The Legacy of King Manasseh

Tisha B'Av is a day of fasting and mourning for the destruction of the 1^st and 2^nd temple which occurs this year on Thursday, July 23rd. In this message, we took a look at the history behind the destruction of the 1^st temple and how it links to one specific king of Judah.

At Second Passover this year, I gave a message about King Hezekiah on how he restored the house of the LORD and celebrated Second Passover. This message started off with a recap of the remainder of King Hezekiah's life until he rested with his fathers.

King Manasseh's Reign

After the death of his father, Manasseh became king of Judah at the age of 12 years old and he reigned for 55 years. The question was, did he reign in the footsteps of his father or did he go his own way? Not only did King Manasseh not follow in the footsteps of his father, but his legacy was being known as the most wicked king of Judah. We see that he directly broke what God had commanded in Deuteronomy 18:9-11 by participating in child sacrifices, practicing witchcraft/sorcery, and consulted with mediums/spiritists. In addition, according to ancient Jewish and early Christian traditions, the prophet Isaiah was executed by King Manasseh of Judah by being sawed in half! We can see why he was known as the most wicked king of Judah!

Not only was King Manasseh committing all of this wickedness on his own, but his actions influenced the entire nation of Judah. His legacy is being remembered for causing Judah to go astray by directly causing the people of Judah to sin and disobey the LORD. A king influences the people that they rule over. For us, we should be the king of our harvest field. How will the people in your harvest field remember you? A man/woman of God or one who led people astray? Our daily actions are writing a story about us and the sum of those daily actions become our legacy (what we leave behind).

The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. The hearts of the people turned so far away from the LORD that they wouldn’t even listen and it was King Manasseh’s influence that led to an entire generation that no longer wanted to hear from their God. Psalm 115:4-8 in summary tells us that those who make or trust in idols because deaf, blind, and dumb like them. So, the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh away to Babylon. The result of those that won’t listen to God is judgment through captivity and a return to bondage. So, is that the end of the story for King Manasseh? Not quite.

King Manasseh's Repentance

Now when King Manasseh was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. It took him being in affliction to realize that he made a big mistake. God is using this to urge us to not wait until we are in affliction from the judgment of our sin to repent. If you are waiting to repent until later in life so that you can live however you want now, then you have a corrupted way of thinking that needs to be changed. How many lives are affected by your decision? Every day that goes by without repentance is another day that you miss the opportunity for God to impact someone through you!

So, King Manasseh prayed to God and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Despite all the wickedness that he had done, God was merciful and restored him. King Manasseh had a personal encounter with God and he knew that the LORD was God. So, what did Manasseh do after returning to Jerusalem? Did he go back to his normal life?

When he got back, he took away the foreign gods, idols, and altars that he had built and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. This is what true repentance looks like and he was forever changed (pickled). However, despite his repentance, the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God. This might sound good at first, but the people were “worshipping” God in disobedience with corrupted worship because God commanded Israel to bring sacrifices to the place that He chose for His name, the temple in Jerusalem, not just local “high places” (Deuteronomy 12:5-14). Yes, God personally redeemed King Manasseh, but there was still natural consequences for his decisions that caused major spiritual damage to the Judah.

King Amon

Now after the death of King Manasseh, Amon became king of Judah at 22 years old and he reigned for 2 years. Now, did he follow the righteous ways of his grandfather Hezekiah or the wicked ways of his father Manasseh (before he repented)? Despite King Manasseh’s personal repentance, the influence that he had on his son remained. Proverbs 22:6 tells us, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." King Amon saw the wicked things that his father had done and learned from them. Despite this, King Amon did have a choice to make, he still could have decided to do good in the sight of the LORD, but he did evil instead. After only 2 years as King, his own servants killed him.

The Downfall of Judah

After King Amon, there were 5 more kings of Judah: Josiah (righteous), Jehoahaz (wicked), Jehoiakim (wicked), Jehoiachin (wicked), Zedekiah (wicked). King Zedekiah did evil in the sight of the LORD and did not humble himself before the prophet Jeremiah, so he was the final king of Judah before Jerusalem was fully captured. The LORD even sent warnings through messengers to Judah, but they mocked the messengers of God until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore, God brought against them the king of the Chaldeans then they burned the house of God. This marked the destruction of the 1st temple.

The Legacy of King Manasseh

3 scriptures (2 Kings 23:26, 2 Kings 24:3-4, Jeremiah 15:4) share that the exile was caused by King Manasseh’s sin. Interestingly, 2 Kings never accounts for King Manasseh's repentance which shows that his legacy is remembered as a wicked king. This shows that you can personally be redeemed, but the influence that you had still has natural consequences to those around you.

King Manasseh’s actions before repentance caused:

1. The people and nation of Judah to become perverse and corrupt

2. His son to do evil during his reign as king

3. A domino effect that led to the first temple being destroyed

Discussion Questions For Self-Evaluation:

1. What about King Manasseh's legacy stuck out to you and what can you learn from it?

2. How has this message helped you see the lasting impact that your decisions have on future generations?

3. How will the people in your harvest field remember you?

4. What part of the word came alive to you from this message?