The Prodigal King

Text: 2 Chronicles 33:1-20

Theme: This passage teaches us that no one is beyond the reach of God's grace. It encourages people to repent from their sins and turn to God, knowing that His forgiveness is available to all who come to Him with a contrite heart

Almost every Baptist has heard the story of the Prodigal Son that Jesus told in Luke 15. This morning I’d like to tell you the story of a Prodigal King. His name is Manasseh. His story is a story of absolute wickedness meeting absolute grace. Like the Prodigal Son of Jesus’ parable, Manasseh turned away from his father’s faith and his father’s God—the One True God of Israel. He lived a life of idolatry, immorality, and spiritual corruption. But, also like the Prodigal Son of Jesus’ story, this Prodigal King came to the end of himself, found God, repented to God, had faith in God and it changed his life.

THE REIGNING KING vs. 1-2

THE REBELLIOUS KING vs. 3-11

THE REPENTANT KING vs. 12-20

LESSONS FROM THE PRODIGAL KING

I. THE REIGNING KING vs. 1-2

“Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.” (2 Chronicles 33:1–2, ESV)

1. the story of Manasseh is told in 2 Kings 21:1-18 and 2 Chronicles 33:1-20

a. he was the 14th king of the southern Jewish kingdom of Judah

b. he was the son of the godly King Hezekiah who himself reigned almost thirty years

1) his mother was Hephzibah

2) it was King Hezekiah who had initiated religious reforms in Judah to rid the land of false worship and idolatry

a) after David, Hezekiah was Israel’s most god-loving and god-honoring king

b) under his spiritual leadership Judah experienced a revival of true worship even though it would be short-lived

c. when Manasseh came to the throne he would reverse all of those reforms and lead Israel back into idolatry and pagan worship practices

2. he came to political power at the age of twelve

a. imagine having virtually unlimited power as an adolescent boy!

b. that seems awfully young to us—I wouldn’t want a twelve-year-old boy as mayor of my town let alone as leader of my nation!

1) but in Jewish culture a twelve-year-old was considered a son of the Law, having passed from childhood to adulthood and old enough to concern himself with the serious work of life

3. he reigned for 55 years—longer than any other Jewish king

a. under his reign Judah flourished economically

b. but the spiritual difference between King Hezekiah and his son Manasseh could not be more stark

c. Manasseh was born into a spiritual oasis, but he turned the nation into a spiritual wasteland

4. unfortunately, a reprobate king who rules that long can accomplish a lot of spiritual evil

II. THE REBELLIOUS KING vs. 3-10

“For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had broken down, and he erected altars to the Baals, and made Asheroth, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall my name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger. 7 And the carved image of the idol that he had made he set in the house of God, of which God 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, 8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.” 9 Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel. 10 The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon.” (2 Chronicles 33:3–11, ESV)

1. secular Jewish history tells us that Manasseh was a successful ruler under whose leadership their was peace and prosperity in the land

a. but God judges rulers and nations by a different standard

2. spiritual Jewish history tells us that Manasseh’s reign was disastrous for Judah

a. God’s assessment is found in vs. 2 ... “And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.” (2 Chronicles 33:2, ESV)

1) when Israel entered the Promised Land under Joshua, God had commanded that the inhabitants of the land—collectively known as the Canaanites—be totally annihilated

2) that sounds so harsh to us until you understand the total depravity of their worship practices

3) they were so wicked that God referred to their practices as abominations

3. under Manasseh’s wicked leadership he moved Israel away from the worship of the One True God and back to the despicable idolatry of the very people they had conquered and replaced

a. vs. 9 tells us Manasseh led Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem astray, to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the people of Israel

b. it must have broken God’s heart

1) His heart’s desire for His people was to be holy as He was holy, but now they are practicing the most unholy worship imaginable

