Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.16UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.11UNLIKELY
Fear
0.09UNLIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.55LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.59LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.22UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.86LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.75LIKELY
Extraversion
0.03UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.23UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.78LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
We are continuing our study of 2 Chronicles in chapter 33.
We talked about King Hezekiah last week.
What kind of king was he: good or bad?
He is characterized by the writer of Chronicles as a good king.
This is not to say that he didn’t have any faults.
He certainly did, but in general, he was a good king who made many reforms in Judah and did well in his treatment of the temple and the priesthood, which was one of the many reasons why so much time is spent on Hezekiah.
As we get into chapter 33, we will see the theme that we studied last week continue in chapters 33: Manasseh contrasts the king who he followed.
With that being the case, we can probably guess what kind of king Manasseh was.
Hezekiah, his father was a good king, so Manasseh will be a bad king.
Just remembering where we are picking up in the order of the kings, we talked about Hezekiah last week.
What kind of king was he: good or bad?
He is characterized by the writer of Chronicles as a good king.
THis is not to say that he didn’t have any faults.
He certainly did, but in general, he was a good king who made many reforms in Judah and did well in his treatment of the temple and the priesthood, which was one of the many reasons why so much time is spent on Hezekiah.
Although this theme continues, there is another theme that ties together chapters 33-36: repentance of the kings.
Emphasis is put on whether or not these kings repented when they were confronted with either God’s word or with his judgments.
Although there is another theme that arises many times in chapters 33-36 in regards to the next three kings we will study in these chapters: repentance of the kings.
Three kings and humble repentance ()
Manasseh (33:1–20) Manasseh’s unparalleled evil (33:1–9) Manasseh’s repentance and God’s favor (33:10–20) Amon is unrepentant (33:21–25) Josiah (34:1–36:1) Josiah seeks God faithfully (34:1–7) Josiah repents over God’s word (34:8–33) Josiah celebrates the Passover (35:1–19) Josiah’s death (35:20–36:1) Four kings and the end of a kingdom () The fall of Jehoahaz (36:2–4) The fall of Jehoiakim (36:5–8) The fall of Jehoiachin (36:9–10) The fall of Zedekiah and of the kingdom (36:11–20) Beginning to rebuild God’s house (36:21–23)
Manasseh (33:1–20)
Manasseh’s unparalleled evil (33:1–9)
Manasseh’s repentance and God’s favor (33:10–20)
Amon is unrepentant (33:21–25)
Josiah (34:1–36:1)
Josiah seeks God faithfully (34:1–7)
Josiah repents over God’s word (34:8–33)
Josiah celebrates the Passover (35:1–19)
Josiah’s death (35:20–36:1)
Four kings and the end of a kingdom ()
The fall of Jehoahaz (36:2–4)
The fall of Jehoiakim (36:5–8)
The fall of Jehoiachin (36:9–10)
The fall of Zedekiah and of the kingdom (36:11–20)
Beginning to rebuild God’s house ()
33:1-20 Manasseh
Just when you thought things could not get worse than the reign of Ahaz (who we studied in ch28), a king comes to the throne who surpasses him.
Manasseh comes to the throne and reigns for 55 years, making him the king who reigned the longest in Judah.
Verses 1-9 give us a detailed account of the evil that Manasseh did during his reign.
He imitates many of the things that his grandfather Ahaz did.
He walked in the ways of the Canaanites who the LORD drove out of the promised land for the Israelites.
In verse 9, we are told that not only Manasseh did these things, but he also led the people to act like the Canaanites.
They even surpassed the evil of the Canaanites (v9).
Manasseh sacrificed his sons in the fire.
He also worshipped other gods on the high places and worshipped Baal as Ahaz did.
He also worshipped other gods on the high places and worshipped Baal as Ahaz did.
Just as Ahaz, he sacrificed his sons in the fire.
He also worshipped other gods on the high places and worshipped Baal as Ahaz did.
