God doing God things (2 Chronicles 33)

Introduction

We’ve seen God do a lot of different things with different types of people throughout this study.

We saw a godly man fall into sin and then find restoration.

We saw a young king with a godly mentor overcome his family legacy.

We saw a young king without a godly mentor choose to serve the Lord.

What happens though when someone starts off evil?

Is God able to salvage a life that wastes a lot of years in rebellion?

We are going to look at the life of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah.

He was a young man when he began to reign.

Can you imagine becoming the leader of anything at 12 years old?

You want to think, with a dad like Hezekiah, that Manasseh would have turned out better.

But, 12 is very young to lose your father.

It has been said that what happens to you between the ages of 9-12 will determine the course of your life.

This is a pivotal moment for every young person.

For Manasseh, his father dies.

As Manasseh begins to rule, he actively chooses to depart from the example of his father.

Is he bitter at his dad for leaving?

Is angry with God over his father’s death?

I don’t know I’m just trying to imagine what would possess this young man to so totally abandon the example of his father.

Let’s quickly consider the extant that Manasseh departed from God.

He rebuilt the altars and high places that his father had torn down.

He built new altars in the temple for all manner of false gods.

He sacrificed his children the way his grandfather had.

He got involved in mysticism.

He used spells

He used witchcraft

He dealt with a familiar spirit (demon)

He met with wizards

He was a very wicked man.

2 Chronicles 33:6 “...he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.”

2 Chronicles 33:9 “9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.”

Manasseh’s actions could not be ignored or hidden from the Lord.

Notice God’s first step in trying to get Manasseh’s attention.

Verse 10 tells the reader that God tried speaking to Manasseh.

God used prophets and the written word to try and break through to the young king.

God tried to speak to the people about what Manasseh was doing.

But neither the king, nor the people would listen to God.

Now, if God didn’t love Manasseh and the people, He would have given up when his children didn’t respond.

God didn’t give up on the rebel, though.

He first tried to speak to His people.

When they didn’t listen, God increased the pressure on the king and his people.

He did this by allowing oppressors to come in and afflict the people.

The Assyrians came and attacked the people and embarrassed them.

Judah was in a place of strength during this point of their history.

They were not failing in any metric except spiritually.

Their military and fortified cities were strong and well-equipped.

We see how devastating their defeat was in the details of the king’s capture.

It is one thing to lose a battle, or a city, or even some of your generals.

I’m no chess expert, but if your king is captured, the game is over, you lost.

Manasseh is captured while he is hiding in the bushes.

The Assyrians bind him and take him as their prisoner.

I asked you at the beginning if there was any hope for someone that never turned from the right path because they were never on the right path.

Manasseh at the end of verse 11 seems to support the answer of “no” there is no hope for that person.

But, verse 11 is not the end of Manasseh’s story.

In verse 12, Manasseh’s life is changed.

In his affliction, Manasseh turned to God.

I imagine Manasseh in a prison cell or as a living trophy for his enemies.

Day after day he is reminded of his failure.

Eventually, Manasseh begins to wake up to why this is happening.

The passage tells us that he sought the Lord.

He humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

Manasseh repented in his exile and begged God for forgiveness.

This is an incredible change.

God heard the cry of the prisoner.

When the Bible says that God was intreated, it means that someone prayed to Him and He heard them.

God then brought Manasseh out of his affliction.

He returned him back to Jerusalem.

He also returned him back to his kingdom.

Can you imagine the change that must have been immediately noticeable in Manasseh?

We’ll talk about the change here in a second.

First, I want to point something out.

I want us to notice together who was responsible for this change in Manasseh.

In verse 11 it was God that brought the Assyrians to attack Manasseh.

Once Manasseh humbled himself, it was God that brought Manasseh back to Jerusalem in verse 13.

At the end of verse 13, we learn the motivation for God’s action.

God did not afflict Manasseh so that he would be faithful to his father.

God did not afflict Manasseh so that he would be faithful to David.

God pursued Manasseh so that Manasseh would know God.

When Manasseh recognized Yahweh as God, it changed everything about his life.

He worked to fulfill his duty as king.

He removed the altars and idols that he had personally set up.

This was not, as we have seen, a son tearing down his father’s idols.

This is a person tearing down his own idols.

Talk about humility.

He refocused the people on the worship of god.

He repaired the altar of God.

He directed the people to serve the Lord.

Though he didn’t tear down the high places, the people worshipped only God there.

Manasseh lived for the Lord throughout the rest of his life.

God is able to bring any rebel to a place off repentance and restoration.

They must make the decision to humble themselves and repent.

God can bring even a rebel like Manasseh to the place where they are primed for repentance.

We see His method of using His word first and judgment second.

God will always respond to a rebel that humbles themselves before Him.

We should take a few things from this passage.

If you are the rebel...

Is God warning you from His word tonight?

You may not be involved in witchcraft and demonism, but if you were honest, you know you are rebelling against him.

The Holy Spirit is trying to get you to look at the passage tonight and learn from Manasseh’s situation.

This is God using His word first to get your attention.

How do we rebel?

Withholding forgiveness.

Leaning on our own wisdom.

Neglecting our time with Him.

Playing with sin.

We need to be warned that if we fail to heed the warnings of His word, He is capable of applying greater pressure to cause us to bend to His will.

If you used to be the rebel...

Maybe some of you that are here, were like Manasseh in your younger days.

You were a rebel against God.

You may have even dabbled in some of the same sins.

But now that you have humbled yourself, you are wondering what you can do now.

Look at Manasseh, he came back and did everything he could to undue the damage he had done as a rebel.

Our rebellion may forever alter our future, but it doesn’t have to disqualify us from serving God.

You can still make a major impact for God, even if your past is not what you would want.

Maybe you know a rebel...

Who was it that brought the pressure on Manasseh?

Who was it that restored Manasseh?

It was God.

You know a rebel, pray for them.

Pray that God will bring them to the place of repentance and that they would humble themselves before God.

If God can get a hold of Manasseh and change his life, He can surely do it for the person you are praying for.