2 Chronicles 33: 1 – 25
Delayed Retribution
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 2 But 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. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.” 9 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. 10 And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. 11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. 12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 13 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. 14 After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 15 He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. 16 He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel. 17 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God. 18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel. 19 Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of Hozai. 20 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. 21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 22 But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made and served them. 23 And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. 24 Then his servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house. 25 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
Retribution is punishment inflicted in the spirit of moral outrage or personal vengeance. Retribution differs from revenge in that retribution is inherently limited to equaling the seriousness of the wrong for which it is sought, and is not necessarily personal to the seeker.
Along with this truth there is a slogan of ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ is a legal maxim meaning that if legal redress is available for a party that has suffered some injury, but is not forthcoming in a timely fashion, it is effectively the same as having no redress at all. This principle is the basis for the right to a speedy trial and similar rights which are meant to expedite the legal system, because it is unfair for the injured party to have to sustain the injury with little hope for resolution. The phrase has become a rallying cry for legal reformers who view courts or governments as acting too slowly in resolving legal issues either because the existing system is too complex or overburdened, or because the issue or party in question lacks political favor.
This quote means that if you put off justice for a long time, you might forget about it, or you might feel less enthused by action and less strong than you felt before about acting. also, let’s say you spent a long time working towards desegregation, and people kept saying "wait" over and over, you might pass away before justice can be given. then, if justice is given afterwards it isn't justice! justice that is put off for too long shows that you don’t feel strongly about getting justice served. and if you say "wait" a lot, then it just seems like an easy way to say "no" and let someone down easy.
Today we are going to look at this position from our Holy God’s viewpoint which is the only one that counts. You see He Is the injured party and He Is also the One Who brings about the resolution of the sins against Him.
In the book of 2 Kings chapter 20 we read about after the Lord healed Hezekiah the nation of the rising new empire Babayan sent ambassadors to visit him. Let’s look at what happened;
“12 At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. 13 And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. 14 Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?” So, Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.” 15 And he said, “What have they seen in your house?” So, Hezekiah answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.” 16 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the LORD: 17 ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD. 18 ‘And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ 19 So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”
Boy the scripture really reveals how bad we are as sinful people. Here our Merciful God healed Hezekiah from a death sentence and how quickly he forgets. When confronted as to his errors of decisions how does he reply to the prophet’s announcement of the pending doom for the nation. He reply’s, ‘Well the word of the Lord Is good for all this calamity will not happen during my lifetime. Wow!
Our Gracious and Holy God puts off the retribution due to Hezekiah’s sin in order that people would see the impending destruction and repent and plead for God’s Mercy to be done. Did they? Nope! The decline continued.
Prior to the reign of the good king Hezekiah, his father Ahaz had led Judah deeply astray into idolatry. Now on the death of Hezekiah his son Manasseh did the same, although in the case of Manasseh the position is somewhat alleviated by Manasseh’s later repentance and turning to YHWH. This last is, however, only referred to in 2 Chronicles. Thus whilst 2 Kings rightly portrays him as a king who led his people deep into idolatry without any betterment, the book of Chronicles finds some relief from the situation in his repentance and subsequent reformation.
The first ten verses of this chapter to a large extent parallel the account of Manasseh’s reign in 2 Kings 21.1-9 and portray his deep descent into idolatry.
The remaining ten verses reflect new material possibly as found in the writings of the prophet Hozai (verse 19). These refer to Manasseh’s deportation to Babylon by the Assyrians, his subsequent repentance, and his return to Jerusalem to re-establish the worship of YHWH.
33 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
Like most kings of Judah Manasseh probably ruled for a time as co-regent with his father Hezekiah, gaining experience and ensuring an untroubled succession. This would appear to have been for around ten years, so that his sole reign was for forty-five years from around 686 BC. He thus began his co-regency after the deliverance of Jerusalem from the Assyrians. He was the longest reigning of all the kings of Judah
2 But 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.
Manasseh is the first king of Judah of whom it was said that, ‘he did what was evil in the sight of YHWH’. It was said of Ahaz that ‘he did not do what was right in the eyes of YHWH like David his father’ (28.1), a statement then followed by the fact that ‘he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel’, so that in that regard there was little to choose between them.
