Start Over: A Manasseh Moment
God of the Second Chance • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
The worst in the class. Have you ever gotten a bad grade in school? If you've ever experienced the embarrassment of a failed exam, what has been a bit of consolation is knowing that, despite getting a bad grade, it wasn't as bad as the grade received by the worst student in your class.
We've all had someone in our class who was truly hopeless. So hopeless that even a zero was too high for him. A lost cause, the worst of them all. Despite the teachers' efforts, this individual, year after year, only confirmed his inability to learn and improve.
Manasseh, the wrost king. Today I want to present to you the story of the worst king of Judah and Israel: Manasseh!
History tells us that after the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided in two: the Southern Kingdom (Judah) and the Northern Kingdom (Israel). Judah had 20 kings, while Israel had 19.
Adding the first three kings, the total number of kings over four centuries is 42. During this time, we've had good kings, decent kings, bad kings, and the wrost: Manasseh!
Manasseh was the worst king who reigned in either kingdom.
J. Vernon McGee
A despicable, violent, evil man, capable of any crime:
Tradition has it that Isaiah was martyred at this time, sawn in two by Manasseh’s men.
Barry G. Webb
Sermon's outline. If God gave a second chance to someone like Manasseh, if even this hateful and rebellious king found grace in God and was able to start over, why shouldn't you receive a second chance?
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
By the grace of God, we too can experience "A Manasseh Moment"! Through the biblical passage we just read, we will consider the three phases experienced by the worst of Judah's kings:
A Dark Regime;
Blessed Chains;
The Reforming King.
N.1 - A Dark Regime
N.1 - A Dark Regime
Moreover, Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem from end to end—besides the sin that he had caused Judah to commit, so that they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
The kingdom of Israel plunged into darkness. The Bible tells us that Manasseh reigned over Judah longer than all other kings: 55 years!
Despite his longevity, Manasseh's reign was marked by rebellion against God, the shedding of innocent blood, pain, and tears.
God himself had decreed judgment on Manasseh's kingdom: Jeremiah 15:1-4
Then the Lord said to me: “Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! And if they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says:
“ ‘Those destined for death, to death; those for the sword, to the sword; those for starvation, to starvation; those for captivity, to captivity.’
“I will send four kinds of destroyers against them,” declares the Lord, “the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds and the wild animals to devour and destroy. I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.
I would like to highlight two consequences of this dark regime:
1A. Manasseh insulted his heritage.
1A. Manasseh insulted his heritage.
He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them.
The first characteristic of Manasseh's dark reign was the rebuilding of the pagan altars destroyed by his father Hezekiah.
The spiritual heritage left to him by his father was squandered and outraged by Manasseh.
Manasseh, the Prodigal Son of the Old Testament. Manasseh can be called the Prodigal Son of the Old Testament, for he too squandered his father's possessions:
“Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living.
Application. There are many Manassehs in Christ's church! Many children of believers, young people who have received an eternal inheritance, spiritual goods, wisdom, and discernment from heaven, have decided to squander the Lord's blessing by insulting their parents' spiritual inheritance.
They are building where they should destroy, while destroying where they should build.
They have forgotten, and he who forgets ultimately loses what was his.
1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching Don’t Forget the Bones!
Don’t Forget the Bones!
1B. Manasseh compromised his legacy.
1B. Manasseh compromised his legacy.
He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made.
Manasseh not only insults the memory of his father, but he forever compromises the future of his son Aman.
Not only had he destroyed his glorious past, but he was also compromising his future.
In fact, although God will give Manasseh a second chance because of his repentance, the spiritual damage was not easily reversed.
Application. I don't want to mislead anyone! While we believe in a God Who gives new opportunities, it's also true that second chances don't undo the consequences of our sin.
Samson’s second chance. God also gave Samson a second chance:
But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.
Yet, Israel's judge did not regain his sight!
Please Stop! Let’s end this regime of rebellion and humble yourself before God before the consequences of your sins become irreversible.
N.2 - Blessed Chains
N.2 - Blessed Chains
In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors.
