2 Chronicles 33:1-20

2 Chronicles 33:1–20✞: Manasseh King of Judah

Passage

In books like Kings and Chronicles there is always a danger of the repetitive nature of the stories starting to wash over us. “Ok, there’s another good king; and now there’s a bad one; and another bad one; … Oh, and here’s a good one again!” The bad kings are going to lead the people astray into worship of other gods—often going so far as to desecrate the Temple—and then the good kings are going to restore the Temple, and try to lead people back to worship of God (which sometimes works, sometimes doesn’t, and almost never works well).

Manasseh is an interesting case in that he does both. As I started reading the passage, I was very much letting it wash over me, thinking, “here we go again, after his father Hezekiah was such a good king, we have a bad one again.” And, insofar as it goes, that’s correct:

¹ Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. ² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. ³ He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. ⁴ He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” ⁵ In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. ⁶ He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger.

⁷ He took the image he had made and put it in God’s temple, of which God 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. ⁸ I will not again make the feet of the Israelites leave the land I assigned to your ancestors, if only they will be careful to do everything I commanded them concerning all the laws, decrees and regulations given through Moses.” ⁹ But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed before the Israelites.

verses 1–9✞

So far, we have a classic case of a bad king, adamantly refusing to follow in the footsteps of a good king. But then we get a switch:

¹⁰ The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. ¹¹ So 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. ¹² In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. ¹³ 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.

verses 10–13✞

After this, it’s like night and day: Manasseh completely changes course and becomes a good king, faithfully following God! He undoes all of the things he did to the Temple, and gets the people following the LORD again. We’re told in verse 17✞ that the people continue sacrificing in the high places, but even then, they’re only sacrificing to the One True God, so it’s not all bad news.

Thoughts

Interestingly, Manasseh’s repentance is only covered here in Chronicles, not in Kings; in Kings, he’s simply treated as a bad king and dismissed! I’m left to wonder why that is; is it because Kings focused on the fact that Manasseh’s legacy was more bad than good (despite his reforms), while Chronicles focuses on the fact that a ruler can always repent? I don’t know.

Speaking of which, however, yes, there’s an obvious way to read this story, which is as a redemption story: a ruler might be very wicked, but no matter how wicked they are they can always humble themselves and come back to God. And that’s a valid reading; it’s exactly what happened to Manasseh, and it’s equally possible for any ruler, or anyone in a position of authority: no matter how much power you have, you can always humble yourself and come before God, who wants to be found.

We should also remember, however, that God is in control of all history, and there’s a sense in which Manasseh was never going to be conquered by the Assyrians; God had already decreed that the Babylonians would be the ones to conquer Judah. At this point, I don’t even know if Babylonia is on the rise; Assyria still seems to be the dominant power, so they haven’t yet been conquered by the Babylonians, but I don’t know my history well enough to know what the Babylonians are up to at this moment in history.

To be clear, I’m not saying that Manasseh didn’t save himself by humbling himself and coming back to God. He did. To be clear, I’m also not saying that God didn’t orchestrate these events, being the One who was really in control; He did. Both are true. To take either position without taking the other is to miss part of the story.

• If we believe that it was all in Manasseh’s hands we’re claiming that God is not in control – in which case, why are we following Him at all?
• But if we believe that it was all in God’s hands with no agency on Manasseh’s part then we become fatalists: it never mattered what Manasseh did—and, by extension, it doesn’t matter what I do—because it’s all in God’s hands anyway!

The Bible (especially the Old Testament) forces us to confront the fact—over and over—that both things are true at the same time: I’m responsible for my own actions, my own motives, my own thoughts and deeds, but God is also in control of everything, and nothing happens that is outside of His control. See, for example,

• Lamentations 3:37–38✞: “Who can speak and have it happen if the LORD has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?”
• Romans 8:28✞: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
• Proverbs 16:9✞: “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.”
• Isaiah 46:10✞: “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’”

I’m sure I’ve said this before, or something like it, but this could be very scary, or it could be very comforting. If you don’t know God, this is scary: no matter what I do (or try to do), He’s always in control?!? But for the Christian, the more we know about God, the more comforting this is: no matter what I do (or try to do), He’s always in control!