The reign of Ahaz had left a bad stamp on Judah that neither Hezekiah nor Josiah could remove. It is true, of course, that the people of Judah had become infected with idolatry from the time of Solomon (and even before that) so that they were at no stage an innocent people ruled by bad kings, but from the time of Ahaz their idolatry had begun to run even deeper, something from which they never fully recovered despite the efforts of Hezekiah and Josiah. It was only because the people were ripe for idolatry that Manasseh was able to do what he did.
But why should the son of a righteous father take so easily the downward path? It may well partly have been due to the influence of his mother, aided possibly by the disillusionment which came when the Assyrians again arrived and all he could do was submit. Possibly he thought that the YHWH Who had so wonderfully delivered his father, had totally failed him. There was explained a reason for this failure in chapter 32.25-26. The decision of Yahweh was not an immediate retribution, but a retribution that was delayed.
3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; he raised up altars for the Baals and made wooden images; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
Given the king’s go-ahead to allow without any hinderance the worship of pagan gods many citizens would be eager to re-establish their high places in the mountains as well as in the cities.
The multiplicity of pagan high places is confirmed by the alteration of Baal to Baalim (plural) and Asherah to Asheroth (plural). Multiple altars were erected to Baal, and multiple Asherah images were set up. The worship of the host of Heaven was also native to Canaan. The Assyrians did not, in fact, seek to establish their own religions in conquered territories unless and until they became provinces of Assyria after their third rebellion, and even then we know that Assyria were happy to re-establish what they thought of as the native religion of Israel when called on to do so by the new inhabitants whom they had settled in the land (2 Kings 17.24-41). It is clear then that Judah went with full gusto after idolatry of their own accord.
4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem shall My name be forever.”
But even worse sacrilege was found in that he polluted the Temple:
• By building altars (to Baal) in the House of YHWH, possibly within the very Sanctuary itself.
• By building altars for the Host of Heaven in the two courts of the House of YHWH (verse 5).
• By setting up a graven image of Asherah in the House of God (verse 7).
The worship of the God of Israel, Yahweh was being thrust out, and that from the very House of YHWH concerning which YHWH had said to Solomon, ‘In Jerusalem shall be My Name for ever’ (compare 6.6; 7.16).
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
The worship of the stars was common in the Ancient Near East, and whereas once it was thought to have been specific to Assyria, it is now recognized that it was engaged in by the Canaanites as well. The altars were presumably built in the open courts so that the heavens were visible as the sacrifices were offered.
6 Also he caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
What is described here was strictly contrary to Deuteronomy 18.9-14, which covers similar ground. The ‘passing of children through the fire’, which refers to some form of child sacrifice, was associated with the worship of Melech (Molech), the Ammonite god (Leviticus 18.21), but Jeremiah also connects it with the worship of Baal (Jeremiah 19.5), probably because of unification of worship all gods as one. Its setting here may suggest that it was a method of divination as well as an attempt to get Molech on his side. But contexts in which they are found demonstrate that they had to do with divination and the occult. They were attempts to call on evil spirits for evil purposes.
The thought of evil continues. Manasseh wrought much evil in the sight of YHWH, provoking Him to anger (His response resulting from His revulsion to sin). Some of this evil is described elsewhere. ‘He shed very much innocent blood, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other’ (2 Kings 21.16). No doubt many of YHWH’s true worshippers were martyred. And this was on top of his evils connected with idolatry.
7 He even set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not again remove the foot of Israel from the land which I have appointed for your fathers—only if they are careful to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.”
He set the graven image of the idol that he had made in the very House of God which contained His Name. The sacrilege is being underlined and emphasized. 2 Kings tells us that it was an image of Asherah. It was also a breach of the conditional covenant by which YHWH had guaranteed to Israel their inheritance of the land. Having broken it Israel/Judah no longer had any right to remain in the land.
9 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.
Lest all the blame fell on Manasseh we learn that Manasseh ‘seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem’ who eagerly followed him in his pursuits. The consequence was that they did more evil than the nations whom YHWH had destroyed before them had done. It meant that they sank to even greater depths of depravity we cannot know. But it was a reminder of why they would at some stage lose the land that they saw as theirs.
10 And the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen.
God did not just let it go. He gave them every chance to return. He spoke to Manasseh and the people, presumably through prophets. But they took no notice. They had become hardened and refused to listen to Him or to His servants.
