The Humility of Manasseh

This morning I spent some time in the story of Manasseh, one of the kings of Judah.  The story can be found in 2 Chronicles 33.  Manasseh is the son of the great king Hezekiah.  You should go and read about them...

The story of Manasseh caught my attention today because of the polar opposites in it.  As the story begins, Manasseh is a dirt ball king.  He sacrifices to other gods, builds new places of worship to them, and sacrifices is children.  He even builds altars for them in the temple of the Lord and places a graven image the he made himself in the temple.  Once the writer is done listing all the bad things that Manasseh has done and encouraged his people to do, the writer says this: 

But Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites.

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention.

All of these things are bad news, especially if you are the king.  Living bad means one thing--God is going to beat you down.  And that's what happens.  The king of Assyria comes to town, makes Manasseh his prisoner.  He binds him and puts a ring in his nose--not a pretty nose ring that one would wear as jewelry, a big, nasty nose ring like a cow or bull would get.  Then he drags him off to Babylon.

Here's where the story takes an unexpected turn.  The text says that Manasseh humbled himself greatly before is God.  And God heard his cry, and acted.  As you read the rest of the story, you will see how God returns Manasseh to Jerusalem, allows him to rebuild parts of the city and, most importantly, that Manasseh leads his people to only worship the Lord.

If there is one thing I've really picked up from reading through Chronicles the last few weeks, it would be the roles that humility and pride play in our existence in the Kingdom of God.  All through Chronicles, the writer shares how this king was humble and how that king was prideful.  And, it never fails, when pride rules, God's presence and engagement disappears.  Yet, when humility reigns, God is directly involved for the good of those being humble.

From the story of Manasseh, I think that repentance can be connected to humility.  Manasseh called on the God of his ancestors to come and save him, even though his attention before that moment was fully focused on other gods like Baal and Molech.  God showed mercy, forgave, restored, and enjoyed once again the worship of his people.

How am I being humble and repentant with my life?  How are you being humble and repentant?  And once we've answered that question, how are we being mercy to those who have wronged us?

These are the things we are to be as we live out the Kingdom.