A compelling example of divine mercy and grace is found in the life of King Manasseh of Judah—arguably one of the most striking cases in Scripture of great evil followed by greater grace (2 Chr 33:1–20). If ever there were a portrait of undeserved favor, Manasseh qualifies.
Manasseh ascended the throne at the age of twelve and reigned for fifty-five years—the longest reign of any king in Judah. The vast majority of his rule was marked by depravity. Scripture records that he did “evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Chr 33:2). He reversed the reforms of his godly father Hezekiah. He rebuilt the high places of pagan worship, promoted the worship of Baal, erected Asherim, practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. In the depth of his depravity, he even burned his sons alive as sacrifices in the Valley of Hinnom (2 Chr 33:3–6). Scripture states, “He seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord destroyed” (2 Chr 33:9). In short, he led the entire nation into gross apostasy. He was a moral and spiritual train wreck. In addition, he was a great murderer of the innocent, for “Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Ki 21:16).
Divine justice fell hard on Manasseh. The Lord brought the Assyrians against him. They captured him with hooks, bound him in bronze chains, and dragged him off to Babylon like an animal (2 Chr 33:11). That should have been the end. But God’s grace found its way into his life. There, in exile, something remarkable happened. Stripped of his throne and his pride, Manasseh “entreated the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (2 Chr 33:12). Then we’re told “When he prayed, God 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” (2 Chr 33:13). God heard. God responded. God restored. That’s grace.
Manasseh was changed by God’s discipline. He returned to his throne a changed man. He tore down the idols he had erected, repaired the altar of the Lord, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel (2 Chr 33:15-16). But even though he made these changes and tried to lead others into God’s will, much of the sinful damage of his previous lifestyle was fixed in the hearts of those he’d led into sin. According to Thompson:
“Manasseh attempted to undo some of the damage his earlier apostasy had caused. He removed the foreign gods, the image he had erected in the temple of the Lord, and the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem. He restored the altar of the Lord. But whatever the extent of Manasseh’s religious reforms, some of these items seem to have returned. It is easier to lead a people into sin than to lead them back out of it.”[1]
The negative impact of Manasseh’s sin remained, and the consequences carried throughout the nation. But the fact of God’s mercy could not be denied. This is not a story of a man who cleaned himself up to earn God’s favor. This is a man who fell on his face and found grace. It’s an Old Testament portrait of salvation by grace through faith, an expression of “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Rom 5:20). God delights in mercy (Mic 7:18). The humble are able to receive it. In a final twist of God’s grace, Manasseh appears in the royal lineage of Messiah (Matt 1:10). The most evil king in Judah’s history is included in the genealogy of the Savior. That’s God’s grace at work.
Steven R. Cook, D.Min., M.Div.
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[1] J. A. Thompson, 1, 2 Chronicles, vol. 9, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1994), 370–371.