What follows was not a new invasion, but the action of a dominant power against a rebellious tributary. Manasseh was taken in chains to Babylon.
While captive in Babylon Manasseh had time to think over his past. His gods had not done him much good (they had no doubt through prophets encouraged any venture he engaged in) and his thoughts turned back to YHWH Who had delivered his father from the Assyrians. In his distress he humbled himself before YHWH and called on him for deliverance. Because of his repentance he was restored to Jerusalem and to his kingship.
The action that went along with his repentance was that he removed the offending idols and altars from Jerusalem and re-established the worship of YHWH in the Temple. But the high places remained, although only for the worship of YHWH. The superficiality of his reforms comes out in that his son Amon was able in his short reign to restore the idol worship so that by the time of Josiah all this had to be done again.
It is possible that Manasseh was a mirror image of Judah. He sinned, he was carried off captive, he repented and was restored, he restored the worship of YHWH, he died in his own house. It may have been intended as an encouragement to the returned exiles.
11 Therefore the LORD brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon.
The verse makes clear that what happened to Manasseh was to be seen as due to his rebellion against YHWH. For a man used to ruling and being pampered this must have been a life impacting experience, a complete and utter fall. His being taken in this way to Babylon partly fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy to Hezekiah which resulted from Hezekiah’s welcome shown to the ambassadors from Babylon.
12 Now when he was in affliction, he implored the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
We know nothing of the conditions in which Manasseh was kept in Babylon, but they would certainly not have been what he was used to was not likely to have been generous. It was seemingly enough to make him reconsider his ways. He came to recognize that his new gods had failed him, and his thoughts turned back to the God of his fathers Who had done such great things for Israel. And ‘he besought YHWH his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers’, no doubt with strong crying and tears. This behavior was duly rewarded by our Merciful God. The impact that his repentance had on Israel can be seen from the apocryphal ‘Prayer of Manasseh’ which I will give to you. (found in the Apocrypha).
13 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.
So Manasseh prayed to YHWH. And YHWH ‘was entreated of him’. In other words, He was willing to respond to his plea. So He ‘heard his supplication’ and brought him back again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Note how all this is put down to the action of YHWH. The Assyrians were simply tools in His hands. And because of all this Manasseh knew that YHWH was the one and only God, and recognized what a fool he had been.
First and Second Esdras are books found in the collection of writings known as the Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical books.These writings are accepted as Scripture by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches, but are rejected by Protestants. First and Second Esdras are associated with Ezra, author of the Old Testament book Ezra, the high priest of Israel at the return of the Jews to Jerusalem under Cyprus at the end of the Old Testament period.
Much regarding the origin of the Esdras texts is uncertain. The original language may have been Greek, Aramaic, or Hebrew. The date of writing is unknown, with some estimates as late as the first century AD for 1 Esdras and the second century AD for 2 Esdras.
In addition, certain errors have been noted in the text of 1 and 2 Esdras. For example, King Artaxerxes is listed as the king prior to Cyrus, though this was not historically correct. However, in many ways, 1 Esdras is a revision of the biblical Ezra with four chapters of additional material. The new material includes King Josiah's reforms, a history of the temple's destruction, and the Jewish return under the leadership of Zerubbabel.
It is suggested that 2 Esdras is the work of multiple authors and was written perhaps as late as the second century AD. Second Esdras includes the Jewish apocalypse of Ezra as well as seven visions regarding his concerns about the Jewish people. In his first vision while still living in Babylon, an angel named Uriel (not mentioned in the Old or New Testaments) arrives to answer Ezra's questions.
One concerning passage mentioned in 2 Esdras notes that God appeared to Ezra in a bush and commanded him to restore the Law. In obedience, Ezra calls five scribes and begins to dictate the Law. In 40 days, Ezra dictated 94 books. These 94 books were the Jewish Old Testament and 70 other works. Some suggest these 70 works are a reference to the Septuagint, though this is uncertain. The text states, "Make public the twenty-four books that you wrote first, and let the worthy and the unworthy read them; but keep the seventy that were written last, in order to give them to the wise among your people" (2 Esdras 14: 45 – 46).
Because of its visionary nature, some argue 2 Esdras was written shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 or during the violent reign or Emperor Domitian (who reigned from 81—96).
