A Story of Redemption - Part 3

The Lord finally sends a message to Manasseh condemning his wicked behavior. There are references both in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

2 Kings 21: 10-15

The Lord said through his servants the prophets: “Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies; they have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.”

2 Chronicles 33: 10-11

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

With this condemnation and punishment, one might think that God was finished with Manasseh and had turned away from him forever. If anyone deserved to be banished from God's presence and condemned to live the consequences of his sins, it would be Manasseh. If someone sinned against me like this (or even a fraction of this), I would leave him to his sins. But unlike me, our God is infinitely merciful. We'll see what God does with Manasseh in the next post.