Mercy for Manasseh

So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. (II Chronicles 33:9 NKJV)

The account of Manasseh is one of the most amazing testimonies to the grace and long suffering  mercy of God found in the entirety of the scriptures. He was the son of Hezekiah and had been an eye witness to the power of God throughout his fathers life. Yet as 2 Chronicles 33:9 records he seduced the people of Israel to do more evil than all the nations God had driven out before them. He wholly departed from the ways of The Lord.

The Lord speaks to Manasseh and the people but they will not listen, and so he sends the armies of Assyria who capture him, put a ring in his nose and lead him away bound and afflicted. It is then we see the turning point in the life of this wicked king:

Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. (II Chronicles 33:12, 13 NKJV)

In the midst of this horrific affliction, Manasseh makes a choice. He turns away from his rebellion back toward God taking three decisive steps. 1.He implores the Lord his God. 2. He humbles himself greatly before the God of His fathers, and 3. He prayed.

To implore is to cry out passionately, to beg and plead. This proud and arrogant king acknowledges that God is his God, and the God of Israel and his fathers, then humbles himself and prays. It is apparent that he has not done so until now. But in the midst of his affliction he goes to the only source of true deliverance and God hears and receives his cries for help and delivers him.

What a merciful God! The most wicked king Jerusalem had ever known was saved, restored and transformed. Regardless of how deep we have fallen in our depravity our God's ears are ever open toward us, listening for our cry. When we cry out, He will hear and He will answer if we are truly repentant and willing to humble ourselves and pray.

This account of Manasseh's sin, failure, affliction and repentance give me great hope, for myself and for all who have been seduced by the allure of sin and taken captive by the god of this world. Our God the one true God is merciful. He is good and He is willing to forgive and to restore.

It gives me new insight into afflictions. I am more inclined than ever before to believe the truth revealed in Romans 8:28 that "all things are working together for my good." And also 2 Corinthians 12:9 where Jesus told Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  When I struggle the most with my flesh and when I fail and fall the hardest, God is at work within me. He is using my struggles to bring about at greater strength, a greater confidence in His character and moving me toward a more powerful victory and new season of grace. He allows the afflictions to come but they are never out from under His control and I am learning to say with author of Psalm 119: Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word. You are good, and do good; Teach me Your statutes. (Psalms 119:67, 68 NKJV)

God was merciful toward Manasseh and He will extend mercy to any who call upon His name, humble themselves in His presence and pray to Him as their Father. In the midst of our trial, as we bend under the weight of our afflicting circumstance, He is listening and He is near.