Hope From the Word

Bill Luebkemann: Don't take God's grace for granted. That's next on Hope From the Word.

The Lord was gracious to Manasseh. Maybe the reason the Lord gave Manasseh 55 years as king was to give him time to make that decision. And he allowed him graciously to be carried away. Look, he's going to get your attention any way that he has to.

And here's how he got Manasseh's attention: he let him get carried away to another land with a hook in his nose, bound with shackles. And in distress, he called upon the Lord. I don't think we should wait until we're in distress to call upon the Lord. We should call upon him before then, make it a lot easier on ourselves.

Guest (Male): Because God is gracious, he is patient. And though you never want to make the mistake of saying God's patience means approval of sin, you can be assured that if you turn to him, he will forgive you. If you don't, that will mean judgment.

We have historical proof of this in the lives of two kings. Both are wicked, but one repents and escapes judgment. That's where we're at today in 2 Kings on Hope From the Word, the radio ministry of Calvary Chapel of Marlton with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. From the Old Testament book of 2 Kings chapter 21, here's Pastor Bill.

Bill Luebkemann: This guy was one of the worst kings that they had. And he reigned for 55 years, from when he was 12 to when he was 67 years old. That's a long time to be king. And he did the opposite. If you look back at what Hezekiah did back in chapter 18, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones, cut down the Asherah poles.

He broke into pieces the bronze snake that Moses had made. Hezekiah went around cleaning up the land. He was just doing a spring cleaning, wiping everything out that was not of the Lord. And Manasseh came along and brought it all back. He reconstituted everything. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.

The reason the Lord gave this land to the Israelites is because the people that were there were doing detestable things: offering their children as a sacrifice to the god Molech, worshiping Asherah, which was a Canaanite fertility goddess. It involved prostitution. We're going to see here, he basically turned the temple of the Lord into a house of prostitution.

He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed. His father went around knocking them all down, and here he comes afterwards putting them all back up again. He also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole as Ahab king of Israel had done. He's being equated here with Ahab, who is obviously one of the worst kings that they had there in Israel.

He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. I don't think you can find in the Bible before this point too much of worshiping the starry hosts. They were worshiping idols that were made with gold and silver and wood and bronze. They made calves and other things and worshiped them. But it seems like now he's worshiping—maybe he's gotten into astrology—worshiping the constellations, the planets, and who knows what else.

He's gone the other way and then some. It's kind of like the pendulum swung this way and now it's swinging back this way, and it's going to go even farther back. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, "In Jerusalem, I will put my name." In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts.

He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger. He actually not only rebuilt the high places, he not only put up altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, but he actually went into the temple of the Lord, the very place that Solomon had made that was to be God's home on earth.

The place that when Solomon dedicated it was so filled with the presence of God they couldn't even go in there, he actually went into the temple of the Lord and built altars on which they would worship these pagan gods. This is the temple where the Lord had said, "In Jerusalem, I will put my name," the very place that represented the Lord's house on the earth.

Solomon was right, though, when he built the place. He said, "Lord, you cannot be contained by the highest heavens. What am I doing building a temple for you? You can't be contained." Solomon basically said, to use the Luebkemann paraphrase, "This is a convenient spot where we're going to offer sacrifices to you, but it's not really where you live because the heavens couldn't contain you."

And this very place that was dedicated to the Lord, where sacrifices were to be made to him, this guy actually goes in there and builds altars to the starry hosts. And then he even sacrifices his own son. He practices sorcery and divination—witchcraft. He's trying to talk to the dead. These are things that are demonic, beyond worshiping idols, perhaps.

He consulted mediums and spiritists. These are things expressly forbidden in the law. God says no divination, no sorcery, no trying to talk to the dead. That's of the devil. Don't do that. But he did it all. There wasn't anything that if it didn't please the Lord, this guy liked it. What can I do to not please the Lord today? He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, provoking him to anger.

He took the carved Asherah pole he had made and put it in the temple, of which the Lord had said to David and to his son Solomon, "In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever." The Lord had said this is the place where I'm going to put my name, and this guy carried the Asherah pole in, which is what they used to worship the Canaanite goddess of fertility.

And they did it through prostitution. The prostitutes were involved in this process. It was like a big orgy going on in the temple here. The Lord had said, "I will put my name forever. I will not again make the feet of the Israelites wander from the land I gave their forefathers, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them and will keep the whole law that my servant Moses gave them."

The Lord said, "I'm going to do all these things and the Israelites never have to wander again. They have a home here. They can live here forever. I'm always going to take care of them. This is a land flowing with milk and honey, and all they have to do is be careful to keep the law that they got from Moses." But what happened?

Verse nine: "But the people did not listen. Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites." They were even worse than the people that got kicked out—the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites—all these folks that were in the land ahead of time. Israel came in and kicked them all out.

The other people got conquered because of what they were doing, and now you have the Israelites doing the same thing. And the Lord said, "When you go in there, don't intermarry with those people because they'll lead you astray. Exterminate all of them because they'll teach you how to worship their gods." And there were many descendants of the original occupants that were still alive.

