Chapter 32
Manasseh and Josiah
The kingdom of Judah, prosperous throughout the times of Hezekiah,
was once more brought low during the long years of Manasseh's wicked
reign, when paganism was revived, and many of the people were led into
idolatry. "Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
err, and to do worse than the heathen." 2 Chronicles 33:9. The
glorious light of former generations was followed by the darkness of
superstition and error. Gross evils sprang up and flourished--tyranny,
oppression, hatred of all that is good. Justice was perverted; violence
prevailed.
Yet those evil times were not without witnesses for God and the
right. The trying experiences through which Judah had safely passed
during Hezekiah's reign had developed, in the hearts of many, a
sturdiness of character that now served as a bulwark against the
prevailing iniquity. Their testimony in behalf of truth and
righteousness aroused the anger of Manasseh and his associates in
authority, who endeavored to establish themselves in evil-doing by
silencing every voice of disapproval. "Manasseh shed innocent blood
very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another." 2
Kings 21:16.
One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a century had
stood Judah as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. "Others had
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted,
were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was
not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and
caves of the earth." Hebrews 11:36-38.
Some of those who suffered persecution during Manasseh's reign were
commissioned to bear special messages of reproof and of judgment. The
king of Judah, the prophets declared, "hath done wickedly above all
. . . which were before him." Because of this wickedness, his
kingdom was nearing a crisis; soon the inhabitants of the land were to
be carried captive to Babylon, there to become "a prey and a spoil
to all their enemies." 2 Kings 21:11,14. But the Lord would not
utterly forsake those who in a strange land should acknowledge Him as
their Ruler; they might suffer great tribulation, yet He would bring
deliverance to them in His appointed time and way. Those who should put
their trust wholly in Him would find a sure refuge.
Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their
exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and to his people; but
the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed. As an
earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent,
the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian
soldiers, who "bound him with fetters, and carried him to
Babylon," their temporary capital. This affliction brought the king
to his senses; "he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself
greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him: and He was
entreated 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 33:11-13. But this repentance, remarkable though
it was, came too late to save the kingdom from the corrupting influence
of years of idolatrous practices. Many had stumbled and fallen, never
again to rise.
Among those whose life experience had been shaped beyond recall by
the fatal apostasy of Manasseh, was his own son, who came to the throne
at the age of twenty-two. Of King Amon it is written: "He walked in
all the way that his father walked in, and served the idols that his
father served, and worshiped them: and he forsook the Lord God of his
fathers" (2 Kings 21:21, 22); he "humbled not himself before
the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon
trespassed more and more." The wicked king was not permitted to
reign long. In the midst of his daring impiety, only two years from the
time he ascended the throne, he was slain in the palace by his own
servants; and "the people of the land made Josiah his son king in
his stead." 2 Chronicles 33:23, 25.
With the accession of Josiah to the throne, where he was to rule for
thirty-one years, those who had maintained the purity of their faith
began to hope that the downward course of the kingdom was checked; for
the new king, though only eight years old, feared God, and from the very
beginning "he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,
and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to
the right hand or to the left." 2 Kings 22:2. Born of a wicked
king, beset with temptations to follow in his father's steps, and with
few counselors to encourage him in the right way, Josiah nevertheless
was true to the God of Israel. Warned by the errors of past generations,
he chose to do right, instead of descending to the low level of sin and
degradation to which his father and his grandfather had fallen. He
"turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." As one
who was to occupy a position of trust, he resolved to obey the
instruction that had been given for the guidance of Israel's rulers, and
his obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel unto
honor.
At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years before, the
truehearted in Judah were questioning whether God's promises to ancient
Israel could ever be fulfilled. From a human point of view the divine
purpose for the chosen nation seemed almost impossible of
accomplishment. The apostasy of former centuries had gathered strength
with the passing years; ten of the tribes had been scattered among the
heathen; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained, and even these
now seemed on the verge of moral and national ruin. The prophets had
begun to foretell the utter destruction of their fair city, where stood
the temple built by Solomon, and where all their earthly hopes of
national greatness had centered. Could it be that God was about to turn
aside from His avowed purpose of bringing deliverance to those who
should put their trust in Him? In the face of the long-continued
persecution of the righteous, and of the apparent prosperity of the
wicked, could those who had remained true to God hope for better days?
These anxious questionings were voiced by the prophet Habakkuk.
Viewing the situation of the faithful in his day, he expressed the
burden of his heart in the inquiry: "O Lord, how long shall I cry,
and Thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou
wilt not save! Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold
grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that
raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and
judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the
righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth." Habakkuk 1:2-4.
God answered the cry of His loyal children. Through His chosen
mouthpiece He revealed His determination to bring chastisement upon the
nation that had turned from Him to serve the gods of the heathen. Within
the lifetime of some who were even then making inquiry regarding the
future, He would miraculously shape the affairs of the ruling nations of
earth and bring the Babylonians into the ascendancy. These Chaldeans,
"terrible and dreadful," were to fall suddenly upon the land
of Judah as a divinely appointed scourge. Verse 7. The princes of Judah
and the fairest of the people were to be carried captive to Babylon; the
Judean cities and villages and the cultivated fields were to be laid
waste; nothing was to be spared.
