Manasseh & Amon: Like father… like son?

Scripture reading: 2 Kings 21:1-2

2 Kings 21:1–2 ESV

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.

Manasseh

Manasseh’s name means “To forget” or “Causing to forget”.

*SHOW SLIDE OF MANASSEH’S REIGN*

He started off as a coregent with his father, Hezekiah, from age 12 to 22. And from that point on, Manasseh reigned for 44 years until the age of 66. So he reigned for 55 years total, from 696 to 642BC.

Manasseh was the most wicked king of all the wicked kings of Judah. Here’s a list of what he did.

Rebuilt the high places that Hezekiel destroyed

Erected altars for Baal

Worshiped all the host of heaven and served them

Built altars in the temple’s inner and outer court

Burned his son as an offering

Dabbled in fortune-telling and omens

Dealt with spiritual mediums and necromancers

Made an Asherah idol and placed it in the temple

Led the nation astray in doing evil

Filled Jersualem from end to end with bodies of innocent people

Ignored God’s warnings (2 Chr. 33:10).

God sent Assyrian army against Manasseh, and they captured him with hooks and brought him to Babylon (2 Chr. 33:11).

Manasseh repented, and God brought him back to Jerusalem (2 Chr. 33:12-13).

Manasseh throws all the idols out of Jerusalem and restores the altar of the Lord and offers sacrifices of peace offerings and thanksgiving offerings.

Manasseh commands Judah to worship God, but they don’t listen.

What we see in the story of Manasseh is a story of hope. Manasseh was probably one of the worst people in the entire Bible. But God disciplined him

God was so patient toward Manasseh. And because of God’s patience, Manasseh could repent and come back to Him.

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Amon

Amon’s name means “trustworthy”, “faithful”, or “skillful.”

Before we get into Amon’s story, let’s take a wild guess. With Manasseh as his father, do you think Amon turned out as a good king or a bad king?

2 Kings 21:19–20 ESV

Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done.

2 Kings 21:21–22 ESV

He walked in all the way in which his father walked and served the idols that his father served and worshiped them. He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

2 Kings 21:23–24 ESV

And the servants of Amon conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. But the people of the land struck down all those who had conspired against King Amon, and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place.

So here’s what these passages tell us about Amon.

Starts reign at 22 years old.

Did as his father Manasseh had done.

Sacrificed to all the images that Manasseh had made.

Did not humble himself before the Lord. In other words, he didn’t repent.

Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house.

So how long did Amon reign? His father Manasseh reigned for 55 years, and he did evil for most of it. And perhaps Amon had this idea that he too could live however he wanted, and at the end, he can repent and come back to God. But for now, while he’s at the prime years of his life, he’s going to invest in himself.

How long does that last?

*SHOW SLIDE OF AMON’S REIGN*

Amon only reigns for 2 years and dies at the age of 24.

Insights and Application

Manasseh shows us the grace of repentance.

God came to Manasseh first and gave him the Word in order for him to repent. But Manasseh didn’t listen (2 Chr. 33:10). And so God sent the Assyrian army against him, and they bound him in chains and dragged him out of Jerusalem. And then and only then, did Manasseh repent.

Likewise, God gave the Word to Israel through the prophets, telling them to repent. But because of their stubbornness, they killed the prophets. So what did God do? God sent His only Son, Jesus. And at the end of His ministry, Jesus, like Manasseh, was bound by the soldiers of a foreign army. And they dragged Him out of Jerusalem. And while Manasseh could repent and receive his life back, Jesus died a gruesome and cruel death, so that we could repent and receive eternal life.

Manasseh shows us the grace of repentance that Jesus won for us. He made the way for us to return back to God. All we need to do is to repent and come back to God, in Jesus’ name.

So what we see in Manasseh is a person who experiences God’s patient and longsuffering love toward His people. Even the worst sinner can find salvation if they repent and turn back to God. That’s the Gospel.

What about Amon?

What we see in Amon is a person who sees someone experience God’s patient and longsuffering love, and says “Ok, since God is so patient, I’ll let Him wait a little longer before I repent and change my ways.”

That is one of Satan’s most effective strategies, and Amon fell straight for it. It’s the strategy of spiritual procrastination.

And why is this effective? Because we all think we have a lot of time left in this world. Especially us young people.

But none of us actually know when we’re going to die. Life is like walking a plank, and none of us know how long the plank is. It could stretch out for a long while, but none of us know for sure.

And the Bible doesn’t guarantee long life to anyone. All that the Bible guarantees is that those who repent from sin and walk in righteousness and integrity will be saved. But those who delay to repent will suddenly fall.

Proverbs 28:18 (ESV)

Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall.

The bishop J.C. Ryle wrote this warning to young men in the 1800s, and I’d like to read a portion of what he said.

“Tomorrow is the devil’s day, but today is God’s. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are, or how holy your resolutions might be, so long as they are fixed for tomorrow. Do not let the devil mislead you! Answer him, “No, Satan! It shall be today. Today!”