2 Kings 21

2 Kings 21:9: Manasseh seduced them.

Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, was the king in whose reign Judah committed such abominations that God determined they should be removed from the land (Jer. 15:4).  So terrible was this time that in Jeremiah’s prophecy God had said, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind would not be favorable toward this people” (Jer. 15:1).

Manasseh was certainly a wicked king.  Solomon in his wisdom had said, “Mercy and truth preserve the king, and by lovingkindness he upholds the throne” (Prov. 20:28).  Manasseh did not live in a way to prolong the kingdom over which he ruled.  Even though there was a good and great king after him (Josiah), still God would not relent because of what this evil king had done.

But note that Jeremiah’s prophecy says that God’s hand was not only against the king but against “this people”.  How did things turn so sour from the time of Hezekiah to the time of Manasseh?  On the one hand, the people paid no attention to what God had said through His servant Moses.  That’s the same “attention” word as in 2 Kings 20:8 when Hezekiah paid too much attention to the Babylonian emissaries.  They no longer gave an "intelligent hearing" to God’s word.

At the same time, they became evil because Manasseh seduced them.  Apparently by the pressure of governmental rules (i.e. unjust laws) and explanations (i.e. spin) and provisions (i.e. promises of a better economy) Manasseh caused them to stray from the truth.  Undoubtedly in Judean society this was a time when doing evil was easy and being righteous was extremely difficult.

Now let us consider this for our own edification.  We are responsible for our lives before God.  We may want to blame the government for our situation but if we do we are only falling for one of Satan’s “seductions”.  God will not be impressed by this excuse, no matter how difficult we think our situation to be.  Jesus said “offenses must come” (Matt. 18:7).  It’s predicted: the world will become more and more evil as we move towards the end of this age.  The seductions will be more seductive, the pressures more oppressive.  But Jesus goes on to say, “woe to that man by whom the offense comes”.  The inevitability of sin in a society does not relieve the sinner from judgment. Manasseh is judged for causing evil;  the people are judged for doing evil.

Let us not continue the method of dealing with sin introduced in the Garden of Eden, that of blaming others (Gen. 3).  If the laws are unjust and the government evil, let us nevertheless give attention to the Word of God.  No-excuses-righteousness is the life to which we have been called!