Some confusion also often arises regarding the numbering and order of these works. In the King James Version and many other English versions, the listings include:
1 Esdras : Ezra
2 Esdras : Nehemiah
3 Esdras : 1 Esdras (deuterocanonical)
4 Esdras : 2 Esdras (deuterocanonical)
While both 1 and 2 Esdras include interesting historical and cultural material important for learning, they do not rank among the books of the Old and New Testaments.
So, as promised here is the Prayer of Manasseh. I find it to be very good.
1 Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their righteous children, 2 You made heaven and earth with all their beauty. 3 You set limits for the se by speaking Your command. You closed the bottomless pit and sealed it by your powerful and glorious name. 4 All things fear you and tremble in Your presence, 5 because no one can endure the brightness of Your glory. No one can resist the fury of Your threat against sinners. 6 But Your promised mercies are beyond measure and imagination, 7 because you are the highest, Lord, kind, patient, and merciful, and You feel sorry over human troubles. You, Lord, according to Your gentle grace, promised forgiveness to those who are sorry for their sins. In Your great mercy, You allowed sinners to turn from their sins and find salvation. 8 Therefore, Lord, God of those who do what is right, You didn’t offer Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who didn’t sin against you, a chance to change their hearts and lives. But you offer me, the sinner, the chance to change my heart and life, 9 because my sins outnumbered the grains of sand by the sea. My sins are many, Lord; they are many. I am not worthy to look up, to gaze into heaven because of my many sins. 9 Now, Lord, I suffer justly. I deserve the troubles I encounter. Already I’m caught in a trap. 10 I’m held down by iron chains so that I can’t lift up my head because of my sins. There’s no relief for me, because I made you angry, doing wrong in front of your face, setting up false gods and committing offenses. 11 Now I bow down before you from deep within my heart, begging for your kindness. 12 I have sinned, Lord, I have sinned, and I know the laws I’ve broken. 13 I’m praying, begging you: Forgive me, Lord, forgive me. Don’t destroy me along with my sins. Don’t keep my bad deeds in your memory forever. Don’t sentence me to the earth’s depths, for you, Lord, are the God of those who turn from their sins. 14 In me you’ll show how kind you are. Although I’m not worthy, You’ll save me according to Your great mercy. 15 I will praise you continuously all the days of my life, because all of heaven’s forces praise you, and the glory is yours forever and always. Amen (1 Esdras 9)
14 After this he built a wall outside the City of David on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, as far as the entrance of the Fish Gate; and it enclosed Ophel, and he raised it to a very great height. Then he put military captains in all the fortified cities of Judah.
This building project was a sign of God’s approval. He rebuilt the outer wall of Jerusalem to the west of Gihon in the valley as far as the Fish Gate, and encircled Ophel with it, building it to a great height.
Gihon was the natural spring which provided water for Jerusalem through Hezekiah’s tunnel and was situated in the Kidron valley on the East side of Ophel, outside the wall and due South of the temple area. Ophel was a fortified site in the old City of David.
Having refortified Jerusalem Manasseh then put brave and experienced commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. Judah was strong again, but not independent.
15 He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city.
Having built up the city Manasseh now tore down the altars that he had built throughout Jerusalem, and removed the foreign gods, and especially the image of Asherah which he had erected in the very House of YHWH. He cast them all out of the city. Jerusalem was dedicated to YHWH once more.
16 He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.
All Manasseh’s post-captivity activity was leading up to this, that he built up the altar of YHWH. Then what follows assumes a popular feast of YHWH, for sacrifices of peace-offerings and thanksgiving could be partaken of by the people. Thus, it appears that Manasseh called the people to a feast, and it was there that he commanded them to serve YHWH, the God of Israel, once again.
17 Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God.
It appears, however, that Manasseh did not seek to remove the high places like Asa, Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah had done. But what he did do was require of the people that at the high places they only offered sacrifices to YHWH. It is clear from this that sacrifices were being offered by non-Aaronides, thus being contrary to the Torah. Perhaps it was due to his ignorance of YHWH’s requirements, or it may simply indicate that he did not want to push his reforms too far. Indeed, it may be that the people themselves were resistant to any further reform. But whichever way it was it was disobedience to YHWH and could only confirm judgment on Judah.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the LORD God of Israel, indeed they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
Manasseh is the only king for whom there are two separate statements, both referring to sources for his reign. This first one refers to his acts, his prayer to God, and the words which seers spoke to him in the Name of YHWH, the God of Israel. All were recorded among the Acts of the Kings of Israel.
