Manasseh was twelve years old. 2 Chronicles 33:1 Manasseh; or, the material and the moral in human life Homilist. There are two great mistakes prevalent amongst men, one is an over-estimation of the secular, the other a depreciation of the spiritual. Man is one, and all his duties and interests are concurrent and harmonious; the end of Christianity is to make men happy body and soul, here and hereafter. I. THE ELEVATION OF THE SECULAR AND THE DEGRADATION OF THE SPIRITUAL. Here is a man at the height of secular elevation. He is raised to a throne, called to sway his sceptre over a people the most enlightened, and in a country the most fertile and lovely on the face of the earth. In the person of this Manasseh, you have secular greatness in its highest altitude and most attractive position. But in connection with this you have spiritual degradation. Penetrate the gaudy trappings of royalty, look within, and what see you? A low, wretched, infamous spirit, a spirit debased almost to the lowest point in morals. 1. Look at him socially. How acted he as a son? His father, Hezekiah, was a man of undoubted piety — a monarch of distinguished worth. His sire was scarcely cold in his grave, before the son commenced undoing in the kingdom all that his pious father had for years endeavoured to accomplish. "He built up again the high place which Hezekiah his father had destroyed," etc. How did he act as a parent? Was he anxious for the virtue and happiness of his children? No, "he caused his children to pass through the fire of the son of Hinnom." 2. Look at him religiously — dupe of the most stupid imposture. "He observed times and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards." 3. Look at him politically ruining his country, provoking the indignation of heaven." So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel." This elevation of the secular, and the degradation of the spiritual, so manifest in the life of this monarch, and so manifest, alas, in all times and lands, is not destitute of many grave and startling suggestions. First: It shows the moral disorganisation of the human world. This state of things can never be, according to the original plan of the creation. A terrible convulsion has happened to the human world; a convulsion that has thrown every part in disorder. "All the foundations of the earth are out of course." The social world is in a moral chaos. The Bible traces the cause, and propounds the remedy of this terrible disorganisation. Secondly: It shows the perverting capability of the soul. The greater the amount of worldly good a man possesses, the stronger is the appeal of the Creator for his gratitude and devotion. Moreover, the larger the amount of worldly wealth and power, the greater the facilities as well as the obligations to a life of spiritual intelligence, holiness, and piety. The perverting capability of the soul within us, may well fill us with amazement and alarm. Thirdly: It shows the high probability of a judgment. Under the government of a righteous monarch, will vice always have its banquets, its purple, and its crown? Will the great Lord allow His stewards to misappropriate His substance, and never call them to account? II. THE DEGRADATION OF THE SECULAR, AND THE ELEVATION OF THE SPIRITUAL. The judgment of God, which must ever follow sin, at length overtook the wicked monarch. The Assyrian army, under the direction of Esarhaddon, invaded the country, and carried all before it. The miserable monarch quits his palace and his throne, flies in terror of his life, and conceals himself in a thorn brake. Here he is discovered. He is bound in chains, transported to Babylon, and there cast into prison. Here is secular degradation. First: That man's circumstances are no necessary hindrances to conversion. If the question were asked, What circumstances are the most inimical to the cultivation of piety? I should unhesitatingly answer — Adversity. I am well aware indeed that adversity, as in the case before us, often succeeds in inducing religious thoughtfulness and penitence when prosperity has failed. But, notwithstanding this, I cannot regard adversity itself as the most suited to the cultivation of the religious character. Sufferings are inimical to that grateful feeling and spiritual effort which religious culture requires. It is when the system bounds with health, when Providence smiles on the path, that men are in the best position to discipline themselves into a godly life. But here we find a man in the most unfavourable circumstances — away from religions institutions, and friends, and books, an ironbound exile in a pagan land — beginning to think of his ways, and directing his feet into the paths of holiness. Such a case as this meets all the excuses which men offer for their want of religion. It is often said, "Were we in such and such circumstances, we would be religious." The rich man says, "Were I in humble life, more free from the anxieties, cares, responsibilities, and associations of my position, I would live a godly life; whilst the poor, on the other hand, says, with far more reason, "Were my spirit not pressed down by the crushing forces of poverty; had I sufficient of worldly goods to remove me from all necessary anxiety, I would give my mind to religion, and serve my God." The man in the midst of excitement and bustle of commercial life, says, "Were I in a more retired situation, in some moral region away from the eternal din of business — away in quiet fields, and under clear skies, amidst the music of birds and brooks, I would serve my Maker." The fact, after all, is that circumstances are no necessary hindrances or helps to a religious life. Secondly: That heaven's mercy is greater than man's iniquities. III. THE CONCURRENT ELEVATION BOTH OF THE SPIRITUAL AND THE SECULAR. The Almighty hears his prayer. He is emancipated from his bondage, brought back to his own country, and restored to the throne of Israel. There he is now with a true heart, in a noble position — a real great man occupying a great office. This is a rare scene; and yet the only scene in accordance with the real constitution of things and the will of God. It seems to me that if man had remained in innocence, his outward position would always have been the product and type of his inner soul. Manasseh's restoration to the throne, and the work of reformation to which he sets himself, suggests two subjects for thought. First: The tendency of godliness to promote man's secular elevation. The monarch comes back in spirit to God, and God brings him back to his throne. As the material condition of men depends upon their moral, improve the latter, and you improve the former. As the world gets spiritually holier, it will get secularly happier. Secondly: The tendency of penitence to make restitution. Concerning Manasseh it is thus written: "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," etc. Here is restitution, and an earnest endeavour to undo the mischief which he had wrought. Thus Zaceheus acted, and thus all true penitents have ever acted and will ever act. True penitence has a restitutionary instinct. But how little, alas! of the mischief done can be undone! ( Homilist. ) And bound him with fetters. 2 Chronicles 33:10, 11 Divine discipline The proper way for a sinner to be brought to God is for God to speak to him, and for him to hear. Manasseh would not come that way, so God fetched him back by a rougher road. I. THE LORD OFTEN ALLOWS TEMPORAL TRIALS TO TAKE MEN CAPTIVE. 1. Business disasters. 2. Want of employment. 3. Extraordinary troubles. 4. Bodily affliction. 5. The loss of dear friends. II. THE LORD SOMETIMES ALLOWS MEN TO BE BOUND BY MENTAL TRIALS; " bound with fetters." Such as — 1. When sin ceases to afford pleasure. The very things that once made him all aglow with delight do not affect him now, nor cast a single ray of light on his path. 2. The daily avocation becomes distasteful. 3. There is great inability in prayer. 4. Your old sins come out of their hiding-places. 5. A great want of power to grasp the promises. 6. A fear of death and dread of judgment.Conclusion: In order to your comfort and peace — 1. Know that the Lord is God. 2. Humble yourself before Him. 3. Begin to pray. 4. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God. 2 Chronicles 33:12, 18 Manasseh's wickedness and penitence T.B. Baker. I. MANSSSEH'S CAREER IN CRIME. II. HIS RETURN TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF GOD. III. THE GRACIOUS RESULTS OF HIS PENITENCE. Improvement. 1. The lamentable wickedness and duplicity of the human heart. 2. The freeness, fulness, and efficacy of Divine grace. 3. The consequences of salvation are reformation and obedience. ( T.B. Baker. ) Manasseh Homilist. Manasseh is an eminent instance of the power, richness, and freeness of the Divine mercy. Observe — I. THE SINS WHICH HE COMMITTED. 1. Their contributory cause. His early freedom from restraint, his coming to supreme power when only twelve years of age. 2. Their special nature. The catalogue is appalling. 3. Their aggravated nature. (1) They were committed in defiance of religious education, and of the admonitions and example of his father. (2) They were of more than common enormity. (3) They were productive of more than ordinary evil to others. (4) They were in defiance of the expostulations of the prophets (ver. 10). II. THE REPENTANCE WHICH HE EXERCISED. 1. Its cause. (1) Its more remote cause was probably his religious education. The case of Manasseh is not discouraging to training children in the way they should go. (2) The immediate cause was affliction. 2. Its nature. (1) Deep conviction of sin. (2) Deep contrition. (3) Earnest prayer. (4) Reformation of life. III. THE MERCIES WHICH MANASSEH RECEIVED. 1. Temporal nature. 2. Spiritual He was brought to the spiritual knowledge of the God of his salvation. "Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God." This knowledge led him to fear, trust, love, and obey. This obedience was accompanied by the deepest self-renunciation and abasement to the end of his life. Lessons. 1. To those who are insensible of their sinfulness. 2. To those who are ready to sink into despair under the weight of their sinfulness. 3. To those who are disposed to presume on the mercy of God. Manasseh's son Amon was quickly cut off in the midst of his sins (vers. 21-28). He seems to be a beacon set up close by the side of his penitent and accepted father, to warn all persons against presuming on the mercy manifested to Manasseh. ( Homilist. ) Manasseh's repentance Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. I. HIS CHARACTER AS A SINNER. 1. He was a notorious sinner. 2. He was not a hopeless sinner. II. HIS CONDUCT AS A PENITENT. 1. The period of his repentance is specified. "When he was in affliction." 2. The nature of his repentance is described. (1) Deep humility. (2) Fervent prayer. These invariably distinguish the conduct of every true penitent ( Jeremiah 31:18, 19 ; Luke 18:13 ; Acts 9:11 ). III. HIS SALVATION AS A BELIEVER. 1. He obtained the pardoning mercy of God. 2. He received a saving knowledge of God ( Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons. ) Manasseh humbled J. Slade, M. A. I. THE BENEFIT OF AFFLICTIONS IN BRINGING THE .SINNER TO A TRUE SENSE OF HIS CONDITION AND CONVERTING HIM TO GOD. II. THE MERCY OF GOD IN SO BRINGING AND RECEIVING HIM. III. THE REMAINING AND LASTING PORTION OF THE EVIL OF SIN, EVEN AFTER THE INDIVIDUAL IS PARDONED. In the Second Book of Kings it is repeatedly declared that Judah was destroyed on account of the sons of Manasseh. 1. A man looks back with sorrow and contrite concern upon the follies and sins of his youth; but what of his companions in guilt? Some, perhaps, whom he seduced into sin, and many whom he encouraged and confirmed in sin. 2. Some writers have employed their pens in the odious cause of immorality and irreligion. Such persons have lamented their errors; but the publication has done its work; the poison has been circulated, and the corruption is incurable. ( J. Slade, M. A. ) The conversion of Manasseh S. Kidd. I. THAT EARLY ADVANTAGES MAY BE SUCCEEDED BY COMPLICATED SIN. II. THAT SIN IS FREQUENTLY THE CAUSE OF SEVERE AFFLICTION. III. THAT AFFLICTION, WHEN SANCTIFIED, EXALTS TO PRAYER, AND PROMOTES HUMILIATION. IV. THAT PRAYER AND HUMILIATION ARE ALWAYS ATTENDED WITH DISTINGUISHED BLESSINGS, AND PRODUCE VALUABLE EFFECTS. V. FROM THE WHOLE. 1. The patience of God. 2. The sovereignty of God. 3. The wisdom of God in adapting means to the conversion of men. 4. The mercy of God in saving the chief of sinners. ( S. Kidd. ) The repentance of Manasseh A. E. Farrar. We will connect the important change which took place in the mind of Manasseh — I. WITH HIS EARLY ADVANTAGES. John Newton states somewhere, "When I was in the deepest misery, and when I was committing the most atrocious sin, I always seemed to feel the hand of my sainted mother pressing my head." II. WITH THE AFFLICTIONS BY WHICH IT WAS PRODUCED. III. WITH THE EFFECTS WHICH IT UNFOLDED. IV. WITH THE SOVEREIGNTY OF DIVINE GRACE. ( A. E. Farrar. ) Manasseh brought to repentance Monday Club Sermons. I. HIS LIFE OF SIN. 1. It was in direct contrast to the good reign of. his father. 2. His sin involved many in guilt. He "made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err." 3. He was not moved by the sight of the same wickedness in those whom he despised ( 2 Kings 21:9 ). 4. His sin was not checked by God's punishment of others. The heathen had been driven out from the land because of their wickedness. Judah occupied their place and adopted their vice. II. THE LIFE OF MANASSEH UNDER GOD'S CHASTISEMENT. We learn from recently discovered Assyrian inscriptions what is meant by "among the thorns." The word thus translated means a hook, which was put through the under lips of captives. The depths of Manasseh's degradation may be imagined. Yet it was sent in mercy to turn him to God. III. HIS REPENTANCE AND RESTORATION. IV. HIS RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE WORSHIP OF GOD. Lessons. 1. Never to be ashamed of repentance. 2. We see the meaning of God's chastisements. 3. The power of a single man when he has turned from sin to God. 4. The necessity of solitary communion with God. 5. The patient love of God. ( Monday Club Sermons. ) The conversion of an aged transgressor H. Belfrage, D.D. I. Let us attend to THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH BY THE GRACE OF GOD LED TO THE CONVERSION OF MANASSEH. 1. Affliction. 2. Solitary reflection. 3. Prayer. II. Consider next HOW THE GRACE OF GOD OPERATED IN MANASSEH. 1. He humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 2. He was made to know that the Lord was God. 3. He brought forth fruits meet for repentance. III. THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MADE HIS CONVERSION PECULIARLY STRIKING. 1. It was the conversion of an atrocious sinner. 2. Of an aged sinner. 3. It took place at a distance from the ordinary means of grace . ( H. Belfrage, D.D. ) Manasseh F. Storr, M.A. God contents not Himself to have left on record in His word declarations and promises of grace as beacons of hope to the sinner. We have examples also of His acts of grace. Abounding iniquity, and more abounding grace, are the special features presented to us in this history of Manasseh. I. ABOUNDING INIQUITY marked Manasseh's course. 1. He was the son of Hezekiah the servant of the Lord. We place this foremost as an aggravation of his sin, that in spite of a father's example he cast off the fear of the Lord and sinned with a high hand against his God. That father, indeed, was early taken from him, for Manasseh was but twelve years old when he began to reign; still, the memory of Hezekiah's piety could not have been utterly forgotten. Too marked had been the interposition of Jehovah in that father's deliverance from Assyria and in his recovery from sickness for the report to have passed away. But Manasseh heeded not these things; "he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger." 2. Manasseh added to his disregard of a godly parent this iniquity also, that he led his children unto sin," he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom."... Some godless parents have shown a happy inconsistency, in that whilst pursuing themselves that path "whose end is destruction," they have desired for their offspring that they should seek the Lord. The force of example, indeed, meeting as it does with "the evil that is bound up in the heart of a child," will in such cases often prove too powerful to be withstood. But Manasseh took no such course, but dedicated his children as well as himself to the service of the false gods. Alas, the reproducing power of evil! Thou that art a citizen of the world, intent on gain or pleasure, can it be expected but that thy children should walk after thee in the same destructive road? 3. Manasseh bade defiance to Jehovah in His own sanctuary. Not only did he build again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed, but "he set a carved image," the idol which he had made, "in the house of God." It was not enough that he himself should bow down to idols, and that his children should also do them homage, but with yet more prsumptuous sin he declared himself, in the face of all Israel, an idolater, and desecrated to this base end the very temple, of which the Lord had said, "My Name shall be there." It is the very character of Jehovah that He is "a jealous God," "His glory will He not give to another." 4. But further, Manasseh "shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another." The faithful who warned him were doubtless the ones especially sacrificed to his vengeance, and it is supposed that Isaiah suffered death under this fearful persecutor of the Church of God. For the wickedness of Manasseh could not plead this even in palliation that he was unrebuked: "The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken." What depth of malignity is there in the unchanged soul! what pollutions! what ingratitude! what rebellion! Were it not for the restraining grace of God, what a scene of bloodshed and of all enormity would this earth be! II. MORE ABOUNDING STILL THE GRACE OF GOD. 1. In chastisement the first faint streak of mercy manifested itself. The voice of plenty had spoken to him in vain, the voice of warning had been treated with neglect, but now the voice of correction speaks in tones not to be gainsaid. The alarm of war is heard in that guilty court. 2. His deep penitence bore witness to the workings of grace. He humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers That word "greatly" speaks much as recorded by the Spirit of truth. As with the gospel itself, so with the chastenings of the Lord, they are either "a savour of life unto life, or of death unto death." 3. The voice of prayer went up from that prison-house, "He besought the Lord... and prayed unto Him." Tears, many it may be, fell before one prayer was uttered. 4. Abounding grace, shone forth, too, in the answer granted to prayer. "God was intreated of him." He heard his cry, and hope sprung up in his downcast soul. 5. The workings of God's grace were further evidenced by the fruits of faith in life according to godliness. Manasseh restored to his kingdom, has now but one object in view, the glory of God, and that object he consistently pursued. The idol is east out from the temple, and the altars of the false gods out of the city, and the people are commanded "to serve the Lord God of Israel." He turned not aside from his purpose to bring back to Jehovah those whom formerly he had led away to sin; and this godly course he pursued unto the end.Lessons. 1. The first is, that there is a fulness of grace in God as our reconciled Father in Christ Jesus beyond the power of heart to conceive, or of tongue to utter. 2. But this history also reminds us of the dreadful nature of sin. Deep are its furrows, lasting its effects. Manasseh is pardoned, but,could he repair the evil he had done? ( F. Storr, M.A. ) Manasseh We shall consider Manasseh — I. AS A SINNER. 1. He sinned against light, against a pious education and early training. It is a notorious fact that when men do go wrong after a good training they are the worst men in the world. The murder of John Williams at Erromanga was brought about by the evil doings of a trader who had gone to the island, and who was also the son of a missionary. He had become reckless in his habits, and treated the islanders with such barbarity and cruelty that they revenged his conduct upon the next white man who put his foot upon their shore. 2. He was a very bold sinner. 3. He had the power of leading others to a very large extent astray. II. AS AN UNBELIEVER. He did not believe that Jehovah was God alone. 1. The unlimited power that Manasseh possessed had a great tendency to make him a disbeliever. 2. His pride was another cause. 3. Another cause was his love for sin. III. AS A CONVERT. He believed in God — 1. Because God had answered his prayer. 2. Because He had forgiven his sin. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Manasseh's repentance W. H. Bennett, M.A. Manasseh is unique alike in extreme wickedness, sincere penitence, and thorough reformation. The reformation of Julius Caesar or of our own Henry V, or to take a different class of instance, the conversion of Paul, was nothing compared to the conversion of Manasseh. It was as though Herod the Great or Caesar Borgia had been checked midway in a career of cruelty and vice, and had thenceforward lived pure and holy lives, glorifying God by ministering to their fellow-men. ( W. H. Bennett, M.A. ) He was intreated of him Pardon for the greatest guilt The story of Manasseh is a very valuable one. I feel sure of this, because you meet with it twice in the Word of God. God would have us again and again dwell upon such wonders of sovereign grace as Manasseh presents to us. I. LET US EXAMINE THE CASE BEFORE US. 1. Manasseh was the son of a good father. 2. He undid all his father's actions. 3. He served false gods. 4. He desecrated the Lord's courts. There are some to-day who do this; for they make even their attendance at the house of God to be an occasion for evil. 5. He dedicated his children to the devil. Nobody here will dedicate his children to the devil, surely; yet many do. Have I not seen a father dedicate his boy to the devil, as he has encouraged him to drink? And do not many in this great city, dedicate their children to the devil by allowing them to go into all kinds of licentiousness, until they become the victims of vice? 6. He fraternised with the devil, by seeking after all kinds of supernatural witcheries and wizardries. 7. He led others astray. 8. He persecuted the people of God. It is said, — we do not know whether it was so or not, — but it is highly probable, that he caused Isaiah to be cut asunder with a wooden saw. 9. In short, Manasseh was a compound of every sort of wickedness. 10. Notwithstanding all this Manasseh was pardoned. How it came about? (1) Being in great trouble, he turned to Jehovah his God. (2) He humbled himself greatly. (3) He prayed. II. LET US CONSIDER WHY THERE SHOULD BE OTHERS LIKE MANASSEH. Judging from many probabilities, that God will save other great sinners as He saved Manasseh. 1. Because He speaks to such great sinners and commands them to repent ( Isaiah 1:16-18 ). Because of the great promises God has given to great sinners. 3. Because of the nature of God. 4. From what I know of the value of the blood of Jesus. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was God Forgiveness and the knowledge of God W. H. Bennett, M.A. Men first begin to know God when they are forgiven. What did the prodigal know about his father when he asked for the portion of goods that fell to him, or while he was wasting his substance in riotous living? Because love and forgiveness are more strange and unearthly than rebuke and chastisement, the sinner is humbled by pardon far more than by punishment; and his trembling submission to the righteous Judge deepens into profounder reverence and awe for the God who can forgive, who is superior to all vindictiveness, whose infinite resources enable Him to blot out the guilt, to cancel the penalty, and annul the consequences of sin . ( W. H. Bennett, M.A. ) But Amon transgressed more and more. 2 Chronicles 33:23 Consolidation in the forces of evil J. Parker, D. D. It is wonderful what evil can be done with a profession of religion. Amen was sacrificing unto all the carved images; he was so religious as to be irreligious; he reached the point of exaggeration, and that point is blasphemy. When there is mere ignorance, God in His lovingkindness and tender mercy often closes His eyes as if He could not see what is being done: but when it is not ignorance but violence, determination, real obstinacy in the way of evil, and utter recklessness as to what it may cost — what if God should be compelled to open His eyes, and look the evil man full in the face, and condemn him by silent observation? It is wonderful, too, how much evil can be done in a little time. Nothing is so easy as evil. A man could almost fell a forest before he could grow one tree. Every blow tells: every bad word becomes a great blot: there is an infinite contagion in evil; it affects every one, it poisons quickly, it makes a harvest in the night-time. To do good how much time is required! How few people will believe that we are doing good! We have to encounter suspicion, criticism, distrust; men say, "We must wait to see the end; we cannot believe in the possibility of all this earnestness and sacrifice"; they ask questions about its possible permanence; even good men are apt to hinder other good men in endeavouring to do good. But evil has no such disadvantages to contend with. There is a consolidation in the forces of evil that is not known among the forces of good. It would seem as if the poet's description were right — "Devil with devil damned, firm concord holds." It may be that in that energetic expression Milton has stated the reality of the case. ( J. Parker, D. D. ) Josiah his son king in his stead. 2 Chronicles 33:25 Far-reaching heredity J. Parker, D. D. Josiah was the son of Amon — which is equal to saying that the greatest sinner of his day was the progenitor of one of the finest saints that ever prayed. If that is not a miracle, what is meant by the term miracle? Read the account and say if it be not the reading of music: — "And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father" ( 2 Chronicles 34:2 ) "and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left." Then he had more fathers than one. That is the explanation. You are not the son of the man that went immediately before you; you are only his son in a very incidental manner. Josiah was the son of "David his father" — the larger father, the deeper root, the elect of God; a sun fouled by many a black spot, but a shining orb notwithstanding. We must enlarge our view if we would come to right conclusions regarding many mysteries. Amen was but a link in the chain. The bad man here, or the good man there, taken in his solitariness, is but a comparatively trivial incident in life's tragedy. Heredity is not from one to two; it is from one to the last; from the beginning to the ending. In every man there lives all the humanity that ever lived. We are fearfully and wonderfully made — not physically only, but morally, religiously, temperamentally. All the kings live in the last king or the reigning monarch. We are one humanity. Solidarity has its lessons as well as individuality. We know not which of our ancestors comes up in us at this moment or that — now the tiger, now the eagle; now the praying mother, now the daring sire; now some mean soul that got into the current by a mystery never to be explained; now the cunning, watchful, patient deceiver, who can wait for nights at a time and never complain of the dark or the cold, and now the hero that never had a fear, the philanthropist that loved the world, the mother that never looked otherwise than God Himself would have her look. We can never tell which of our ancestors is really thinking in us, speaking through us; we cannot tell the accent of the immediate consciousness; — these are mysteries, and when the judgment comes it will be based upon all the ground, and not upon incidental points here and there ( J. Parker, D. D. ).

Benson Commentary 2 Chronicles 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: 2 Chronicles 33:1 . Manasseh was twelve years old, &c. — This and the following verses, to 2 Chronicles 33:11 , are taken out of 2 Kings 21:1 , &c., where the reader will find them explained. 2 Chronicles 33:2 But did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 2 Chronicles 33:3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 2 Chronicles 33:4 Also he built altars in the house of the LORD, whereof the LORD had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 2 Chronicles 33:5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 2 Chronicles 33:6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 2 Chronicles 33:7 And he 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 before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 2 Chronicles 33:8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. 2 Chronicles 33:9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen, whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel. 2 Chronicles 33:10 And the LORD spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. 2 Chronicles 33:11 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. 2 Chronicles 33:11 . The Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria — Some suppose that Esar-haddon, the successor of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is here meant, and that, in consequence of the royal family failing in Babylon, he found means to bring that kingdom under his yoke again; or that, by force of arms, or some other means, he recovered it from Merodach-Baladan. They say that he held it thirteen years, and that it was during this time that Manasseh was taken and carried captive to Babylon. Others think it more probable that the king of Babylon is here called the king of Assyria, because he had added Assyria to his empire, and that having been informed by his ambassadors of the great riches which were in Hezekiah’s treasures at Jerusalem, and being assured of Manasseh’s degeneracy from the piety of his father, and from that God whose power alone made Hezekiah formidable, he thought this a fit season to invade Manasseh’s kingdom, which the Jews say he did, in the twenty- second year of his reign. Which took Manasseh among the thorns — In some thicket where he thought to have hid himself from the Assyrians till he could make an escape: or, as the Hebrew ?????? , bachochim, may be rendered, with hooks, metaphorically speaking; or, in his forts, that is, in one of them. 2 Chronicles 33:12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, 2 Chronicles 33:12 . When he was in affliction he besought the Lord his God — Being “deprived of his authority and liberty, and secluded from his evil counsellors and companions, and from all his pleasures, in chains, and in a prison, without any other prospect than of ending his days in that wretched situation, he had leisure to reflect on what had passed. He then, no doubt, recollected the honour, prosperity, and deliverances with which his father had been favoured; his own good education, with the instruction and warnings of the prophets; and his atrocious, multiplied, and daring crimes: and he remembered that his miseries had been foretold by his faithful monitors. Thus, by the special grace of God, his solitude and affliction brought him to view his own conduct and character in another light than before, and he began to cry for mercy and deliverance, humbling himself greatly before the God of his fathers.” — Scott. Bishop Hall remarks, from this verse, the truth of that saying of the prophet, Affliction giveth understanding. “If the cross bear us not to heaven,” says he, “nothing can. What use were there of the grain, but for the edge of the sickle, wherewith it is cut down; the stroke of the flail, wherewith it is beaten; the weight and attrition of the mill, wherewith it is crushed; the fire of the oven, wherewith it is baked? Say now, Manasseh, with that grand-father of thine, It is good for me that I have been afflicted; thine iron was more precious to thee than thy gold; thy jail was a more happy lodging to thee than thy palace; Babylon was a better school to thee than Jerusalem. How foolish are we to frown upon our afflictions! These, how severe soever, are our best friends: they are not indeed for our pleasure, they are for our profit; their issue makes them worthy of a welcome. What do we care how bitter that potion is which brings us health?” 2 Chronicles 33:13 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. 2 Chronicles 33:13 . Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God — He was convinced, by his own experience, of God’s power, justice, and goodness; that Jehovah alone was the true God, and not those idols which he had worshipped, by which he had received great hurt and no good. He might have known this at a less expense, if he would have given due attention and credit to the word written and preached: but it was better to pay thus dear for the knowledge of God, than perish in ignorance and unbelief. 2 Chronicles 33:14 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. 2 Chronicles 33:14 . After this he built a wall without the city of David — He repaired and strengthened that wall which Hezekiah had built, ( 2 Chronicles 32:5 ,) and which, possibly, the king of Assyria, or of Babylon rather, when he last took Jerusalem, had caused to be thrown down, either wholly or in part. On the west side of Gihon — On the west side of the city of David, to which Hezekiah had brought the watercourse down, mentioned 2 Chronicles 32:30 , into the great pool which he had made to receive it: and possibly this wall was built to secure the free use of it to the citizens, when they should be distressed or besieged by an enemy. 2 Chronicles 33:15 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. 2 Chronicles 33:15-16 . He took away the strange gods — The images of them, and that idol, whatever it was, which he had set up with so much solemnity in the house of the Lord. And all the altars — The idolatrous altars, as detestable things, loathing them as much, it is to be hoped, as ever he had loved them. And he repaired the altar of the Lord — Which had either been abused or broken down by some of the idolatrous priests, or at least neglected, and was therefore gone out of repair. And sacrificed thereon peace-offerings — To implore God’s favour; and thank-offerings — To praise him for his deliverance. And commanded Judah to serve the Lord — Using his power to reform his people, as he had before abused it to corrupt them. Thus he brought forth fruit meet for repentance, and endeavoured, as far as he could, to repair the injuries which he had done to the cause of God by his impious commands, 2 Chronicles 33:9 . Observe, reader, those that truly repent of their sins, will not only return to God themselves, but will do all they can to bring those back to him that have, by their example, been seduced and drawn away from him. 2 Chronicles 33:16 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. 2 Chronicles 33:17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places, yet unto the LORD their God only. 2 Chronicles 33:17 . Nevertheless, the people did sacrifice still, &c. — “Rabbi Kimchi observes very well here, that though Manasseh’s repentance might be sincere, yet it was attended with a melancholy circumstance, which ought to sound in the ear of every one invested with power, His example and authority easily seduced his people to idolatry; but his royal mandate was unable to reclaim them.” — Dodd. He could not carry the reformation so far as he had carried the corruption. It is an easy thing to debauch men’s manners; but not so easy to reform them again. 2 Chronicles 33:18 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. 2 Chronicles 33:18 . The words of the seers that spake to him in the name of the Lord — The reproofs they gave him for his sin, and their exhortations to repentance. Let sinners consider, that how little notice soever they take of them, an account is kept of the words of the seers, that speak to them from God, to admonish them of their sins, and warn them of their danger, and call them to their duty, which words will be produced against them in the great day. They are written in the books of the kings of Israel — Of Judah, often called Israel. He speaks not of the books of Kings, for these things are not mentioned there, but of their public records, whence the most important things were taken by the prophets, and put into those canonical books. 2 Chronicles 33:19 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. 2 Chronicles 33:19 . His prayer also — Which is twice mentioned as remarkable. We have a prayer which, it is pretended, he made in prison. The church does not receive it as canonical; but it has a place among the apocryphal pieces, and, in our collection, stands before the books of Maccabees. The Greek church has received it into its book of prayers, and it is there sometimes used as a devout form, and which contains nothing in it deserving censure. And how God was entreated of him — Which was written for the generations to come, that the people that should be created might praise the Lord, for his readiness to receive returning prodigals. They are written among the sayings of the seers — To those seers that spake to him, ( 2 Chronicles 33:18 ,) to reprove him for his sin, he sent his confession, when he repented, to be inserted in their memoirs, as a token of his gratitude to them for their kindness in reproving him. Thus it becomes penitents to take shame to themselves, and to give thanks to their reprovers, and warning to others. 2 Chronicles 33:20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. 2 Chronicles 33:20 . And they buried him in his own house — Not in the sepulchres of the kings. He was buried privately, and nothing of that honour was done him, at his death, that was done to his father. Penitents may recover their comfort sooner than their credit. 2 Chronicles 33:21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 33:22 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; 2 Chronicles 33:22 . He did that which was evil, as did Manasseh his father — That is, as Manasseh had done in the days of his apostacy. They who think the wickedness of Amon an evidence that Manasseh did not truly repent, forget how many good kings had wicked sons. Manasseh, however, seems to have been very deficient in this after his repentance, that when he cast out the images, he did not utterly deface and destroy them, according to the law, which required them to burn the images with fire, Deuteronomy 7:5 . How necessary that law was, this instance shows; for the carved images being only thrown by, and not burned, Amon, knowing where to find them, soon set them up, and sacrificed to them. 2 Chronicles 33:23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. 2 Chronicles 33:23 . And humbled not himself &c. — He fell, like his father, but did not rise again like him. It is not so much sin, as impenitence in sin, that ruins men; not so much that they have offended, as that they do not humble themselves for, and forsake their offences; not the disease, but the neglect of the remedy. But Amon trespassed more and more — Increased in wickedness of every kind, and especially in his attachment to various and abominable idolatries. They that were joined to idols, generally grew more and more mad upon them. 2 Chronicles 33:24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house. 2 Chronicles 33:24 . His servants conspired against him — He rebelled against God, and his own servants rebelled against him, and that when he had reigned but two years. Thus, though they were wicked, God was righteous. Perhaps when he sinned, as his father did, in the beginning of his days, he promised himself that he would repent, as his father had done, in the latter end of his days. But if so, he was wretchedly mistaken, being cut off when he was young. And his case shows what madness it is to presume upon repenting and turning to God when we are old. Reader, behold, now is the accepted time! let it be to thee the day of salvation! remember, thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. To-day, then, hear his voice, and harden not thy heart. 2 Chronicles 33:25 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. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Chronicles 33:1 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: MANASSEH: REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS 2 Chronicles 33:1-25 In telling the melancholy story of the wickedness of Manasseh in the first period of his reign, the chronicler reproduces the book of Kings, with one or two omissions and other slight alterations. He omits the name of Manasseh’s mother; she was called Hephzi-bah-"My pleasure is in her." In any case, when the son of a godly father turns out badly, and nothing is known about the mother, uncharitable people might credit her with his wickedness. But the chronicler’s readers were familiar with the great influence of the queen-mother in Oriental states. When they read that the son of Hezekiah came to the throne at the age of twelve and afterwards gave himself up to every form of idolatry, they would naturally ascribe his departure from his father’s ways to the suggestions of his mother. The chronicler is not willing that the pious Hezekiah should lie under the imputation of having taken delight in an ungodly woman, and so her name is omitted. The contents of 2 Kings 21:10-16 are also omitted; they consist of a prophetic utterance and further particulars as to the sins of Manasseh; they are virtually replaced by the additional information in Chronicles. From the point of view of the chronicler, the history of Manasseh in the book of Kings was far from satisfactory. The earlier writer had not only failed to provide materials from which a suitable moral could be deduced, but he had also told the story so that undesirable conclusions might be drawn. Manasseh sinned more wickedly than any other king of Judah: Ahaz merely polluted and closed the Temple, but Manasseh "built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the Temple," and set up in it an idol. And yet in the earlier narrative this most wicked king escaped without any personal punishment at all. Moreover, length of days was one of the rewards which Jehovah was wont to bestow upon the righteous; but while Ahaz was cut off at thirty-six, in the prime of manhood, Manasseh survived to the mature age of sixty-seven, and reigned fifty-five years. However, the history reached the chronicler in a more satisfactory form. Manasseh was duly punished, and his long reign fully accounted for. When, in spite of Divine warning, Manasseh and his people persisted in their sin, Jehovah sent against them "the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon." The Assyrian invasion referred to here is partially confirmed by the fact that the name of Manasseh occurs amongst the tributaries of Esarhaddon and his successor, Assurbanipal. The mention of Babylon as his place of captivity rather than Nineveh may be accounted for by supposing that Manasseh was taken prisoner in the reign of Esarhaddon. This king of Assyria rebuilt Babylon, and spent much of his time there. He is said to have been of a kindly disposition, and to have exercised towards other royal captives the same clemency which he extended to Manasseh. For the Jewish king’s misfortunes led him to repentance: "When he was in trouble, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him." Amongst the Greek Apocrypha is found a "Prayer of Manasses," doubtless intended by its author to represent the prayer referred to in Chronicles. In it Manasseh celebrates the Divine glory, confesses his great wickedness, and asks that his penitence may be accepted and that he may obtain deliverance. If these were the terms of Manasseh’s prayers, they were heard and answered; and the captive king returned to Jerusalem a devout worshipper and faithful servant of Jehovah. He at once set to work to undo the evil he had wrought in the former period of his reign. He took away the idol and the heathen altars from the Temple, restored the altar of Jehovah, and reestablished the Temple services. In earlier days he had led the people into idolatry; now he commanded them to serve Jehovah, and the people obediently followed the king’s example. Apparently he found it impracticable to interfere with the high places; but they were so far purified from corruption that, though the people still sacrificed at these illegal sanctuaries, they worshipped exclusively Jehovah, the God of Israel. Like most of the pious kings, his prosperity was partly shown by his extensive building operations. Following in the footsteps of Jotham, he strengthened or repaired the fortifications of Jerusalem, especially about Ophel. He further provided for the safety of his dominions by placing captains, and doubtless also garrisons, in the fenced cities of Judah. The interest taken by the Jews of the second Temple in the history of Manasseh is shown by the fact that the chronicler is able to mention, not only the "Acts of the Kings of Israel," but a second authority: "The History of the Seers." The imagination of the Targumists and other later writers embellished the history of Manasseh’s captivity and release with many striking and romantic circumstances. The life of Manasseh practically completes the chronicler’s series of object-lessons in the doctrine of retribution; the history of the later kings only provides illustrations similar to those already given. These object-lessons are closely connected with the teaching of Ezekiel. In dealing with the question of heredity in guilt, the prophet is led to set forth the character and fortunes of four different classes of men. First { Ezekiel 18:20 } we have two simple cases: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. These have been respectively illustrated by the prosperity of Solomon and Jotham and the misfortunes of Jehoram, Ahaziah, Athaliah, and Ahaz. Again, departing somewhat from the order of Ezekiel-"When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations of the wicked man, shall he live? None of his righteous deeds that he hath done shall be remembered; in his trespass that he hath trespassed and in his sin that he hath sinned he shall die"-here we have the principle that in Chronicles governs the Divine dealings with the kings who began to reign well and then fell away into sin: Asa, Joash, Amaziah, and Uzziah. We reached this point in our discussion of the doctrine of retribution in connection with Asa. So far the lessons taught were salutary: they might deter from sin; but they were gloomy and depressing: they gave little encouragement to hope for success in the struggle after righteousness, and suggested that few would escape terrible penalties of failure. David and Solomon formed a class by themselves; an ordinary man could not aspire to their almost supernatural virtue. In his later history the chronicler is chiefly bent on illustrating the frailty of man and the wrath of God. The New Testament teaches a similar lesson when it asks, "If the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" { 1 Peter 4:18 } But in Chronicles not even the righteous is saved. Again and again we are told at a king’s accession that he "did that which was good and right in the eyes of Jehovah"; and yet before the reign closes he forfeits the Divine favor, and at last dies ruined and disgraced. But this somber picture is relieved by occasional gleams of light. Ezekiel furnishes a fourth type of religious experience: "If the wicked turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all My statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live; he shall not die. None of his transgressions that he hath committed shall be remembered against him; in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, saith the Lord Jehovah, and not rather that he should return from his way and live?" { Ezekiel 18:21-23 } The one striking and complete example of this principle is the history of Manasseh. It is true that Rehoboam also repented, but the chronicler does not make it clear that his repentance was permanent. Manasseh is unique alike in extreme wickedness, sincere penitence, and thorough reformation. The reformation of Julius Caesar or of our Henry V, or, to take a different class of instance, the conversion of St. Paul, was nothing compared to the conversion of Manasseh. It was as though Herod the Great or Caesar Borgia had been checked midway in a career of cruelty and vice, and had thenceforward lived pure and holy lives, glorifying God by ministering to their fellow-men. Such a repentance gives us hope for the most abandoned. In the forgiveness of Manasseh the penitent sinner receives assurance that God will forgive even the most guilty. The account of his closing years shows that even a career of desperate wickedness in the past need not hinder the penitent from rendering acceptable service to God and ending his life in the enjoyment of Divine favor and blessing. Manasseh becomes in the Old Testament what the Prodigal Son is in the New: the one great symbol of the possibilities of human nature and the infinite mercy of God. The chronicler’s theology is as simple and straightforward as that of Ezekiel. Manasseh repents, submits himself, and is forgiven. His captivity apparently had expiated his guilt, as far as expiation was necessary. Neither prophet nor chronicler was conscious of the moral difficulties that have been found in so simple a plan of salvation. The problems of an objective atonement had not yet risen above their horizon. These incidents afford another illustration of the necessary limitations of ritual. In the great crisis of Manasseh’s spiritual life, the Levitical ordinances played no part; they moved on a lower level, and ministered to less urgent needs. Probably the worship of Jehovah was still suspended during Manasseh’s captivity; none the less Manasseh was able to make his peace with God. Even if they were punctually observed, of what use were services at the Temple in Jerusalem to a penitent sinner at Babylon? When Manasseh returned to Jerusalem, he restored the Temple worship, and offered sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving; nothing is said about sin-offerings. His sacrifices were not the condition of his pardon, but the seal and token of a reconciliation already effected. The experience of Manasseh anticipated that of the Jews of the Captivity: he discovered the possibility of fellowship with Jehovah, far away from the Holy Land, without temple, priest, or sacrifice. The chronicler, perhaps unconsciously, already foreshadows the coming of the hour when men should