We are Starting a New 2 Month-Long Series On Sunday Nights

It’s Called “Radical Change”

We are Going to Be Looking at People From the Old and New Testaments…

Who Experienced Radical Change

“Change” is Neither Positive or Negative

A Person Can Experience Radical Change in a Positive or Negative Way

We are Going to Be Focusing On the Former

We’re Going to Focus On People Who Went Through Radical Change for the Better

The Goal of this Series is to Persuade and Motivate Us Toward Radical Change

And, at the Center of Radical Change for the Better…

Is Where You’ll Find God

If You’ve Not Watched “The Chosen”, You Need to

The Very 1st Episode is Focused On Mary Magdalene

She was Demon Possessed and Her Life was Falling Apart

But at the End of the Episode She Meets Jesus and is Radically Changed

Later, When She is Asked About What Happened to Her, She Said:

“I was one way, and now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him.”

That Quote Illustrates the Point I Want These Lessons to Communicate

Radical Change is Initiated, Motivated, and Sustained By God

With Every Person We Study Who Goes Through Radical Change…

We Will See God Right in the Middle of it All

God Wants to Radically Change Us into the Image and Character of Jesus

But We Must Be Willing and Desire to Be Changed

Tonight, We are Going to Look at One of the Worst People in All the Scriptures

Manasseh

Manasseh was the Son of the Righteous King Hezekiah

After Hezekiah’s Death, He Would Go on to Become King of Judah

Manasseh was So Evil as the King of Judah…

That, on Multiple Occasions, His Name Would Be Mentioned as to Why Judah Would Eventually Fall to Babylon

For Instance, His Grandson Josiah Would Eventually Lead One of the Greatest Spiritual Restorations Israel had Ever Seen

But Because of Manasseh, God Still Planned to Destroy Jerusalem

2 Kings 23:26 (NASB95)

However, the Lord did not turn from the fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.

2 Kings 24:1–4 (NASB95)

In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

The Lord sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken through His servants the prophets.

Surely at the command of the Lord it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the Lord would not forgive.

Jeremiah 15:1–4 (NASB95)

Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people; send them away from My presence and let them go!

And it shall be that when they say to you, ‘Where should we go?’ then you are to tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Those destined for death, to death; And those destined for the sword, to the sword; And those destined for famine, to famine; And those destined for captivity, to captivity.” ’

“I will appoint over them four kinds of doom,” declares the Lord: “the sword to slay, the dogs to drag off, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

I will make them an object of horror among all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.”

Even After Manasseh was Dead and Gone…

He was Still to Blame for Judah’s Downfall…

Because of All the Evil He Practiced and Led Judah to Practice

Manasseh was an Extremely Evil Man

Let’s Get Specific:

2 Chronicles 33:1–9 (NASB95)

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.

55 Years is a Long Time to Reign as King!

Manasseh Reigned Longer Than Any Other King in Israel or Judah

We’ll Say More About that Later

Instead of Being a Blessing to the Rest of the Pagan World…

And a Representative of the One True God…

Manasseh was Just Like the Pagans

For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he also erected altars for the Baals and made Asherim, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. He built altars in the house of the Lord of which the Lord had said, “My name shall be in Jerusalem forever.” For he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.

Every Evil Practice His Father had Destroyed, He Rebuilt

This Man Didn’t Just Worship Every False God/Demon He Could Find…

He Even Welcomed Them into God’s Own House…

Where They Could Be Worshiped Alongside God

He made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of Ben-hinnom; and he practiced witchcraft, used divination, practiced sorcery and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.

He Made His Sons (Plural) Pass Through the Fire

This was Worship to the God Molech

He Required Human Sacrifice of Children as Worship

Manasseh Sacrificed More Than One of His Own Babies to this Demon

This Would Take Place in the Valley of Hinnom

The Valley of Hinnom in the Greek and Roman Eras was Referred to as Gehenna

This is the Word Jesus Uses to Describe the Place of Fire and Destruction of the Wicked at His Return

The Wicked Burn the Innocent

But One Day the Wicked Will Be Burned

And Manasseh was as Wicked as They Come

He Also Practiced Different Types of Witchcraft and Fortunetelling

He Hired People Who Claimed to Speak and Interact with the Dead

Then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;

and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them according to all the law, the statutes and the ordinances given through Moses.”

Thus Manasseh misled Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.

Manasseh Led Judah to Be More Evil than the Evil Pagan Nations God Already Destroyed

We Read Earlier that He “Filled Jerusalem with Innocent Blood”

Manasseh is One of the Most Wicked Men in History

I Want to Ask a Curious Question:

Why Did God Allow Such a Wicked King to Reign for 55 Years?

Why Did He Allow Manasseh to Reign Longer Than Any Other King, Good or Bad?

Why Would God Not Have Him Killed By Enemies…

Or Miraculously Strike Him Dead Like He’d Done to Other Wicked People?

I Believe the Answer can Be Found in 2 Peter 3

2 Peter 3:8–9 (NASB95)

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

The Question in Peter’s Day was:

Why is Jesus Delaying His Coming and Destruction of the Wicked?

Why Does God Allow the Wicked to Continue in Delaying His Return?

Peter’s Answer was:

Time Means Nothing to God

Just Because He’s Allowing Evil to Continue for a Long Time…

Doesn’t Mean He’s Changed His Mind, Forgotten, or Become Lax

He’s Waiting Because He Wants the Wicked to Repent

Why Did Manasseh Live and Reign So Long…

Despite Being So Incredibly Evil?

Because God Knew Something About His Heart that No One Else in the World Could Have Known

Given the Right Time and Circumstances…

This Man Will Radically Change

2 Chronicles 33:10–13 (NASB95)

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.

God Warned Manasseh and the People of Judah, But They Wouldn’t Listen

So God Caused the Assyrians to Take Manasseh Captive

When he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed to Him, He was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

Because Manasseh was Willing to Turn to God and Humble Himself…

God Showed Grace and Restored Him to His Home and Throne

Manasseh Would Go On to Remove the Idols and Commanded Judah to Worship the One True God

Manasseh Didn’t Follow in the Footstep of His Grandfather Ahaz

2 Chronicles 28:22–23 (NASB95)

Now in the time of his distress this same King Ahaz became yet more unfaithful to the Lord. For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, and said, “Because the gods of the kings of Aram helped them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they became the downfall of him and all Israel.

Manasseh Could Have Turned Even Further From God

But Instead, He Turned to God

Application

Manasseh is a Foreshadowing of Judah as a Whole

He Lived an Evil Lifestyle, Like Judah

God Warns Him of the Consequences, But He Ignores God, Like Judah

God Sends a Foreign Nation to Take Him Captive to Babylon, Like Judah

While in Babylon He Finally Turns to God and God Restores Him to His Homeland, Like Judah

The Message is Simple:

The Wicked King Manasseh Turned to God and God Turned to Him

The Chief of Sinners Humbled Himself and God Exalted Him

The Embodiment of Evil Begged for Mercy, and That’s Exactly What God Gave Him

When We Look at Manasseh, We See Radical Change!

We Learn Many Wonderful and Important Truths Through Manasseh’s Radical Change

God is Patient Beyond Our Comprehension

God is Forgiving Beyond Our Comprehension

Repentance is More Than Quitting Sin

It is a Commitment to Replacing Unrighteous Practices with Righteous Practices

Radical Change Begins with Humbly Turning to God

God Wants to Radically Change Us Through His Son and Spirit

Are We Open and Willing for Jesus and the Spirit to Bring About Radical Change in Us?