“So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had
destroyed before the children of Israel.” (2Ch 33:9
AV)
Manasseh was Hezekiah’s son. Manasseh saw the results of the great
revivals under his father. He had heard
of the revivals but was born sometime after them. He never experienced the revivals for himself. When his father died, Manasseh assumed the
throne and promptly re-introduced the nation of Judah to idol worship. This is particularly troublesome because he
had the example of the ten northern tribes and the defeat of Assyria while his
father reigned as examples of how false these idols were. Israel went after idols from the start. When Jeroboam assumed leadership of the ten
northern tribes, he immediately made two golden calves for his people to
worship. Eventually, Assyria would come
and carry them all the way into captivity.
When Assyria was emboldened towards Judah, they sought to invade. Yet the LORD protected Judah in the times of
his father. The false gods of Assyria
could not help them. So, Manasseh had no
reason to doubt the God whom his father served.
Yet he did. Because he never
experienced revival first hand, he had little personal evidence of God working
in his own life. This led to Manasseh’s
choice of idol worship. Consequently, God
pronounced judgment on Judah that was never rescinded. Several years later, when Manasseh came to
know the LORD, the decree to judge Judah was never revoked. Herein is the lesson. It is wonderful that Manasseh finally figured
it all out. But the process of bucking
God left scars that could not be removed.
There are so many examples from which I could draw. It is so common to see children raised in Bible-believing
Christian homes that test the waters of faith, only to suffer from consequences
of those doubts for the remainder of their lives. In fact, I would have to so say that over my
thirty-plus years of ministry, I have seen more young people test the waters of
their parent’s faith only to make live altering decisions whose scars never go
away. I could point to out of wedlock
pregnancies, drug or alcohol use, legal problems, poor career choices,
pre-marital intimacy, disfiguring of the body, and a whole host of other acts
of rebellion that eventually came back to harm these folks for the rest of
their lives. What we have to see here
this morning is Manasseh acted out partly out of ignorance. That is, he did not know God like his father
knew God. He was born after a great movement
of the Spirit of God on his father and nation.
He didn’t see the great works of God for himself. So, the evidence to prove God’s existence was
not as dramatic as it was for his father and their generation. It reminds me of a child of a first-generation
believer. That first generation believer
saw God work in his life in dramatic ways.
His child does not see it. Pragmatic
evidence fails the child of a first-generation believer.
The point is this.
It is ok to question what one believes.
It is encouraged. Questioning
what one believes is part of the process of discovering truth. We have to read, study, and meditate in order
to internalize truth that will sustain for life’s choices. The thing is, in our doubts and questioning,
it is wise not to rebel. It is one thing
to cast an eye to an opposing view.
Quite another to make decisions that will negatively affect our lives
for the duration. We often plead
ignorance as a defense against the consequences of choices. They may work some of the time. But the majority of the time it does
not. The reason is, the LORD has set up
creation to operate by unalterable rules and principles. Like gravity, certain things will always
happen. Living in sin does something to
the individual’s self-worth. Having a
child out of wedlock kicks in automatic results. Abuse of vices carries with it automatic effects
on the physical body. We could go on and
on. In our time of discovery, it is smart
to be wise even if we are trying to figure the rest out. Manasseh repented of his unbelief. But he and Judah still had to live with the
fact they rebelled against God. Ignorance
or not, there is a cost for questioning God and His truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment