2Chron 33 If someone would open your life’s diary what would they read? Would it be like the life of King Manasseh who had a godly father in King Hezekiah or would it read that you rebelled and refused God’s ways…until…
The Chronicler records these words: the annals record all of King Manasseh’s sins and unfaithful acts along with the sites where he built high places and erected Asherah poles and idols. Even though God spoke to him, he refused to listen. So, God disciplined Manasseh with hooks in his nose, bronze chains, and extradition to a foreign land where he languished in a prison cell with cold gruel, day-old bread, and water. It was then that his senses were awakened and he “realized that the Lord is the true God” and repented. [2Chron 33:13] It was because of the mercy of God that he was released and returned to his kingdom. God’s mercy is overflowing!
God has placed this event in His Word to remind us that it begins with a heart that is humbled but also that sin produces consequences not just for us but also for family and children. Manasseh may have repented but the damage was long-lasting. His son Amon followed in his footsteps of an unrepentant lifestyle and his life ended in an assassination.
Generations come and go and we can learn much from the ancestral record. Hezekiah: godly. Manasseh: ungodly but repentant. Amon: ungodly to the end.
What would your diary say about your life?
