Chapter 32—Manasseh and Josiah: The Worst and the Best
The kingdom of Judah was once more brought low during Manasseh’s wicked reign. Paganism was revived, and many were led into idolatry. “Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen.” 2 Chronicles 33:9. Gross evils sprang up and flourished—tyranny, oppression, hatred of all that is good. Justice was perverted; violence prevailed.
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Yet the trying experiences through which Judah had safely passed during Hezekiah’s reign had developed a sturdiness of character in many that now served as a bulwark against iniquity. Their testimony in behalf of truth aroused the anger of Manasseh, who endeavored to silence every voice of disapproval. “Manasseh shed innocent blood ... till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another.” 2 Kings 21:16.
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One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for more than half a century had stood as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. “Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword.” Hebrews 11:36, 37, RSV.
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Some who suffered persecution during Manasseh’s reign were commissioned to bear special messages of reproof. The king of Judah, the prophets declared, “hath done wickedly above all ... which were before him.” 2 Kings 21:11. Because of this, the inhabitants of the land were to be carried captive to Babylon, there to become “a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.” Verse 14. But those who in a strange land should put their trust wholly in the Lord would find a sure refuge.
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Faithfully the prophets spoke to Manasseh and his people, but backsliding Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by Assyrian soldiers who “bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.” 2 Chronicles 33:11. This affliction brought the king to his senses. He “humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and ... He was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God.” Verses 12, 13. But this repentance came too late to save the kingdom from the influence of years of idolatrous practices.
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Among those whose life had been shaped beyond recall was Manasseh’s own son, who came to the throne at the age of twenty-two. King Amon “walked in all the way that his father walked in.”“He forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers.” 2 Kings 21:21, 22. The wicked king was not permitted to reign long. Only two years from the time he ascended the throne, he was slain in the palace by his own servants, and “the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.” 2 Chronicles 33:25.
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With the accession of Josiah to the throne, where he was to rule for thirty-one years, those who had maintained their faith began to hope that the downward course of the kingdom was checked; for the new king, though only eight years old, “did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.” 2 Kings 22:2. Warned by the errors of past generations, Josiah chose to do right. His obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto honor.
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At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years before, the truehearted were questioning whether God’s promises to Israel could ever be fulfilled. The apostasy of former centuries had gathered strength; ten tribes had been scattered among the heathen; only Judah and Benjamin remained, and these now seemed on the verge of moral and national ruin. The prophets had begun to foretell the destruction of their fair city, where stood the temple built by Solomon. Was God about to turn aside from His purpose of bringing deliverance to those who should put their trust in Him? Could those who had remained true to God hope for better days?
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These anxious questions were voiced by Habakkuk: “O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save! ... Spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.” Habakkuk 1:2-4.
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God answered His loyal children. Through His mouthpiece He revealed His determination to bring chastisement upon the nation that had turned to serve the gods of the heathen. Within the lifetime of some who were even then making inquiry regarding the future, He would bring the Chaldeans upon the land of Judah as a divinely appointed scourge. The princes and fairest of the people were to be carried captive to Babylon; the Judean cities, villages, and cultivated fields were to be laid waste.
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“Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One?” Habakkuk exclaimed. And then, his faith laying hold on the precious promises that reveal God’s love for His children, the prophet added, “We shall not die.” Verse 12. With this declaration of faith he rested the case of every believing Israelite in the hands of a compassionate God.
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This was not Habakkuk’s only experience in the exercise of strong faith. On one occasion he said, “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me.” Graciously the Lord answered: “Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” Habakkuk 2:1-4.
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The faith that strengthened Habakkuk in those days of trial was the same faith that sustains God’s people today. Under circumstances the most forbidding, the believer may keep his soul stayed on the Source of all light and power. Through faith in God, his courage may be renewed. “The just shall live by his faith.” The Lord will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him. He will give the wisdom their necessities demand.
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We must cultivate the faith that lays hold on the promises of God and waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of our Saviour as King of kings and Lord of lords. The time of waiting may seem long, many in whom confidence has been placed may fall by the way; but with the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in a time of apostasy, let us declare, “The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.” Verse 20.
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Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy. Habakkuk 3:2
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Though the fig tree do not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines, The produce of the olive fail And the fields yield no food, The flock be cut off from the fold And there be no herd in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength. Habakkuk 3:17-19, RSV
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Habakkuk was not the only one through whom was given a message of hope and of future triumph as well as of present judgment. During the reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, specifying the results of continued apostasy and calling attention to the glorious prospect beyond. His prophecies of judgment on Judah apply with equal force to the judgments to fall on an impenitent world at the second advent of Christ:
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The great day of the Lord is near, It is near, and hasteth greatly, Even the voice of the day of the Lord: The mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
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That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of wasteness and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess.
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A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm Against the fenced cities, And against the high towers. Zephaniah 1:14-16
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“Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath. In the fire of His jealous wrath, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full, yea, sudden end He will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.” Verse 18, RSV.
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Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, Which have wrought His judgment; Seek righteousness, Seek meekness: It may be ye shall be hid In the day of the Lord’s anger. Zephaniah 2:3
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In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee Is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing. Zephaniah 3:16, 17
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