evil he had done? (F. Storr, M.A.) I. AS A SINNER. 1. He sinned against light, against a pious education and early training. It is a notorious fact that when men do go wrong after a good training they are the worst men in the world. The murder of John Williams at Erromanga was brought about by the evil doings of a trader who had gone to the island, and who was also the son of a missionary. He had become reckless in his habits, and treated the islanders with such barbarity and cruelty that they revenged his conduct upon the next white man who put his foot upon their shore. 2. He was a very bold sinner. 3. He had the power of leading others to a very large extent astray. II. AS AN UNBELIEVER. He did not believe that Jehovah was God alone. 1. The unlimited power that Manasseh possessed had a great tendency to make him a disbeliever. 2. His pride was another cause. 3. Another cause was his love for sin. III. AS A CONVERT. He believed in God — 1. Because God had answered his prayer. 2. Because He had forgiven his sin. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) (W. H. Bennett, M.A.) I. LET US EXAMINE THE CASE BEFORE US. 1. Manasseh was the son of a good father. 2. He undid all his father's actions. 3. He served false gods. 4. He desecrated the Lord's courts. There are some to-day who do this; for they make even their attendance at the house of God to be an occasion for evil. 5. He dedicated his children to the devil. Nobody here will dedicate his children to the devil, surely; yet many do. Have I not seen a father dedicate his boy to the devil, as he has encouraged him to drink? And do not many in this great city, dedicate their children to the devil by allowing them to go into all kinds of licentiousness, until they become the victims of vice? 6. He fraternised with the devil, by seeking after all kinds of supernatural witcheries and wizardries. 7. He led others astray. 8. He persecuted the people of God. It is said, — we do not know whether it was so or not, — but it is highly probable, that he caused Isaiah to be cut asunder with a wooden saw. 9. In short, Manasseh was a compound of every sort of wickedness. 10. Notwithstanding all this Manasseh was pardoned. How it came about? (1) (2) (3) II. LET US CONSIDER WHY THERE SHOULD BE OTHERS LIKE MANASSEH. Judging from many probabilities, that God will save other great sinners as He saved Manasseh. 1. Because He speaks to such great sinners and commands them to repent (Isaiah 1:16-18). Because of the great promises God has given to great sinners. 3. Because of the nature of God. 4. From what I know of the value of the blood of Jesus. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) (W. H. Bennett, M.A.) 1055 God, grace and mercy Manasseh How Shall one Make Use of Christ as the Life, when Wrestling with an Angry God Because of Sin? Josiah, a Pattern for the Ignorant. Covenanting According to the Purposes of God. The Worst Things Work for Good to the Godly The Girdle of the City. Nehemiah 3 The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal Beginning at Jerusalem The Jerusalem Sinner Saved; Chronicles |
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