He also reversed the work/reforms of his father Hezekiah.
He rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah tore down, as well as the altars to the Baals and the Asherah poles.
His evil also surpassed his grandfather Ahaz.
Ahaz had shut down the temple and built altars to idols all throughout the city, but Manasseh, he defiled the temple:
In verses 4&5, he built altars in the courtyards of the temple, some of them in order to worship the host of heaven - the sun, moon, and stars;
In verse he put an idol that he worshipped IN THE TEMPLE!!
A lot of emphasis is put on Manasseh’s treatment of the temple, reminding us of the promises that God made to David and Solomon regarding the temple.
God promised to put His name in this house forever as long as the people were careful to follow the laws that He gave to Moses.
If they did this, he would never remove them from the land.
So with Manasseh’s sin, we are starting to see “the handwriting on the wall.”
his desecration of the temple is ultimately going to lead to god’s people being removed from the land.
Manasseh Repents
In verses 10-20, the Chronicler’s account of Manasseh’s reign departs from the narrative of by including the unusual story of Manasseh’s capture and imprisonment by the Assyrians because he would not listen to the LORD’s calls to repentance.
He would not listen to the word of the LORD, but when he was in affliction, we have a surprising twist to the story.
Unlike his grandfather Ahaz, his heart did not harden more by the judgments the LORD brought.
Manasseh REPENTED!!!
We have a surprising twist to the story.
“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.
13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom.
Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.” (, ESV)
Upon his return Manasseh repaired the temple and renewed proper worship (33:14–17), removing the idol he had put in the temple and its courtyards.
The Chronicler’s account of Manasseh’s reign departs from the narrative of by including the unusual story of Manasseh’s imprisonment in Assyria.
During this exile, he repented and God answered by returning him to Jerusalem (33:10–13).
Upon his return Manasseh repaired the temple and renewed proper worship (33:14–17).
Manasseh’s sins ultimately contributed to the exile.
Even though he did repent at the end of his reign, the legacy that he left was not a good one.
The evil he practiced before His repentance would have lasting consequences for Judah.
In spite of his repentance and the reforms of his grandson Josiah, the LORD does not remove the judgments that he promised to bring to Judah:
“26 Still the Lord did not turn from the burning of his great wrath, by which his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked him.
27 And the Lord said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and I will cast off this city that I have chosen, Jerusalem, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.””
(, ESV)
APPLICATION
God is willing and able to forgive even those who are the most evil.
If he forgave Saul of Tarsus and the wicked king Manasseh when they came to repentance, there is not a reason for us to think that God would be unwilling to forgive us if we come to repentance, no matter how terrible we think our sin is.
As long as we are alive, there is the possibility of repentance
We need to remember that we will leave a legacy, and it can be good or bad.
Unfortunately, we can be remembered for the negative things that we do, whether we like it or not.
33:21-25 Amon
The successor to Manasseh was Amon.
Only five verses are dedicated to Amon.
The Chronicler had no words of commendation for him.
The main point that is made about Amon is that he did not repent and humble himself before the LORD like his father, Manasseh, had done.
Amon followed the former ways of his father instead of the latter ways.
Amon’s reign closes when he is assassinated by his servants.
Josiah
In contrast to his father, Amon, Josiah proved to be a good king over the people of Judah (640–609 B.C.).
He was the last such, sad to say; but he was also no of their greatest (v.2) kings outside of David and Solomon.
Josiah instituted the most thorough of all the reforms recorded in the Old Testament.
His reforms kept the nation alive, extending the period of time Judah was allowed to stay in the land before they went into captivity.
Josiah reigned for thirty-one years, and his following in the steps of David is highlighted.
He followed David’s ways and sought the God of David.
Josiah’s Religious Reforms (34:3-7)
Josiah reigned for thirty-one years and walked in the way of the Lord as David had done (34:1–2, 33; ).
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9