One
of the things I admire and appreciate the most about God is His Grace! Because:
A) I don’t really understand
it! – There seems to be no limits – to his forgiveness and love
B) I am a continual recipient
of it
C) And it is so vastly
different from the Human way of doing things.
Where
is the line draw in your willingness to extend grace? – What won’t you forgive?
A) I think we all have
things – that maybe we have thought – I could never forgive someone of ……
B) Maybe you are living that
even now! You have been wronged – You just shut that person out
1) Bitterness lives inside –
C) God is so different from
us – that is what makes
D) The first half describes
the wickedest King in
E) The 2nd half
reveals the Judgment grace and mercy of God in the life of sinner
RD V1-9
Manasseh
was the son that was born during Hezekiah’s last 15yrs –
A) He was nothing like his
dad – instead he was wicked to the core –
B) Here we are given a break
down of his wicked deeds
C) As wicked as they Come:
1)
He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed: v.3
A) This shows us that repentance
and reform and revival are not permanent standing conditions.
B) What is accomplished at
one time can be opposed and turned back at another time.
1)
Manasseh opposed the reforms of his father Hezekiah and he brought
C) It was
there at the High places that they worshipped Astarte, the goddess of sensual
pleasure.
1)
These places were filled with pornography and people would report to these
groves to worship Astarte by engaging in group sex. Orgies
D) It was a very pornographic practice they
were engaging in.
2) He raised up altars for Baal, and made a
wooden image:V.3
A)Manasseh
did not want to imitate his godly father. Instead, he imitated one of the very
worst kings of
3) He
worshiped all the host of heaven and served them:.v.3
A)He
introduced the astrological worship/
4) He also built altars in the house of the Lord:v.4,5
A)It was bad enough for
Manasseh to allow this idol worship into
B) He defiled the temple by
bringing idols into it.
5) He made his sons pass through the fire:V.6
A)This dates back to the pre
B)The religious practices of
the people of
1)There
was no sexual or moral restraints. There were no family ties.
C) The lack of moral and
sexual restraint led to the birth of many unwanted children.
1)Conceived
in meaningless sex, these lives were meaningless to those who bore them.
D)These infants were offered
as sacrifices to the pagan deities they worshipped.
1) One such practice was the
worship of Molech
E)Manasseh sacrificed his own
son to the Canaanite god Molech.
6) He practiced soothsaying,
used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums: v.6
A)Manasseh exposed himself
to open encounters with demons.
B)He came in contact with
what today we would call a “spirit-guides”.
1)These
demonic spirits would then give direction and so-called secret wisdom.
NOTE: It s amazing to see the
depths to which our society has sunk today as we see the way that our society
parallels the deeds of Manasseh.
7) He
even set a carved image that he had made, in the house of the Lord: v.7
A)Asherah
was the Canaanite goddess of fertility, and worshipped through ritual
prostitution.
B)This means that Manasseh
made the temple into an idolatrous brothel, dedicated to Asherah.
8)
He seduced the people: V.9
A)He
manipulated them to sin and sin more.
Determined to drag others down!
B) But the people were not
innocent
C)The
Lord loved Manasseh and Judah so much that He sent the prophet Isaiah to warn Manasseh & the people
1)
But the people did not heed the warnings of Isaiah
Manasseh had
Isaiah cut into two sown asunder
D)
Result: they were willingly seduced by Manasseh’s wickedness and were
attracted to
do more evil.
Hosea – My people are destroyed for lack of Knowledge … rejected
….
We
see the tragic progression in Manasseh’s sin and it’s affect upon the people of
God
First,
idolatry is tolerated among God’s
people.
Then
idolatry is promoted.
Then
idolatry is supported and funded.
Then
the worship of the true God is undermined.
Then
the worshippers of the true God are persecuted
and murdered.
Then the judgment of God soon comes.
So
as a result of Manasseh’s sin Judgment came upon the nation of Judah
A)But in the midst of that
Judgment Manasseh had a conversion - RD V.11-13
A)The
Assyrians invaded &Manasseh was
taken captive/ led him away w/ hooks in his lip
B) Totally
humiliated – led around hooks in his lip like a caught fish
C)Archaeologists have
actually found pictures of this practice.
Nose ring or lip
1) Today we call it fashion
– those days – part of slavery – ultimate in humiliation
NOTE: Those
who give themselves over to their own lusts are ALWAYS given over to captivity.
Manasseh is a perfect picture of
this.
D) You think –
not going to hurt me – pretty soon it is controlling you- has the best of you.
But something interesting happened to Manasseh
A)In the midst of his affliction he cried out to the Lord
B)The Valley
of troubling is a door of hope!
C) It is the
very thing that causes some to come to their senses –
1) Parents we need to resist the tendency to keep a
rebellious Child from ending up in the
D) Instead we need to pray: Lord let them get to that Valley
quickly – Pig pen quickly
1)Door of hope
when they turn to the Lord – come to their senses
E) Sin is
pleasurable for a season but the end there of is death.
Manasseh cries out to the Lord - Question:
Would you have answered?
A)After all that Manasseh
had done, if you were God, would you listen to this guy?
B)If you were God, would YOU
answer his prayer?
1) Tough question to answer
-
C)But know this God heard
and responded to Manasseh with Grace
If you
ever doubted how merciful and compassionate and gracious God is, this MUST lay
them to rest.
A)This shows to us the MERCY
and COMPASSION and GRACE of God.
the
one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
C) Satan will lie to you and
say: “You have gone too far. God won’t listen to you. You are through.”
1)Manasseh
proves to us that Satan is a liar.
Manasseh
proves to us that the Word of God is true when it says: Psalms 86:5
For You, Lord,
are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in
mercy to all those who call upon You.
So Manasseh ends up crying out to the Lord in his
turmoil the Lord responds
that is mercy
A)But here is what is really amazing about the story
of Manasseh God not only
hears his cry and forgives
B) But God also delivers him from his captivity and restores him back
to his position as King –
1) Great illustration of that principle found in
C)
Such an awesome thing about God’s grace
1)
Restoration Power -
Was His conversion real? RD V.14-17
Here we see his follow thru the fruit of his repentance
A)He built
walls around the city – Protection freedom of worship
B)
He removed the -foreign gods
C) He repaired
the altars of the Lord
D)He
made the way for true worship
E) The false
altars are broken down
F)The
alter of the Lord was rebuilt
See this guy in heaven !!!!
Real deal
The rest of Ch.33 tells us of
Manasseh death – his son Amon follows him
he is wicked – 2 yrs – then Josiah
NEXT WEEK – GREAT KING
Closing
Modern Day
Manassehs
A)Perhaps YOUR life is as
RUINED and DESPERATE as Manasseh’s.
B)Perhaps you are living in the bondage to the very things that you
thought you would sere you.
1)Perhaps the consequences
of your sin has HUMBLED you.
C)Tonight, you need to call on the Lord.
1) You can do it knowing
that if you are truly repentant, He will hear you.
D) TODAY, He offers you the forgiveness of sins and the promise of
abundant life.
1) He offers GRACE and MERCY
you don’t deserve. Will you receive it?