by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
Manasseh has the dubious distinction of being Judah’s longest-reigning king, 55 years after assuming the throne at the tender age of 12, and its worst, most wicked king. His father, Hezekiah, instituted many religious reforms that ignited a spiritual revival throughout the kingdom. His son Manasseh undid it all. In fact, not only did he undo his father’s good, but he went further into ungodliness than the godless pagan nations around Judah!<\/p>\n
After being captured by the Assyrians, Manasseh humbles himself before God and is restored to his throne. He immediately begins to undo the wrongs he did. He removes idols, restores worship to God, and tries to get the people to follow his lead back to God. Unfortunately, it was too late. The people were so hardened in their apostasy, which Manasseh had led them into, that they refused to listen to him; they remained in their sin.<\/p>\n
Manasseh’s mess is a lesson for us in that sometimes, our headlong pursuits of sin can result in consequences we never thought of. For Manasseh, it was the obstinate refusal of an entire nation -the one he was supposed to lead in righteousness- to submit to God. For us, it may be the influence that ultimately leads someone we love into a life of rebellion against God despite our remorse and repentance.<\/p>\n
Don’t be deceived. Someone is watching you and being pulled by your example, whether good or bad. It may be a friend, a co-worker, a spouse, or your child, but be aware that what you do matters. Start now to follow the God who loves you before it’s too late for you and, maybe, for someone you love.<\/p>\n
“He set up the altar of Yahweh and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve Yahweh, the God of Israel. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places<\/em>” (II Chronicles 33:16-17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores Manasseh has the dubious distinction of being Judah’s longest-reigning king, 55 years after assuming the throne at the tender age of 12, and its worst, most wicked king. His father, Hezekiah, instituted many religious reforms that ignited a spiritual revival throughout the kingdom. His son Manasseh undid it all. In fact, not…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1620,179],"class_list":["post-68046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-manasseh","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59796,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/manassehs-repentance\/","url_meta":{"origin":68046,"position":0},"title":"Manasseh’s Repentance","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Kings 21:1-9 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is a simple fact, which so many people have a hard time accepting - Ezekiel 18:20-24 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Do people really change? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Can they really be forgiven? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Oh, you don\u2019t understand, I\u2019ve done such terrible things that God would never forgive me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43210,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-made-hezekiah-great\/","url_meta":{"origin":68046,"position":1},"title":"What Made Hezekiah Great?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Kings 18:1-6 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our reading tells us that Hezekiah was a great king of Israel. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There was no king like him before in Judah. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The question, though, is what made Hezekiah great? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It wasn\u2019t his father, Ahaz \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ahaz was a wicked man - II\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68059,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/josiah-and-the-book\/","url_meta":{"origin":68046,"position":2},"title":"Josiah and the Book","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores During Josiah's temple repairs, an astounding find was the impetus of a new force in a revival already underway. The Book of God's law had been found ... by a priest no less! But how long had the Book of the Law been lost? Since Josiah's great-grandfather\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7869,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-we-inherit-sin-but-do-not-inherit-the-punishment\/","url_meta":{"origin":68046,"position":3},"title":"Do we inherit sin, but do not inherit the punishment?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 25, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In light of Ezekiel 18:20, do you feel we are products of our fathers? Can the sin nature be passed down from our fathers to us? I realize there is no punishment from the sin nature of our fathers to us, but the possibility is always there, is it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":80708,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/kings-in-jerusalem\/","url_meta":{"origin":68046,"position":4},"title":"Kings in Jerusalem","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by S. Scott Smelser Saul was handsome, Saul was tall, Sad to say, that was all, from the throne he was rejected, and a shepherd was selected. David took Goliath down. David's line would keep the crown. King Saul's daughter was David's wife, What Saul wanted was David's life. David\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52825,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-tell-hezekiah-to-set-his-house-in-order-before-he-died\/","url_meta":{"origin":68046,"position":5},"title":"Why did God tell Hezekiah to set his house in order before he died?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I want to know why God asked Hezekiah to set his house in order for he will die? Second, did Hezekiah actually set his house in order before he died after God added more years for him to live? Answer: While most of us do not know when we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}