“In his distress he (Manasseh) sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. 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.” 2 Chronicles 33:12-13
In order to walk closely with God there is one founding principle you must learn to confess in your heart. I have no idea why God does the things He does. I read things in His Word that make me scratch my head. I see Him do things in this world that simply have me looking on in amazement. I watch Him work through horrible events to bring about His amazing glory. And especially, I see Him work through lives that I, along with the rest of the world, would have given up on long ago. In 2 Chronicles 33 we meet the young son of good king Hezekiah, Manasseh. And when our first description of his life is “he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,” we get an inkling of what we are in for. But in this case, Manasseh takes evil to a new level. We are given a record of his evil achievements and if there was an evil hall of fame, his statue would be in the main foyer. Manasseh could not have strayed farther from the Godly example His father had shown him. He rebuilt the false temples that his father had torn down. He erected altars to the golden calf idol, Baal. He rebuilt the Ashteroth poles, a false god that was worshiped through the prostitution of its “priests.” We’re told he built altars to “the host of the heaven” meaning every god that existed in the land. He utilized fortune-telling, sorcery, omens and consulted mediums and necromancers. The idea of a religious “hedging your bet” philosophy that if you worshiped every god that existed, you were sure to get the blessing of at least a few. He even built altars to false gods within the temple of God, defacing the very place where the ark of God rested. And in a true show of the callous evil heart that beat within his chest, he sacrificed his own children on the altar of a false god. A metal idol being heated to red hot as the child is placed upon it to burn to death. Folks, at this point, I would be ready to give up on Manasseh. My human heart is done looking upon his evil. I judge him as guilty, and I give up on his soul. But praise God, He didn’t. God does not see a life as we do. As we are looking upon a human life as being done, God sees it as just beginning. God allows Manasseh to be captured by the evil Assyrians, a people known for their cruel and evil treatment of their prisoners. We’re told that Manasseh is led away in heavy iron shackles, a sharp hook through his nose to ensure his obedience to the leading of his captors. A king that walked in his own pride and ego, now walks as a prisoner to the world. But glory be to God, He didn’t see Manasseh as done. He never gave up on Manasseh’s heart. No matter what evils Manasseh had committed, God saw his heart with mercy. And it was during this captivity that we see Manasseh turn from his wicked ways, repent, and beg Almighty God for forgiveness for what he had done. And in a moment that makes me truly see the depth of the forgiveness of God, He didn’t turn His face from Manasseh, He forgave him. Today, it doesn’t matter what you have done. God doesn’t care what evil has occurred at your hands; He has not given up on you. If the weight of your sin is crushing you, if the bondage of your sin is like the shackles that were upon the ankles of Manasseh, you can shed them. God has not given up on you, simply cry out to your Heavenly Father and repent of what you have done. God sent His only Son Jesus Christ here to save sinners, sinners like you and sinners like me. And the people that the world gives up on, God does not. Jesus hung on a cross and was raised three days later to save any and all that call upon His name in faith. Ask Jesus to save you from the very sin that will cost you a place in Heaven. Ask God to change your heart just as He changed Manasseh’s. For if God can change that heart, He can change any heart. God didn’t give up on Manasseh’s heart and He won’t give up on yours.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
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