God is merciful even to the most wicked among us. He is a God of justice and wrath, but also is the God of love to anyone and everyone throughout time. In the Old Testament he showed his love many times. The message to us is that we reap what we have sown and will experience the results through eternity. No matter how evil the person is, if he turns to God, his sins will be forgiven.
This is true of the man who was king over Israel and considered the most likely evil of all the kings. Not only did he spoil his soul, but he also led his nation into the depths of depravity. He was proud and vicious. He was feared by all the Israelites. He considered himself beyond repute.
His father, Hezekiah, was a godly man who tore down the high places of pagan worship. It was his concern that the people under his reign worshiped the true God. He also exercised a direct relationship with God even when he was told that his life would soon end. He did not go through the rudiments of ritual. He turned his face to the wall and talked directly to the Almighty who added extra years to his life.
His son, however, named Manasseh had a different story. This is an example of a father who tried to raise his child in the fear and nurture of God. No matter how faithful and righteous the parent is, the son ultimately chooses his own path of good or evil. Such was the case of the son. He totally discarded everything that resembled living a righteous life. He reversed every effort of his father to lead the nation in right service to God. He established pagan worship more than any other king. He was only twelve years old when he began to reign and was king for fifty-five years. This was a long time to spread evil.
Second Chronicles 33: 2 says, not only was he evil, but that he followed the abominations of the heathen. He went into the house of the Lord and actually built altars there. His worship was so perverted that he caused his children to be thrown into fire as part of his efforts to appease the false gods. He observed enchantments, witchcraft, familiar spirits, wizards, and brought much evil in the sight of God. He set up carved images as idols in the house of God. We might say that it’s one thing for a person to follow evil but it’s another thing to influence all those around him to likewise follow evil as he did to his countrymen. The Bible says that he even did worse than the heathen.
God made an effort to reach out to Manasseh and his people, but they would not hear. As a result, the Lord allowed the King of Assyria to conquer Israel and took Manasseh in fetters to Babylon. This high and mighty man was humiliated. This robust seeker of evil was brought down. The once and glorious King of Israel suffered.
We can praise God for his mercy in this regard. During his affliction, Manasseh sought God and humiliated him greatly before the Lord. Verse thirteen says, “And prayed unto him (God) and he was entreated of him and heard his supplications.” God brought him again to Jerusalem to regain his throne once he confessed the Lord was God. In the next several verses we read how Manasseh tried to cure the evil that he had done.
How glorious it is that God will receive us through his love. How wonderful it is that such a man as Manasseh could be received into the Kingdom of God. When I am privileged to go to heaven besides Jesus, he is one of the first persons that I want to talk to. I want to hear about his conversion and his efforts to heal the nation. In heaven is this man whose evil was forgiven.
Christian Writer 