2. how bad was it? verses 3-11 give us an idea ... five great sins

A. HE DEPARTED FROM THE FAITH OF HIS FATHER

1. 1st, he re-erected pagan altars to Baal and sacred pillars to Asherah

a. Asherah was a fertility goddess and the female consort to the storm-god Baal

1) her worship included ritual prostitution

b. these two false gods were the perennial temptation to Israel’s religious life

2. Manasseh was also a ruthless politician who eagerly assassinated his political opponents

“Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.” (2 Kings 21:16, ESV)

B. HE DISREGARDED THE VOICE OF THE PROPHETS

1. 2nd, he depended on astrology for guidance rather than than Israel’s prophets

a. vs. 3 tells us he worshiped all the starry host of heaven and served them

1) he depended on the alignment of the stars and planets for guidance instead of the prophet’s thus saith the Lord

b. Jewish tradition tells us that he was so disdainful of the prophets that he had the Prophet Isaiah executed by having him sawed in two with a wooden saw

C. HE DEFILED THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD

1. 3rd, he had the audacity to erect pagan altars inside the Temple of the Lord

a. the Temple was the most sacred and holy site in Israel and Manasseh desecrated it with pagan altars

b. it was the place God said, I will put my name forever

ILLUS. Image showing up to church some Sunday and in one corner of the sanctuary is an altar to the Buddha, and in another an altar to the Hindu goddess Vishu while in another is an altar containing feathers and rocks and incense to Mother Earth. You say, “Brother David, that’s ridiculous. No Christian would ever stand for that.” And yet, in 2019 at Union Seminary in New York City, students were encouraged to pray to a group of potted plants set up in the school’s chapel. Unashamed of its pagan idolatry, the nation’s oldest independent seminary tweeted out the news: "Today in chapel, we confessed to plants. Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor.” The Tweet closed with, “What do you confess to the plants in your life?" One student referred to it as a “beautiful ritual”.

c. no ... it’s not a “beautiful ritual” it’s idolatry!

D. HE DESCENDED TO THE DEPTHS OF PAGANISM

1. 4th, he practiced child sacrifice

a. vs. 6 tells us that he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom

b. this is a reference to the pagan worship of the Canaanite deity Moloch—portrayed as a bull-headed idol with outstretched hands over a fire

c. the worship of this god was so horrific that God demanded the life of those who practiced it

“Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. 4 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.” (Leviticus 20:2–5, ESV)

2. I’m here to tell ya all, that paganism is alive and well in America

a. we are no different, and maybe even worse than Judah under Manasseh’s reign

b. Since 1973, 64 millions babies have been sacrificed on the Altar of Female Autonomy in the Valley of Sexual Freedom with the Priests of Planned Parenthood offering up the sacrifice

E. HE DEPENDED ON OCCULT PRACTICES FOR TRUTH

1. 5th, rather than turning to God’s Word for understanding, he depended upon fakes, and frauds, and fiends

a. vs. 6 tell us and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers (people who supposedly summon the spirits of the dead for the purpose of discovering the future)

ILLUS. It’s hard to know precise numbers, but at least one million Americans dabble in occult practices of some kind, and that number is expected to triple over the next 25 years. And some of these practices have even infiltrated the church; 45%of professing Christians believe in psychics, 33% believe in reincarnation, not resurrection mind you, but reincarnation, and 29% believe in astrology!

b. God had forbade Israel to use any of these occult practices, and yet Manasseh reintroduced them all

2. the author’s conclusion is He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger

3. men are capable of incredible evil when they abandon the statues and precepts of the Living God

III. THE REPENTANT KING vv. 11-12

“Therefore the LORD brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.” (2 Chronicles 33:11–12, ESV)

A. GOD FIRST SHACKLED HIM

1. sin always has it’s consequences

a. that is true on a personal level and it is true on a national level—sin begets sin and shackles you to ever-increasing evil

1) Divine judgement is inevitable

b. the result of Manasseh’s sin was Judah’s subjugation by the Assyrian Empire, and Manasseh was taken captive and brought back to the Assyrian capitol in chains attached to hooks through his nose

2. God had repeatedly promised Israel that if they were an obedient people, if they were a holy people that they’d be a blessed people