They hadn't gotten rid of them all, and they did intermarry with them. And they were led astray. Solomon was led astray later on in his life by his many wives and concubines, and he was even building them altars so they could worship their false gods. Manasseh is doing the same thing here. Manasseh led them astray so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before them.

He led them astray and they were even worse than who was there before them. The Lord said through his servants the prophets, "Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols." So here is the Lord speaking. The Lord hasn't given up. There are still prophets in the land.

Isaiah is one of them. There were several other ones that were alive at this point in time. In fact, it's pretty likely that Isaiah was killed by Manasseh. If you ever heard about Isaiah being sawn in half—a delightful experience, I'm sure—many people feel that was Manasseh that did that. So the Lord was still speaking. He hadn't gone out of touch with them.

The Lord said through his servants, "This guy is doing these detestable things, and he has done more evil than the people who were here before him. And he's led Judah into sin with these idols." Therefore, this is what the Lord the God of Israel says: "I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle."

There's going to be a disaster here that people's jaws are just going to drop. Their ears are going to tingle. They're just not going to believe it. It's going to be that bad. It's not going to be just your simple get conquered. This is going to be something that is off the charts. It is going to be a disaster to end all disasters.

I'm going to bring this disaster on Jerusalem and Judah, and the people who hear about it, their ears are going to tingle. "I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plumb line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down."

The Lord is saying here, Samaria got carried off by the Assyrians, and I'm going to have the same kind of thing happen here. And what happened to Ahab—he got killed off, his wife got killed, the bodies were thrown out into the street—he says the same kind of thing I'm going to have happen here. I'm going to wipe it off just like you wipe off a dish.

You wipe it off, you rinse it off, you turn it upside down and let it drip dry, and there's nothing left there. He's talking about how they were carried off into captivity. We're just going to wipe the whole slate clean. The Babylonians are going to come in and carry everybody away. "I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and hand them over to their enemies."

They will be looted and plundered by all their foes because they have done evil in my eyes and have provoked me to anger from the day their forefathers came out of Egypt until this day. So there's the reason why. They've done evil, and they provoked the Lord to anger. And all he ever asked of them was that they would follow his ways, accept his law, and keep the covenant that they agreed to.

They made the covenant, they agreed to it, and they didn't keep it. And they wouldn't keep it. And this king was leading them astray. It doesn't say anybody was protesting. When Hezekiah was a good king, they went along with that. They got blessed. This guy comes along, he's a bad king. It doesn't say anybody protested except for a few prophets.

It seems like the people were more than happy to go along with it. 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. He killed a lot of innocent people. It must have been anybody he didn't like.

As I said before, some people feel Isaiah was actually killed by Manasseh during this time period. It may be that he just got tired of hearing Isaiah come in and say, "Thus saith the Lord." When Isaiah went to Hezekiah and said, "Thus saith the Lord, you're going to die, put your affairs in order," Hezekiah could have said, "I'm going to have you executed. Call the guard in here."

Hezekiah was not that bold that he would talk back to God that way. Manasseh didn't like what the prophet said, just get rid of them. Off with their heads, cut them in half. He shed so much innocent blood. It was everywhere. Besides the idols, besides the idol worship, the Asherah pole, the altars to Baal, the starry hosts—besides all that stuff, he was shedding innocent blood, and it was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

As for the other events of Manasseh's reign and all he did, including the sin he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And Amon his son succeeded him as king.

I want to read you one thing about the later life of this guy, and it's from 2 Chronicles chapter 33. Verse 10: "The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention." So the Lord is speaking through the prophets. Not just the king is hearing it, but other people in the kingdom are hearing it, and nobody's paying attention.

So what happened? "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." He was actually carried away as a prisoner. In his distress, he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers.

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. So here was an evil guy, 55 years king, somewhere later on in his life carried away as a prisoner.

The Scripture says if you train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. Well, this guy departed, but it seems like he came back here to the Lord. And maybe Hezekiah did a little something right in raising him. When he was in his distress, then he remembered to call upon the Lord.

And the Lord was impressed by his prayer and by his plea. So he brought him back and let him reign again. Verse 14: "Afterward he rebuilt the outer wall of the city of David west of the Gihon Spring in the valley," stationing military commanders. Verse 15: "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."

He threw them out of the city. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. So this guy had a real experience with the Lord later on in his life. He had done all these evil things, he got carried away, he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord worked a miracle in his life.

He brought him back to Jerusalem, and here he is, he went and undid the things he was doing, even to the point of telling the people to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. Verse 17: "The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the Lord their God." So the people came back halfway.

They stopped worshiping all the idols, but they still weren't worshiping the Lord God in the way he had prescribed. So it seems like this guy had a bit of a rejuvenation at the end of his life. He had been a bad king for all those years, but at the end of it, he sought the Lord and came back. Now Amon his son was 22 years old when he became king.