19 Also his prayer and how God received his entreaty, and all his sin and trespass, and the sites where he built high places and set up wooden images and carved images, before he was humbled, indeed they are written among the sayings of Hozai.
But a special record of his reign had also been kept by the otherwise unknown prophet Hozai who had recorded his prayer of repentance and how God was entreated of him and responded to his prayer, along with details of his sin and his trespass, and the places in which he set up high places, and details concerning the Asherim and graven images which he had set up before he humbled himself before God and repented. This would appear to have been written from a prophet’s viewpoint dealing with his religious failings and his final repentance. The full details of what he had done was not to go unnoticed. It may be that this was the source of the extra material concerning Manasseh that was found in Chronicles.
20 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
On his death it was made clear that he was disapproved of. He was buried in his own house (which would include the gardens) and not in the sepulchers of the kings in the city of David. And no special celebrations are spoken of on his death. 2 Kings refers to him being buried in the garden of Uzzah. Nothing further is known of this garden except that his son was also buried there. Thus he died unheralded. He had pleased nobody.
The reign of Amon lasted less than two years and yet in that time he dragged Judah back into idolatry, becoming worse and worse in his behavior with not a sign of repentance, and indeed, was such a bad king that his ‘servants’ assassinated him. Nothing good is said about his reign, and no mention is made of ‘his acts’. Furthermore, whilst his father was buried ‘in his own house’, Amon was ‘put to death’ in his own house.
His assassination may have been due to his restoration of idolatry which angered people at court, or it may have been due to his unwillingness to involve himself in a rebellion against Assyria fostered by Egypt.
21 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign. Don’t forget that his father killed his siblings in pagan rituals. Reigning ‘two years’ was a very brief reign.
22 But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done; for Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made and served them.
Yet even in that short time Amon was able to do a great deal of damage. From the commencement of his reign he ‘did evil in the sight of YHWH’, which always indicated following after idols. It is stressed that he followed in the footsteps of his father. Sin may be forgiven, as it had been for Manasseh, but the consequences of sin go on. Thus he sacrificed to all the graven images that his father had made, and served them. ‘All’ presumably indicates all that remained. But this in itself indicates that Manasseh had not done a thorough job of ridding Judah of idols. His ‘cleansing’ of Judah had been somewhat perfunctory. The graven images would include Asherim, images to the host of Heaven, and possibly images of Baal, and even Molech.
It is a reminder to us that when we rid ourselves of sin within we must ensure that we do a thorough job and leave nothing remaining. Otherwise our sins too will catch us out in the future.
23 And he did not humble himself before the LORD, as his father Manasseh had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
Unlike in the case of his father Manasseh, Amon found no place of repentance. At no stage did he humble himself before YHWH as Manasseh his father had humbled himself. Indeed he plunged deeper and deeper into evil, and trespassed more and more.
We may feel that Manasseh had fifty years in which to repent, whilst Amon only had two at the most. But it is a reminder that we must not presume on God. God took Amon while he was still young, and He may do the same with us. It is important to repent while there is yet time. No future is guaranteed.
24 Then his servants conspired against him and killed him in his own house.
‘His servants’ may indicate his close advisers, or his ministers, or it may point to those who were his personal servants. The fact that it was ‘the people of the land’ who dealt with these servants in verse 25 (which see) may suggest that the assassins were connected with influential figures in authority in Jerusalem. If so they broke into his house and put him to death there. They did not want to involve the people. It may have been for political reasons because he refused to enter an alliance with Egypt against Assyria (which was comparatively weak at the time), or it may have been for religious reasons because they did not like the way in which Amon was taking the kingdom. But either way God seemingly frowned on what they had done. Assassination is never the answer.
25 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
Amon’s murderers paid the penalty with their lives. ‘The people of the land’ revolted against those who had conspired against King Amon and slew them. ‘The people of the land’ appears to mean the important men outside Jerusalem. That it was a national council comprising the leading elders of cities and towns throughout the land. Because of their actions they set Amon’s son Josiah on the throne in his place.
