2 Chronicles 33:21-25

2 Chronicles 33:21–25✞: Amon King of Judah

Passage

In the previous passage we had a dramatic turn in which Manasseh went from being a very bad king to a very good one. In this passage, we have the reign of a king—Amon—which is so short as to almost be a non-event.

²¹ Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. ²² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. ²³ But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the LORD; Amon increased his guilt.

²⁴ Amon’s officials conspired against him and assassinated him in his palace. ²⁵ Then the people of the land killed all who had plotted against King Amon, and they made Josiah his son king in his place.

2 Chronicles 33:21–25✞

Thoughts

The description of Amon’s reign is covered almost identically in Chronicles as how it was covered in Kings, other than that the book of Kings goes into a bit more detail about Amon’s mother. Despite Manasseh’s repentance (covered in the last passage but not in the book of Kings), both books are clear about one thing: when Amon sins, he’s following in the footsteps of his father. It’s more straightforward in Kings:

²⁰ He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. ²¹ He followed completely the ways of his father, worshiping the idols his father had worshiped, and bowing down to them. ²² He forsook the LORD, the God of his ancestors, and did not walk in obedience to him.

2 Kings 21:20–22✞

Here, more context has to be given:

²² He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. Amon worshiped and offered sacrifices to all the idols Manasseh had made. ²³ But unlike his father Manasseh, he did not humble himself before the LORD; Amon increased his guilt.

verses 22–23✞

In both cases, however, the author(s) are making it clear that he’s following in his father’s [earlier] ways.

It’s a point that comes up often in the books of Kings and Chronicles: a leader’s sins often have more of a lasting impact on future generations than they’re good deeds for God. A number of good kings came along and cleaned things up, removing idol worship and reinstating worship of God, yet almost always the people only followed half-heartedly. There are numerous mentions in Kings/Chronicles of this happening with the people following after the king in worshipping God, except with mention that the high places were not removed, or the Asherah poles were not removed, or that kind of thing. When a subsequent bad king comes along, I never get the impression that they have much trouble getting the people to follow them away from God! And then here, in this case, we have a very wicked king who makes a dramatic reversal, becoming a very godly man, but his son follows completely in his father’s wickedness, not in his good ways.

Am I saying that that’s a universal truth? That our bad deeds will always have more impact than our good ones? No, I don’t think I am. But I am saying that people will hear what they want to hear, and do what they want to do, and they’ll look for excuses to justify their actions. When a good king tried to get the nation of Judah (or the unified nation of Israel before it) to wholeheartedly follow God, and the people didn’t seem to be following all that wholeheartedly, it’s because they didn’t want to. When a bad king came along and rejected God, and the people followed in those ways, it’s because they wanted to.

Christians should remember that, when we give the Gospel, we’re always delivering it to people who don’t want to accept it. People, by our very nature, don’t want to submit to God. Luckily for us, God is in control, and no matter what our natures are driving us to believe or desire, He is able to soften hearts and bring people to himself. So even though the Gospel is always being delivered to, at the very least, reluctant hearers, it can sometimes take root anyway. Not because of the eloquence of the person delivering the message, but because of the work of the Holy Spirit in softening hearts.

So, a blog post about a Bible passage about a bad, pretty much forgettable king of Judah, becomes an encouragement to give the Gospel!