He reigned in Jerusalem two years. His mother's name was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz; she was from Jotbah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord as his father Manasseh had done. He walked in all the ways of his father. He worshiped the idols his father had worshiped and bowed down to them. He forsook the Lord and did not walk in the way of the Lord.

This guy was as bad as his dad was before his dad came back to the Lord. And perhaps when Manasseh came back to the Lord and was doing things right, perhaps he regretted, "Oh my gosh, I have raised my son the wrong way. I want him to be where I am." It doesn't say how close to the end of his life he came back to the Lord.

But Amon got off on the wrong foot and knew more about what his dad had done before he had his encounter with the Lord than afterwards. Amon's officials conspired against him and assassinated the king in his palace. Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.

As for the other events of Amon's reign and what he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son succeeded him as king. This guy Amon only king for two years. He did what was evil. That's what he knew.

I've seen it speculated that Amon might have been thinking to himself, "You know what? I'll get right with the Lord later in my life like my dad did. I'm going to do what I want now, and then later on, I'll get right with the Lord then." And you hear people say that kind of thing today. "I'm going to get saved. I want to know about the Lord later after I had a chance to live my life my way for a while."

And that may have been what this guy was thinking. He may have been thinking, "I can get right with the Lord later. My dad, 55 years he was the king. He lived to be 67. I'm only 22. I've got plenty of time. I want to live life to the fullest. I want to do the things that I want to do. I want to live my life for me, and then like my dad did, when I get up around 50 or 60 years old."

When you're that old, you're lucky just to breathe air. If you're breathing air, you're happy. And then I'll get right with the Lord. I want to get everything out of my system before then. And maybe that's what he was thinking. Maybe he didn't realize he only had two years. Die at the ripe young age of 24.

He forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord. The Lord was gracious to Manasseh. Maybe the reason the Lord gave Manasseh 55 years as king was to give him time to make that decision. And he allowed him graciously to be carried away. Look, the Lord's going to get your attention if you're not walking with him.

He's going to get your attention any way that he has to. And here's how he got Manasseh's attention: he let him get carried away with a hook in his nose, bound with shackles. And in distress, he called upon the Lord. I don't think we should wait until we're in distress to call upon the Lord. We should call upon him before then, make it a lot easier on ourselves.

And you never know if you're going to get that opportunity. It's a lot easier to do it sooner. And it's a sure thing when you do it now, because the only time you have to accept the Lord is the time between your heartbeat and your pulse. They say you never know if the next heartbeat's going to come or not.

Even the people of the land couldn't stand this guy. His own officials conspired against him and killed him. He was only there two years. He was so bad they even got rid of him. And they made his son the king. And we're going to see next time that his son Josiah was a great guy. He was one of the better kings.

Even so, the kingdom of Judah is on its way down. But because Josiah's such a good guy, the Lord's not going to let him see any of the disasters during his lifetime. And we'll pick up with that next time. But follow the Lord with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul, and lean not on your own understanding.

And do it today, because you never know. Amon didn't have tomorrow. Manasseh had tomorrow, but he had to go through a lot of pain and suffering to come back to the Lord. The Lord loved him that much that he brought him back. But I'll bet you the Lord did some easy things first, and then they got a little harder and a little harder.

And he turned up the volume a little bit louder and a little bit louder, and shook him a little more and a little more until finally he had to actually drag him away into captivity to get him to wake up and follow him. And I pray that that wouldn't happen to any of us. That we would follow him with all of our heart and all of our soul and all of our mind, and that we would do that for all of our lives.

If you look over in 2 Chronicles 33:23: "But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the Lord. Amon increased his guilt." Unlike his father. Hezekiah, a great king. Manasseh, a terrible king who humbled himself at the end of his life. Amon, a guy who didn't. He was a terrible king and he didn't humble himself.

For whatever reason, whether he thought he had more time or not, it doesn't say. He only had two years. The people got rid of him, and then in comes his son Josiah. And somehow Josiah has got it right. I don't know how he managed to get it right, but somehow he did, and we'll look at his life later.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Hope From the Word. We're currently in Pastor Bill Luebkemann's study of 2 Kings. If you'd like to hear this message again, you have several options. Visit our website at ccmarlton.org, download the Hope FM app to your smartphone or tablet, or look for us wherever you find your podcasts.

If you've been thinking about visiting Calvary Chapel of Marlton where Bill serves as pastor, we'd love to have you. Our service times are on Sunday mornings at 10. We also meet midweek on Wednesdays at 7 PM. You can also livestream from home whenever you visit our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel of Marlton. For more information, go to ccmarlton.org. We hope to see you soon.

Before the day is done, we'd like to connect with you. Share a praise report, prayer request, or what you're learning from this series. You can easily email us from our website, ccmarlton.org, or just call us at 856-983-1662. There's more to come from Bill's study of 2 Kings, and we'll have that for you next time on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. This program is brought to you by Calvary Chapel of Marlton.