Confident that even in this terrible judgment the purpose of God for
His people would in some way be fulfilled, Habakkuk bowed in submission
to the revealed will of Jehovah. "Art Thou not from everlasting, O
Lord my God, mine Holy One?" he exclaimed. And then, his faith
reaching out beyond the forbidding prospect of the immediate future, and
laying fast hold on the precious promises that reveal God's love for His
trusting children, the prophet added, "We shall not die."
Verse 12. With this declaration of faith he rested his case, and that of
every believing Israelite, in the hands of a compassionate God.
This was not Habakkuk's only experience in the exercise of strong
faith. On one occasion, when meditating concerning the future, he said,
"I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will
watch to see what He will say unto me." Graciously the Lord
answered him: "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed
time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait
for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul
which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by
his faith." Habakkuk 2:1-4.
The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy and the just in
those days of deep trial was the same faith that sustains God's people
today. In the darkest hours, under circumstances the most forbidding,
the Christian believer may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all
light and power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and courage
may be renewed. "The just shall live by his faith." In the
service of God there need be no despondency, no wavering, no fear. The
Lord will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put
their trust in Him. He will give them the wisdom their varied
necessities demand.
Of the abundant provision made for every tempted soul, the apostle
Paul bears eloquent testimony. To him was given the divine assurance,
"My grace is sufficient for thee: for My strength is made perfect
in weakness." In gratitude and confidence the tried servant of God
responded: "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, them am I
strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.
We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets and
apostles have testified--the faith that lays hold on the promises of God
and waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word
of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords.
The time of waiting may seem long, the soul may be oppressed by
discouraging circumstances, many in whom confidence has been placed may
fall by the way; but with the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah
in a time of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare,
"The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence
before Him." Habakkuk 2:20. Let us ever hold in remembrance the
cheering message, "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at
the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not tarry. . . . The just shall
live by his faith." Verses 3, 4.
"O Lord, revive Thy work in the midst of the years,
In the midst of the years make known;
In wrath remember mercy.
"God came from Teman,
And the Holy One from Mount Paran.
His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise.
And His brightness was as the light;
He had bright beams out of His side:
And there was the hiding of His power.
Before Him went the pestilence,
And burning coals went forth at His feet.
He stood, and measured the earth:
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations;
And the everlasting mountains were scattered,
The perpetual hills did bow:
His ways are everlasting."
"Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people,
Even for salvation with Thine anointed."
"Although the fig tree shall not blossom,
Neither shall fruit be in the vines;
The labor of the olive shall fail,
And the fields shall yield no meat;
The flock shall be cut off from the fold,
And there shall be no herd in the stalls:
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength."
Habakkuk 3:2-6, 13, 17-19, margin.
Habakkuk was not the only one through whom was given a message of
bright hope and of future triumph as well as of present judgment. During
the reign of Josiah the word of the Lord came to Zephaniah, specifying
plainly the results of continued apostasy, and calling the attention of
the true church to the glorious prospect beyond. His prophecies of
impending judgment upon Judah apply with equal force to the judgments
that are to fall upon an impenitent world at the time of the second
advent of Christ:
"The great day of the Lord is near,
It is near, and hasteth greatly,
Even the voice of the day of the Lord:
The mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
"That day is a day of wrath,
A day of trouble and distress,
A day of wasteness and desolation,
A day of darkness and gloominess,
"A day of clouds and thick darkness,
A day of the trumpet and alarm
Against the fenced cities,
And against the high towers."
Zephaniah 1:14-16.
"I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind
men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be
poured out as dust. . . . Neither their silver nor their gold shall be
able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath: but the whole land
shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy: for He shall make even a
speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Verses 17, 18.
"Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together,
O nation not desired;
Before the decree bring forth,
Before the day pass as the chaff,
Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you,
Before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you.
"Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth,
Which have wrought His judgment;
Seek righteousness,
Seek meekness:
It may be ye shall be hid
In the day of the Lord's anger."
Zephaniah 2:1-3.
"Behold, at that time I will deal with all them that afflict
thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven
away; and I will make them a praise and a name, whose shame hath been in
all the earth. At that time will I bring you in, and at that time will I
gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all the
peoples of the earth, when I bring again your captivity before your
eyes, saith the Lord." Zephaniah 3:19, 20, R.V.
"Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel;
Be glad and rejoice with all the heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord hath taken away thy judgments,
He hath cast out thine enemy:
The King of Israel, even the Lord,
Is in the midst of thee:
Thou shalt not see evil any more.
"In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not:
And to Zion, Let not thine hands be slack.
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee
Is mighty; He will save,
He will rejoice over thee with joy;
He will rest in His love,
He will joy over thee with singing."
Verses 14-17.
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