{"id":6914,"date":"2023-08-15T00:01:34","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T07:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=6914"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:49:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T23:49:07","slug":"2-kings-211-2-manasseh-was-twelve-years-old-when-he-became-king-and-he-reigned-fifty-five-years-in-jerusalem-his-mothers-name-was-hephzibah-and-he-did-evil-in-the-sight-of-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/?p=6914","title":{"rendered":"2 Kings 21:1\u20132: \u201cManasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

King Hezekiah was sick and going to die, so he cried out to the Lord. The Lord chose to heal him, and Hezekiah lived for another 15 years. But two terrible things happened during those extra years. First, his son Manasseh, one of the most idolatrous kings Judah ever had, was born. Second, Hezekiah foolishly displayed the wealth of his kingdom to an ambassador from Babylon, which opened the door for King Nebuchadnezzar, who came years later and took the city by force, to know exactly where Judah\u2019s treasures were kept.<\/p>\n

Manasseh did evil, literally, did “disgusting actions” before the Lord. He committed the same acts the Canaanites had been committing in the Promised Land before the Israelites entered in. We do not know the exact timing, but many think it was the sins of the people during this time that led to the prophet Ezekiel seeing the glory of God lift up and leave the Holy of Holies. A short time after that, God’s presence moved to the walls of Jerusalem and waited there, but the people did not turn from their sins. Then His glory withdrew to the Mount of Olives and lingered there, but still there was no movement of the people back to God. Finally the Shekinah Glory was caught back up to heaven (Eze. 8:4\u20136; 9:3; 10:19\u201320; 11:22).<\/p>\n

Proverbs tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation, \/ But sin is a reproach to any people” (14:34). All nations fall under this same promise of God for blessing or reproach, depending upon their obedience to God’s word. John Quincy Adams, who later became President of the United States, said in 1821:<\/p>\n

From the day of the Declaration [of Independence], the [American people] . . . were bound by the laws of God, which they all . . . acknowledged as the rules of their conduct.1<\/small><\/sup><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The necessary step for any nation to become great on the earth and blessed by the Creator is that its people come together to obey the word of God.<\/p>\n

“LORD, we ask You to forgive our sins, heal our sins, and heal our land, in Jesus’ name, amen.”<\/em><\/p>\n

1<\/sup>http:\/\/teachingamericanhistory.org\/library\/document\/speech-on-independence-day\/<\/a>, accessed February 2, 2017<\/em><\/small<\/small><\/p>\n\n\n

=============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Kings 21 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/sup>\u00a0Manasseh\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother\u2019s name\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>Hephzi-bah.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And he did\u00a0that which was<\/em>evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the\u00a0LORD\u00a0cast out before the children of Israel.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And he built altars in the house of the\u00a0LORD, of which the\u00a0LORDsaid, In Jerusalem will I put my name.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the\u00a0LORD, to provoke\u00a0him\u00a0<\/em>to anger.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:\u00a08<\/sup>Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the\u00a0LORDdestroyed before the children of Israel. 10<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake by his servants the prophets, saying,\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols:\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore thus saith the\u00a0LORDGod of Israel, Behold, I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/em>bringing\u00a0such\u00a0<\/em>evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as\u00a0a man\u00a0<\/em>wipeth a dish, wiping\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, and turning\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>upside down.\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0Because they have done\u00a0that which was\u00a0<\/em>evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.\u00a016<\/sup> Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing\u00a0that which was<\/em>evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned,\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. 19<\/sup>\u00a0Amon\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>twenty and two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother\u2019s name\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And he did\u00a0that which was\u00a0<\/em>evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD, as his father Manasseh did.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And he forsook the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the\u00a0LORD. 23<\/sup> And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0And the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did,\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza: and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

King Hezekiah was sick and going to die, so he cried out to the Lord. The Lord chose to heal him, and Hezekiah lived for another 15 years. But two terrible things happened during those extra years. First, his son Manasseh, one of the most idolatrous kings Judah ever had, was born. Second, Hezekiah foolishly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6914"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16296,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6914\/revisions\/16296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}