“ ... God 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, 8 and I will no more remove the foot of Israel from the land that I appointed for your fathers, if only they will be careful to do all that I have commanded them, all the law, the statutes, and the rules given through Moses.”” (2 Chronicles 33:7–8, ESV)

a. Manasseh led Judah and Jerusalem into turning their backs on God’s statues, and the rules given through Moses

b. the prophets—including Habakkuk, Nahum, and Isaiah—warned Manasseh and the people of the results of their idolatry—”The LORD spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention.” (2 Chronicles 33:10, ESV)

c. they should have

1) in 2 Kings 21 God, through the prophets, announced the calamity He was about to bring upon Judah and Jerusalem

“therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judah such disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria, and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will forsake the remnant of my heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 15 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”” (2 Kings 21:12–15, ESV)

3. all these calamities were God-sent judgments meant to turn Manasseh’s heart, and bring him, and Israel back to the One True and Livng God and His worship

ILLUS. In 1972 God began working to get my attention. I wasn’t living a prodigal’s life, but neither was I a Christian. In June of that year, I was in an gasoline explosion at work. I don’t have time to go into the story, except to say I learned to fly that day. I had first and second degree burns over 30% of my body and some third-degree burns on my hands. After I recovered from that I blew a knee out playing football that fall. In January I had surgery to repair it. The first day I was back in gym class after the knee surgery I was hit in the eye with a hockey puck which tore the retina loose. I spent the next ten days in the hospital with patches over both eyes. To quote Queen Elizabeth II it was my ‘Annus Horribilis’ —my horrible year.

a. but God got my attention, and through a series of providentially God-arranged events, (that include a really cute red-headed girl) I committed my life to Christ in June of 1973

4. God’s judgment upon Judah and Manasseh’s captivity got the king’s attention

B. GOD SECONDLY SAVED HIM

1. the Bible tells us that the king was distressed and in his distress he began to cry out to God and humbled himself in repentance

a. because God is merciful, there is hope for the worst of sinners who repent

1) the story of King Manasseh shows that what is impossible with men is possible for God

2) and, when you and I some day get to heaven, there will be Manasseh—the most wicked king to rule in Israel—praising the God who saved him

2. the last line of 2 Chronicles 33:13 says, Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God

a. God restored Manasseh to his kingdom

b. we know that his conversion was genuine because he worked at undoing all the spiritual harm he had done

“And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. 16 He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.” (2 Chronicles 33:15–16, ESV)

3. here’s the good news this morning—God saves sinners!

IV. LESSONS FROM THE PRODIGAL KING

A. Never Assume that Being Raised by Godly Parents Makes You a Believer

1. lots of godly men of the Bible had children that were not

ILLUS. Abraham had Esau, a scornful man who was a fool and a reprobate who despised his righteous inheritance. Jacob had twelve sons and only Joseph is praised for his virtue. Samuel, one of Israel’s greatest prophets, had two sons, Joel and Abijah. 1 Samuel 8:3 says of them, “And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.” King David, a man after God’s own heart, had no faithful children—not even Solomon.

2. a faithful and virtuous child requires God’s grace more than parental example and training

a. never stop praying for the salvation of your children; never stop talking to them about their need for Jesus; never stop taking them to VBS and Sunday School and Worship; never stop exposing them to the Gospel

3. if you’ve never confessed Christ as Savior and Lord, you just ain’t a Christian ... end of story

a. but becoming a Christian is simple

“because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved ... 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”” ” (Romans 10:9–10, 13 ESV)

B. Men Can Become Incredibly Wicked When They Lose Sight of God

1. never underestimate the wickedness of the human character—including your own

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV)

a. man has a spiritual dilemma –

ILLUS. In 1982 George Thorogood and his band The Destroyers, released “Bad to the Bone”. It became the band’s signature song, and is considered a rock ‘n roll classic. (Some of you are trip’n out just thinking about it). Listen to the first stanza.

