2 Chronicles 33:10-25
Notes
Transcript
Song: Elder Roger Cooper (Faith that Conquers)
Song: Elder Roger Cooper (Faith that Conquers)
Prayer: Elder Roger Cooper
Prayer: Elder Roger Cooper
Scripture: Brother James Craig (Romans 8:5-10)
Scripture: Brother James Craig (Romans 8:5-10)
Give Scripture: 2 Chronicles 33:10-25
Give Scripture: 2 Chronicles 33:10-25
10 And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
11 Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.
14 Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.
15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of 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 cast them out of the city.
16 And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
19 His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.
22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;
23 And humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
25 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
Give A Review
Give A Review
In the first nine verses of 2 Chronicles 33 we find that Hezekiah has died and his son Manasseh has ascended to the throne. He comes upon the throne at the age 12 and reigns for 55 years total as King of Judah.
He enters his regency in the shadow of his father, who I imagine was viewed as a larger than life character and imposed great stress on his young son serving as King. And so, Manasseh assumes the throne and the scripture let us know that from the outset he did evil in the sight of the Lord. He undid everything his father had worked to undo over the course of his reign. He once again erected the groves to Baal and he instituted worship in the groves, worship of the stars, and he resumed idol worship among the people.
It lets us know that he was worse than even the heathens and despite all of his father’s efforts the people found themselves right behind Manasseh on the train ride to doom. We have heard the story before, the king goes bad and undoes the work of his father but in this story we will see a bit of a different course of action take place.
Three Key Points/ or Takeaways
Be careful of what you place on the altar of your heart?
Plan for the future beyond yourself, and be sure to plan for the next generation to prevent generational curses rising up in your lineage.
Remain aware of the role you play in separating the church from God.
Allow for Questions?
Allow for Questions?
Write some of the questions down if possible.
Scripture Study
Scripture Study
10 And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.
If God tried to warn Manasseh outside the dispensation of Grace… we get one too.
God is not a one and done… if he was this would have been over in the garden.
But we also must recognize the time comes when God is not playing.
11 Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
God will use a destroyed and dead thing to get his message across.
God destroyed the army of Assyria not even a full chapter ago because that was within his will to do.
But when God is not getting through to you… even a dead thing can fulfill his will even if the Captains of the host have to come.
Bear in mind, it was not the soldiers who came… because they all perished.
God makes good on his promise...
This passage is a partial fulfillment of the promise to Hezekiah to bring his people to Babylon because of his arrogance.
Why else would the Assyrians take him to Babylon except it be the will of God.
12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.
We see here that Manasseh is behaving more like the Israelites in the book of Judges.
He cries out to God and God heard him and brought him back to his own land.
God will take you through something just to remind you he is GOD.
14 Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of Judah.
Imagine how much money and resources the people of God are wasting continually rebuilding from their fall while serving the Lord.
How much of our own resources do we waste because we lose our belief and faith in God.
What could we accomplish if we were finally able to stop rebuilding walls because we let strongholds take root in our homes, marriages, churches, relationships, and jobs.
15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of 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 cast them out of the city.
We all like to think that we are delivered and free from the things that have had us bound in the house of God but are you free enough to cast your bonds out of your life.
Are you free enough to cast your bonds out of your spirit?
Are you free enough to cast your bonds out of your mind?
Are you really free or did you just take the decorations down?
Did you change your life or did you change your clothes?
Did you change your life or did you stop smoking in public?
Did you change your life or start gambling on basketball instead of the lotto?
Did you change you really change your life or did you just take your sign down?
16 And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.
17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the Lord their God only.
Now for those of you who cast it out of your spirit…
You took your sign down and you cast it out but did you destroy it or did you just leave it so you can pick it up again?
You have to destroy a thing or your bonds are still out there to be picked up by someone else or even yourself?
Broken things can be fixed.
Lost things can be found.
Bound things can be loosed.
Damaged things can be healed
And so some of us we espouse ourselves to be free but the reality is we left a door open for our bondage to creep back in.
You gave up a thing but you still entertain company with people who deal with it...
Your spirit is open to the very thing you just got free from and you wonder why the temptation is so great.
And so the people of God continued with their pagan worship and lifestyles despite the attempts by Manasseh to do the right thing.
I do not want to go down a rabbit hole but be careful that you do not compromise your witness.
In today’s day and time, people are looking for every reason not to support the Church.
They want to see you mess up
They want to see you do something wrong
They want to see you in imperfection.
Now we know that we are called to be like Christ but it is also a process… but their is a difference between being human and making ridiculous errors and lapses in judgement.
Manasseh knew better than to worship any other God yet he did it anyways.
Manasseh knew better than to erect the high places.
He knew better than to desecrate the House of God.
I do not want to be lost in the weeds… but do not compromise your witness because you lose credibility with people especially in a world hostile to those who are saved.
18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord God of Israel, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel.
What will people say of you?
This commences the obituary for Manasseh.
19 His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.
20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
They buried him in his own house, now we have to be careful that we do not jump the gun as it pertains to what the people deemed him worthy of as King.
The scripture lets us know that Hezekiah was buried in the chiefest or highest of the Sepulchres of David. However, sepulchres are underground and therefore cannot truly be highest. This leads theologians to conclude that Hezekiah’s grave was actually located just outside of the Sepulchre of his fathers.
This gives indication that the sepulchre had been filled at the death of Hezekiah, which also sheds further light into the selectiveness of the people of God in putting the Kings in the Sepulchre.
This is further supported by the fact that NO OTHER KING from that point forward was buried in the Sepulchre of the other Kings, despite some of them being Godly men who were worthy based upon what we know from the scriptures.
In either case, Manasseh’s son buries his father in his own home (not in the royal palace constructed by Solomon) and then he assumes the throne.
21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.
22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them;
23 And humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.
This King was a good bit older than either of the previous two had been prior to their reigns.
Amon followed the people who had followed Manasseh into their unfaithfulness.
Many of the issues we have in our families are self created and we introduce them by our actions and then are perplexed.
Your child has an attitude because you have an attitude
Your child is rude because you are rude.
Your child is smart because you are smart.
In that same sense… a spiritual child is unfaithful because their spiritual parent/ or leader is unfaithful.
A spiritual child is greedy because their spiritual parent is greedy.
Your spirit begets other spirits like it.
24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
Now, Amon died in his own house… and it was not a stranger that did it.
The people stabbing you in your back live in your house
They are in your circle
They are your close friends
They are your confidants
And you have to watch them or otherwise you will look up and find yourself on the end of someone’s knife.
25 But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
And yet, despite their unfaithfulness the people still upheld their King.
Some of the most faithful people come from outside of the Church.
Some of the most loyal people are out of relationship.
But we spend so much time making people feel bad we never allow people to feel good about the redeeming qualities they do have.
Provide Key Takeaways
Provide Key Takeaways
Do not cause God to seek out ways by which to humble you just to make you realize who God is.
The bill comes due for every sin in your life, even if it must be paid by those who come after you.
If you compromise your witness you can limit your ability to minister to certain people concerning the Gospel.
Allow for Final Questions?
Allow for Final Questions?
Write some of the questions down if possible.
Roll Call & Prayer Requests
Roll Call & Prayer Requests
Prayer: Do yourself unless otherwise led
Prayer: Do yourself unless otherwise led