worship the Father neither in the holy mountain of Samaria nor yet in Jerusalem. Before relating the outward acts which testified the sincerity of Manasseh’s repentance, the chronicler devotes a single sentence to the happy influence of forgiveness and deliverance upon Manasseh himself. When his prayer had been heard, and his exile was at an end, then Manasseh knew and acknowledged that Jehovah was God. Men first begin to know God when they have been forgiven. The alienated and disobedient, if they think of Him at all, merely have glimpses of His vengeance and try to persuade themselves that He is a stern Tyrant. By the penitent not yet assured of the possibility of reconciliation God is chiefly thought of as a righteous Judge. What did the Prodigal Son know about his father when he asked for the portion of goods that fell to him or while he was wasting his substance in riotous living? Even when he came to himself, he thought of the father’s house as a place where there was bread enough and to spare; and he supposed that his father might endure to see him living at home in permanent disgrace, on the footing of a hired servant. When he reached home, after he had been met a great way off with compassion and been welcomed with an embrace, he began for the first time to understand his father’s character. So the knowledge of God’s love dawns upon the soul in the blessed experience of forgiveness; and because love and forgiveness are more strange and unearthly than rebuke and chastisement, the sinner is humbled by pardon far more than by punishment; and his trembling submission to the righteous Judge deepens into profounder reverence and awe for the God who can forgive, who is superior to all vindictiveness, whose infinite resources enable Him to blot out the guilt, to cancel the penalty, and annul the consequences of sin. "There is forgiveness with Thee, That Thou mayest be feared." The words that stand in the forefront of the Lord’s Prayer, "Hallowed be Thy name," are virtually a petition that sinners may repent, and be converted, and obtain forgiveness. In seeking for a Christian parallel to the doctrine expounded by Ezekiel and illustrated by Chronicles, we have to remember that the permanent elements in primitive doctrine are often to be found by removing the limitations which imperfect faith has imposed on the possibilities of human nature and Divine mercy. We have already suggested that the chronicler’s somewhat rigid doctrine of temporal rewards and punishments symbolizes the inevitable influence of conduct on the development of character. The doctrine of God’s attitude towards backsliding and repentance seems somewhat arbitrary as set forth by Ezekiel and Chronicles. A man apparently is not to be judged by his whole life, but only by the moral period that is closed by his death. If his last years be pious, his former transgressions are forgotten; if his last years be evil, his righteous deeds are equally forgotten. While we gratefully accept the forgiveness of sinners, such teaching as to backsliders seems a little cynical; and though, by God’s grace and discipline, a man may be led through and out of sin into righteousness, we are naturally suspicious of a life of "righteous deeds" which towards its close lapses into gross and open sin. " Nemo repente turpissimus fit. " We are inclined to believe that the final lapse reveals the true bias of the whole character. But the chronicler suggests more than this: by his history of the almost uniform failure of the pious kings to persevere to the end, he seems to teach that the piety of early and mature life is either unreal or else is unable to survive as body and mind wear out. This doctrine has sometimes, inconsiderately no doubt, been taught from Christian pulpits; and yet the truth of which the doctrine is a misrepresentation supplies a correction of the former principle that a life is to be judged by its close. Putting aside any question of positive sin, a man’s closing years sometimes seem cold, narrow, and selfish when once he was full of tender and considerate sympathy; and yet the man is no Asa or Amaziah who has deserted the living God for idols of wood and stone. The man has not changed, only our impression of him. Unconsciously we are influenced by the contrast between his present state and the splendid energy and devotion or self-sacrifice that marked his prime; we forget that inaction is his misfortune, and not his fault; we overrate his ardor in the days when vigorous action was a delight for its own sake; and we overlook the quiet heroism with which remnants of strength are still utilized in the Lord’s service, and do not consider that moments of fretfulness are due to decay and disease that at once increase the need of patience and diminish the powers of endurance. Muscles and nerves slowly become less and less efficient; they fail to carry to the soul full and clear reports of the outside world; they are no longer satisfactory instruments by which the soul can express its feelings or execute its will. We are less able than ever to estimate the inner life of such by that which we see and hear. While we are thankful for the sweet serenity and loving sympathy which often make the hoary head a crown of glory, we are also entitled to judge some of God’s more militant children by their years of arduous service, and not by their impatience of enforced inactivity. If our author’s statement of these truths seem unsatisfactory, we must remember that his lack of a doctrine of the future life placed him at a serious disadvantage. He wished to exhibit a complete picture of God’s dealings with the characters of his history, so that their lives should furnish exact illustrations of the working of sin and righteousness. He was controlled and hampered by the idea that underlies many discussions in the Old Testament: that God’s righteous judgment upon a man’s actions is completely manifested during his earthly life. It may be possible to assert an eternal providence; but conscience and heart have long since revolted against the doctrine that God’s justice, to say nothing of His love, is declared by the misery of lives that might have been innocent, if they had ever had the opportunity of knowing what innocence meant. The chronicler worked on too small a scale for his subject. The entire Divine economy of Him with whom a thousand years are as one day cannot be even outlined for a single soul in the history of its earthly existence. These narratives of Jewish kings are only imperfect symbols of the infinite possibilities of the eternal providence. The moral of Chronicles is very much that of the Greek sage, "Call no man happy till he is dead"; but since Christ has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel, we no longer pass final judgment upon either the man or his happiness by what we know of his life here. The decisive revelation of character, the final judgment upon conduct, the due adjustment of the gifts and discipline of God, are deferred to a future life. When these are completed, and the soul has attained to good or evil beyond all reversal, then we shall feel, with Ezekiel and the chronicler, that there is no further need to remember either the righteous deeds or the transgressions of earlier stages of its history. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.