2 Chronicles 33:10-13

“The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God.”

In histories written by men, our attention is continually directed to second causes; but in the inspired records we see every event traced up to the first Great Cause of all. The rise and fall of empires or of individuals are equally appointed by God for the accomplishment of his own gracious purposes, and for the manifestation of his own glory. However casual or contingent any circumstances may appear to be, they are as much under his control, and as certainly fulfill his will, as the stated courses of the heavenly bodies.

In confirmation of this, we need go no further than to the words before us; in which we see,

I. The means by which Manasseh was brought to repentance.

King Manasseh was perhaps the most wicked of the human race. He was piously educated, yet he totally eradicated from his own mind, and from the bosoms of his people, all remembrance of the instructions which his father Hezekiah had given them.

2 Chronicles 33:2-6 “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, following the detestable practices of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had demolished; he also erected altars to the Baals and made Asherah poles. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the LORD, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced sorcery, divination and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the LORD, provoking him to anger!” Compare with 2 Kings 21.

To reclaim Manasseh, God had sent many holy men and prophets to warn and exhort him; but “neither he nor his people would hearken unto them.”

At last, determined to overcome him, and to make him an everlasting monument of grace and mercy, God stirred up the king of Assyria against him. “Therefore the LORD brought against them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh captive in manacles, bound him with fetters, and brought him to Babylon! 2 Chronicles 33:11.”

However the king of Assyria might be actuated by ambition or avarice, he was certainly no more than an instrument by whom God himself acted! Compare Psalm 17:13 and Isaiah 10:5-6; Isaiah 10:15 with 2 Kings 24:2-4; and caused Manasseh to be vanquished, to be dragged from the thicket where he had hidden himself, 1 Samuel 13:6, and to be carried as a poor miserable captive in fetters to Babylon.

This prevailed, when all other means had been used in vain. And is it not by these means that God has often subdued, and yet subdues many stout-hearted sinners to himself! 2 Samuel 24:10; 2 Samuel 24:17. How many perhaps among us must say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted; for before I was afflicted I went astray; but now have I kept your word! Psalm 119:67; Psalm 119:71; Psalm 119:75.”

We are further informed concerning,

II. The way in which Manasseh’s repentance manifested itself.

Affliction does not necessarily produce repentance. Ahaz trespassed yet more in his distress, 2 Chronicles 28:22. The wicked in Hell, so far from being softened by their pains, blaspheme their God while they gnaw their tongues in anguish! Revelation 16:10. But in Manasseh, God’s afflicting rod was effectual, through the grace of God, to bring him to repentance. In his prosperity he was hardened, Jeremiah 22:21, and would not hear, Zechariah 7:11-12; Jeremiah 5:3; but “in his affliction he besought the Lord.”

Two things more especially are noticed, “he humbled himself greatly;” and “he prayed unto God” earnestly. He called his sinful ways to remembrance and confessed his guilt, and justified God in all that had come upon him, and in all that ever should come upon him, declaring it was far “less than his iniquities deserved.” Then he poured out his soul in fervent prayer, “offering his supplications with strong crying and tears,” and wrestling, as it were, with God, to obtain a blessing. His prayer is repeatedly noticed, verse 18, 19, surely on account of its fervor.

Thus will repentance show itself wherever it is found; whether we be brought to it by afflictions, or not. Yes, whether we have committed such wickedness as Manasseh, or not—these will be the leading features of our experience, if we are truly penitent. The first mark of Paul’s repentance was, “Behold, he is praying!” and what his thoughts of himself were, we may judge from his calling himself “the chief of sinners.”

Inquire then, beloved brethren, whether you have ever been brought to humble yourselves before God; and that not a little, but “greatly?” Inquire, whether your cries to God are humble, fervent, constant, believing? Consider, “that without repentance you must all perish;” and that this alone will warrant you to conclude your repentance to be genuine and “saving.”

Its efficacy will appear from,

III. The blessed outcome of Manasseh’s severe trials and his subsequent repentance.

As horrible as Manasseh’s iniquities had been, they did not prevent his prayers from coming up with acceptance before God.

Behold the outcome of Manasseh’s repentance:

First, in respect to his TEMPORAL comfort! God restored him again to the possession of his kingdom. Just so, it may be that innumerable judgments would be removed from men, provided the offenders were duly humbled by means of them, and sincerely repented. We do not say that God will always remove the afflictions he has sent, even though we should be ever so much humbled under them; because he may see that the continuance of judgments is as necessary for our welfare as the first sending of them was; but he will convert them into blessings, and make them subservient to our best interests.

Next, observe the outcome of Manasseh’s repentance in respect to his SPIRITUAL advantage. He neither knew God, nor concerned himself about him in the day of his prosperity; but now he “knew that Jehovah was God.”

Manasseh saw that he was a just and holy God, yes, a God of truth also, who sooner or later would punish sin. Manasseh felt that he was a powerful God, “able to abase those who walk in pride,” and able also to deliver those whose situation was most desperate. Above all, Manasseh knew experimentally that God was a God of infinite mercy and compassion, since he had attended to his prayer, and given mercy to his guilty soul.

Under this conviction Manasseh strove to the last hour of his life, to remedy all the evil he had ever done, and to glorify his God, as much as he had before dishonored him.

And did ever anyone repent, and not find his repentance outcome in clearer manifestations of God’s love to his soul, and in a richer experience of his power and grace? No! As long as the world stands, “God will comfort all who mourn in Zion, and give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness!”

We may learn then from hence,

1. The importance of submitting to God’s Word.

The contempt poured on God’s messengers was one principal means of bringing down those judgments on Manasseh. And does not God speak to us by his ministers, and notice how we receive the Word? And will not that “Word be a savor of death unto us, if it is not a savor of life unto life?” Lay this to heart, all you who have heard the Word in vain; and know that if you slight the message which God sends you by his ministers, he will consider you as pouring contempt upon Himself! 1 Thessalonians 4:8.

2. The use and benefit of afflictions.

Afflictions, of whatever kind they are, proceed from God! He intends then for our good, Hosea 5:15. Hebrews 12:10. They have a voice, and it is our duty to “hear the rod, and Him who appointed it! Micah 6:9.” Do not quarrel then with any afflictions that God may send to you, but receive them as tokens of God’s love, and as messengers of his mercy!

“The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. So the LORD brought against them the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD is God! 2 Chronicles 33:10-13.”

What reason had Manasseh to adore his God for the loss of an empire; yes, for cruel captivity, for galling fetters, and a loathsome dungeon! Without them he would now be in chains of darkness and the prison of Hell!

Just so, your trials probably are no less necessary for your eternal welfare. Improve them then for the humbling of your soul, and for the furtherance of your everlasting salvation.

3. The wonderful mercy of our God.

Who would have thought that such a heinous sinner as Manasseh could ever have obtained mercy? Yet God has pardoned him, and set him forth as a pattern, in order to magnify the exceeding riches of his own grace!

Let none then despair. If we were as vile as Manasseh himself, we should go to God with an assurance that he would not cast us out, provided we were truly contrite, and sought for mercy through the sin-atoning death of Jesus.

On the other hand, let us not presume upon this mercy, and go on in sin under the hope that we shall at last repent and be saved. Today God calls us. Tomorrow the door of mercy may be shut. May the Lord grant that we may now repent like Manasseh, and henceforth like him devote ourselves entirely to the service of our God!

Charles Simeon