On the day I was born

The nurses all gathered 'round

And they gazed in wide wonder

At the joy they had found

The head nurse spoke up

Said "leave this one alone"

She could tell right away

That I was bad to the bone

b. from the day we are born, we are “bad to the bone”

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. 2 God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 53:1–3, ESV)

“This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.” (Ecclesiastes 9:3, NIV)

2. according to the bible, man is not just a little bit bad or kinda naughty

a. men are remarkably evil, audaciously corrupt, and completely rotten to the core

b. such a view is diametrically opposed to the social theories of our day that maintain man is basically good, but is negatively affected by environmental or social conditions such as poverty, social disenfranchisement, or a dysfunctional home life

c. fix those things and you’ll fix what’s wrong with men, (and our society has spent trillions of dollars over the decades proving society can’t fix what’s wrong with men)

3. sin is the core issue

a. while others speculate about the cause of wickedness and evil in our world, Christians know—or should know—that because of sin, men are capable of almost limitless evil

1) how else do we explain the Armenian Genocide, Nazi Concentration Camps, Soviet Gulags, the “Killing Fields” of Cambodia, “Ethnic Cleansing” in Bosnia, and Rwanda, and ISIS beheadings, or the Abortion industry where the executives of Planned Parenthood nonchalantly talk about selling baby body parts?

c. the Scriptures teach us that—since our fall from grace in the Garden of Eden—evil has been woven into the core of our character

4. take away the civilizing force of society and law, and the restraining influence of God’s Holy Spirit and the accountant will become a serial killer

a. this is why you need to be saved—you need a new heart; a heart of flesh that replace the heart of stone

C. Spiritual Wickedness and Idolatry Can be Contagious

ILLUS. We’re all familiar with the adage “one bad apple spoils the bunch.” If you put a rotten apple in with a bunch of good ones the rottenness will spread to the other apples relatively quickly. However, if you put a good apple in with a bunch of rotten ones, it won’t make the rotten ones any better. Sociologists tell us that people generally tend to be like the 5 people they spend the most time with. Well that begs the question: Who are you spending most of your time with?

1. who we choose to closely associate with has a direct impact on our own character

a. the Apostle Paul said it this way ... “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”” (1 Corinthians 15:33, ESV)

b. like the rotten apple quickly spreads its rottenness, evil is a contagion that can quickly spread through a populace

2. Manasseh’s evil spread like wildfire throughout his kingdom until virtually the entire population had been influenced toward evil

ILLUS. Think of our own culture. Things that would have been considered, by virtually everyone, as immoral and even wicked a generation ago, are now openly tolerated and even praised in our culture. If in 1961 when I was six years old, had the Librarian of Lewis and Clark library in North County, where I grew up invited a Drag Queen in for the children’s story time hour, she would have been out of a job before the library closed that day! Mothers would have covered their children’s eyes and quickly hustled them out of the room.

a. now we live in a culture that smiles and says, “How quaint! How progressive!”

3. the church is to be salt and light in a culture where wickedness spreads way to quickly

D. God Can Save Incredibly Wicked Men and Turn Their Lives Around

1. God has a remedy for personal wickedness—“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6, NIV)

a. sin has outraged God and defiled His creation

b. it has introduced rebellion and ruin where once the Lord God reigned sovereign

1) the world is haunted by demons, disease, and death, and dotted with graveyards, hospitals, prisons, and mental institutions—all because of sin

2) it is ruined by vileness and squalor, misery and hatred, war and famine, blight and pestilence, death and decay—all because of sin

2. and yet we read that But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

a. God has sent the world a Savior—His name is Jesus—he is the Lion of Judah

b. he has made atonement for sin by his life and blood that you might receive the righteousness of God

In this passage, we see a foreshadowing of the ultimate redemption and forgiveness that Christ would bring through His sacrificial death on the cross. Jesus is the ultimate manifestation of God's grace and mercy towards sinners. Will you come to Christ this morning? Regardless of how sinful you are, Jesus can save you. Regardless of how good you think you are, you need a Savior because, I guarantee it, you’re way more sinful than you think you are. "because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved ... 13 For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."" " (Romans 10:9–10, 13 ESV)