Blessed Chains. The time of exile and captivity benefited Manasseh in two ways:
2A. Exposing Manasseh's limitations.
2A. Exposing Manasseh's limitations.
So the Lord brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.
The bronze chains and a hook in his nose revealed to Manasseh his limited strength and irrelevant will.
The chains of Babylon exposed Manasseh's weakness, and now alone and helpless, he remembered the Lord in the cold cell of Babylon.
Application. The chains of Babylon represent the problems God allows in our lives to soften our hearts: Psalm 119:67
Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word.
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Salvation, Gift Of
A group of believers was meeting by a river when one of their group fell into the water. It was obvious that the poor fellow couldn’t swim, as he thrashed about wildly. One of the believers was a strong swimmer and was called on to jump in and save the man before he drowned. But though able to save the drowning man, he just watched until the wild struggles subsided. Then he dove in and pulled the man to safety.
When the rescue was over, the rescuer explained his slowness to act. “If I had jumped in immediately, he would have been strong enough to drown us both. Only by waiting until he was too exhausted to try to save himself, could I save him.”
It seems to be all too easy for us to be like that drowning man. Our self-efforts can actually prevent us from being saved! Unfortunately, some people must reach the point of being too exhausted to continue trying to save themselves (by dealing with their own sin) before they become willing to trust in the Savior and accept his gift of salvation.1167
I pray that you will be exhausted, so that the Lord can save you.
2B. Proclaiming God's immense grace.
2B. Proclaiming God's immense grace.
And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.
The Bible is full of prayers answered by God:
Isaac's prayer:
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
Hannah's prayer:
Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her.
Jonah's prayer:
And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
But answering Manasseh's prayer truly reveals God's infinite grace.
Application. Don't try explain and harmonize our sin with God's grace.
Manasseh's story isn't meant to explain divine grace; rather, it's meant to shock its readers, encouraging them to seek the Lord's forgiveness.
Don't waste time deciphering God's grace, nor trying to clarify it or armorize His love. You just need to receive it in Jesus!
N.3 - The Reforming King
N.3 - The Reforming King
The other events of Manasseh’s reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel.
The Reforming King. True repentance produces concrete results, and Manasseh demonstrated his true desire to live the second chance God had given him.
The reforming king developed his second chance by protecting Jerusalem with two actions, two reforms:
3A. Protecting from external dangers.
3A. Protecting from external dangers.
Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the City of David, west of the Gihon spring in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate and encircling the hill of Ophel; he also made it much higher. He stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities in Judah.
This means fortifying the perimeter of Jerusalem and making its bonderies even more impenetrable during a siege.
Application. When a spiritual awakening occurs within us, the walls of our personal consecration rise, the walls defending our marriage rise, the standards are higher than those of this generation.
A humorous sign read: ‘Our marriage is like a hot air balloon: it needs boundaries to keep it afloat!’ This light-hearted twist reminds us that boundaries don’t restrict love; they help it soar!
Meredith Boggs said: Simply put, Bondories reveal what is okay and what is not. Boundaries don't inhibit growth. They foster it. Bondaries don't limit connection. They provide a safe framework for vulnerability.
3B. Purification from internal contaminations.
3B. Purification from internal contaminations.
He got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city.
Manasseh's first reform addressed external attacks, while the reclamation of Jerusalem addressed internal attacks.
All the idols were thrown out of the city!
Application. What sense would it make to raise the walls but continue to have idols hidden in our city?
Keeping the idols in our hearts and raising the walls would only transform us into religious people.
True spiritual reform is internal, of the heart!
Like Manasseh, we know what must be thrown out of our life: let's do it now!
Conclusion
Conclusion
Start Over. Manasseh, the wicked and rebellious king, repented of his sins, and God granted him a second chance.
The word humbled reminds us that the essence of Manasseh’s sin was pride.
David Guzik
Humble yourself before God, and the Lord will grant you a new beginning: in your life, in your work, in your marriage, as a parent, as a son and daughter.
