A Story of Redemption - Part 1

A couple of weeks ago, our pastor gave a sermon on King Manasseh from 2 Kings 21. It was a powerful sermon because it showed me that no one - absolutely no one - is beyond God's redemption. Over the next few posts, I'll quote from the Scriptures and show you first the absolute wickedness of Manasseh and then - despite his evil - how God reaches down and redeems him. It's an incredible story.

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In the first few passages, the Scriptures reveal that King Manasseh: (1) brought back the pagan practices of the Canaanites who existed in the land before the Hebrews arrived; (2) worshipped pagan Gods and built statues and altars for them; and (3) not only did he build altars in Israel, but he built them inside God's temple:

Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 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. 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. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem will I put my name.” And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

More about Manasseh's disrespect and utter disdain for the Lord tomorrow.