KING MANASSEH

2ND CHRONICLES 21: 17-25

A GRANDFATHERS LEGACY

“Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters and carried him off to Babylon.”

Shakesphere once said “The evil that men do, lives after them.” Manasseh followed his grandfather's footsteps-Ahaz. His personal resume contains the following data-"Rebuilding the high places which his father Hezekiah had broken down, burning his sons in the fire,soothsaying,witchcraft,sorcery and consulting mediums and spiritists.' Unequalled by other kings.

But disaster soon came.An Assyrian king conquered him and carried him off to Babylon in hooks. He went through a terrifying experience.But he humbled himself  before God. And by some miracle, he was released and returned to Jerusalem.

On his return he immediately removed all the foreign gods.Manasseh's testimony would make headlines in todays churches. Other Kings caught in such a situation had committed suicide.Saul did exactly that. But Manasseh survived-somehow. There was an invisible hand involved here.

In the New Testament there is a most wonderful verse “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” 2nd Corinthians 5:17. In Ezekiel it says “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” 33:11

God heard Manasseh.And God has not changed. All that a person need to do is to confess his sins and not to persisit in foolishness. Turn back.Before it leads to a nightmare. The Midnight Owl.