Manasseh

2 Kings 21

            Hezekiah was the best king Israel had since the time of David; Manasseh, his son, may have been the worst. Manasseh was in power a whopping 55 years, and he did a ton of spiritual damage. He is likened to Ahab with his idolatry, and we are told he did even worse: he put idol altars in the temple of the Lord; he sacrificed his children; and he consulted mediums, meaning he dabbled in the occult.

            A thing that has always struck me is that Hezekiah, Manasseh’s predecessor, reigned a good, long time, and he was a faithful king. Josiah, Manasseh’s successor (technically, his successor plus one, but Amon only reigned two year), also reigned a good long time, and he, too, was likened to David. Yet, despite being flanked by two faithful kings, Manasseh’s wickedness is so great that it is in his reign that the Lord pronounces his judgment on Judah: ear-tingling disaster on Jerusalem, utter destruction like a bowl wiped clean, plundered and looted. It makes me ponder just how bad Manasseh was that his wickedness couldn’t compare to the kings before and after him!