Manasseh Reigns in Judah

  

 

2 Kings 21:1-9

 

November 10, 2021

 

 

Manasseh Reigns in Judah

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.  And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.   And the carved image of Asherah that he had made he set in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever.   And I will not cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their fathers if only they will be careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the Law that my servant Moses commanded them.”   But they did not listen, and Manasseh led them astray to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel.

 

What takes place in a nation that removes the God of Judah and seeks the little gods of this world?  Pain and agony and misery, and this sin always take a people or a nation into a told moral decline and brings about God’s judgment on the people and the nation.  Manasseh brought this about in Judah, and today in the United States, our leadership that is pulling the strings of this president and administration is doing the same.  I can tell that person or persons, you may believe you're getting by with this but on the authority of God’s written Word, He knows your name or names, and your destruction is at hand.

 

Do we have examples of what a wise and good leader should have, and a quick answer is yes Jesus Christ gave us the model, and it works in the home, dads, it works in business, and it works in all forms of leadership.  We find it in Matthew 20:26-28,“It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Let me be clear, I know that is not invoke in 2021, but since you, as a voter have no understanding of what you want until you get what we now have and understand, this is the path to destruction.  A nation cannot tell God to stay out of their affairs and hope to survive.

 

I saw an interesting quote from a man we as followers of Christ admire, C.S. Lewis, “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at the testing point.”

In his 1942 novel, “The Screwtape Letters,” author C.S. Lewis makes an important observation on the nature of courage. He argues that all spiritual virtues — such as love, hope, faith, patience, and mercy — have little meaning if they disappear in the face of danger or persecution. It is easy to be kind, forgiving, or strong when times are good, but retaining those qualities during times of adversity requires great courage.

 

It seems simple to be a follower of Christ, but it is not if it requires one to die to all the desires, and goals they have, and that is our testing point. To be obedient to His authority, for He is our King and authority, and He will give us that courage Lewis is referring too. 

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice