mh_parser/vol_split/14 - 2Chronicles/Chapter 33.xml

<div2 id="iiCh.xxxiv" n="xxxiv" next="iiCh.xxxv" prev="iiCh.xxxiii" progress="87.95%" title="Chapter XXXIII">
<h2 id="iiCh.xxxiv-p0.1">S E C O N D   C H R O N I C L E
S</h2>
<h3 id="iiCh.xxxiv-p0.2">CHAP. XXXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1">In this chapter we have the history of the reign,
I. Of Manasseh, who reigned long. 1. His wretched apostasy from
God, and revolt to idolatry and all wickedness, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.1-2Chr.33.10" parsed="|2Chr|33|1|33|10" passage="2Ch 33:1-10">ver. 1-10</scripRef>. 2. His happy return to God in
his affliction; his repentance (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.11-2Chr.33.13" parsed="|2Chr|33|11|33|13" passage="2Ch 33:11-13">ver. 11-13</scripRef>), his reformation (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.15-2Chr.33.17" parsed="|2Chr|33|15|33|17" passage="2Ch 33:15-17">ver. 15-17</scripRef>), and prosperity
(<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.14" parsed="|2Chr|33|14|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:14">ver. 14</scripRef>), with the
conclusion of his reign, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.18-2Chr.33.20" parsed="|2Chr|33|18|33|20" passage="2Ch 33:18-20">ver.
18-20</scripRef>. II. Of Amon, who reigned very wickedly (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.21-2Chr.33.23" parsed="|2Chr|33|21|33|23" passage="2Ch 33:21-23">ver. 21-23</scripRef>), and soon ended his
days unhappily, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.24-2Chr.33.25" parsed="|2Chr|33|24|33|25" passage="2Ch 33:24,25">ver. 24,
25</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="iiCh.xxxiv-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33" parsed="|2Chr|33|0|0|0" passage="2Ch 33" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iiCh.xxxiv-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.1-2Chr.33.10" parsed="|2Chr|33|1|33|10" passage="2Ch 33:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.33.1-2Chr.33.10">
<h4 id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.10">The Reign of Manasseh. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p1.11">b. c.</span> 662.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2">1 Manasseh <i>was</i> twelve years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:
  2 But did <i>that which was</i> evil in the sight of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.1">Lord</span>, like unto the abominations of
the heathen, whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.2">Lord</span> had cast
out before the children of Israel.   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.   4 Also he built altars
in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.3">Lord</span>, whereof
the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.4">Lord</span> had said, In Jerusalem
shall my name be for ever.   5 And he built altars for all the
host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.5">Lord</span>.   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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.6">Lord</span>, to
provoke him to anger.   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:   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.   9 So Manasseh made Judah
and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, <i>and</i> to do worse
than the heathen, whom the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.7">Lord</span> had
destroyed before the children of Israel.   10 And the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p2.8">Lord</span> spake to Manasseh, and to his people:
but they would not hearken.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3">We have here an account of the great
wickedness of Manasseh. It is the same almost word for word with
that which we had <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.21.1-2Kgs.21.9" parsed="|2Kgs|21|1|21|9" passage="2Ki 21:1-9">2 Kings xxi.
1-9</scripRef>, and took a melancholy view of. It is no such
pleasing subject that we should delight to dwell upon it again.
This foolish young prince, in contradiction to the good example and
good education his father gave him, abandoned himself to all
impiety, transcribed the abominations of the heathen (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.2" parsed="|2Chr|33|2|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), ruined the established
religion, unravelled his father's glorious reformation (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.3" parsed="|2Chr|33|3|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), profaned the house of
God with his idolatry (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.4-2Chr.33.5" parsed="|2Chr|33|4|33|5" passage="2Ch 33:4,5"><i>v.</i> 4,
5</scripRef>), dedicated his children to Moloch, and made the
devil's lying oracles his guides and his counsellors, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.6" parsed="|2Chr|33|6|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:6"><i>v.</i> 6</scripRef>. In contempt of the
choice God had made of Sion to be his rest for ever and Israel to
be his covenant-people (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.8" parsed="|2Chr|33|8|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:8"><i>v.</i>
8</scripRef>), and the fair terms he stood upon with God, he
embraced other gods, profaned God's chosen temple, and debauched
his chosen people. He <i>made them to err,</i> and <i>do worse than
the heathen</i> (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.9" parsed="|2Chr|33|9|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:9"><i>v.</i>
9</scripRef>); for, if the unclean spirit returns, he brings with
him <i>seven other spirits more wicked than himself.</i> That which
aggravated the sin of Manasseh was that God <i>spoke to him and his
people</i> by the prophets, <i>but they would not hearken,</i>
<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.10" parsed="|2Chr|33|10|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. We may here
admire the grace of God in speaking to them, and their obstinacy in
turning a deaf ear to him, that either their badness did not quite
turn away his goodness, but still he waited to be gracious, or that
his goodness did not turn them from their badness, but still they
hated to be reformed. Now from this let us learn, 1. That it is no
new thing, but a very sad thing, for the children of godly parents
to turn aside from that good way of God in which they have been
trained. Parents may give many good things to their children, but
they cannot give them grace. 2. Corruptions in worship are such
diseases of the church as it is very apt to relapse into again even
when they seem to be cured. 3. The god of this world has strangely
blinded men's minds, and has a wonderful power over those that are
led captive by him; else he could not draw them from God, their
best friend, to depend upon their sworn enemy.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiCh.xxxiv-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.11-2Chr.33.20" parsed="|2Chr|33|11|33|20" passage="2Ch 33:11-20" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.33.11-2Chr.33.20">
<p class="passage" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4">11 Wherefore the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.1">Lord</span> 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.   12 And
when he was in affliction, he besought the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.2">Lord</span> his God, and humbled himself greatly before
the God of his fathers,   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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.3">Lord</span> he <i>was</i> God.   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.
  15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of
the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.4">Lord</span>, and all the
altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.5">Lord</span>, and in Jerusalem, and cast
<i>them</i> out of the city.   16 And he repaired the altar of
the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.6">Lord</span>, and sacrificed thereon
peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah to serve
the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.7">Lord</span> God of Israel.   17
Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high places,
<i>yet</i> unto the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.8">Lord</span> their God
only.   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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p4.9">Lord</span> God of
Israel, behold, they <i>are written</i> in the book of the kings of
Israel.   19 His prayer also, and <i>how God</i> 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 <i>are</i> written among the sayings
of the seers.   20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and
they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his
stead.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p5">We have seen Manasseh by his wickedness
undoing the good that his father had done; here we have him by
repentance undoing the evil that he himself had done. It is strange
that this was not so much as mentioned in the book of <i>Kings,</i>
nor does any thing appear there to the contrary but that he
persisted and perished in his son. But perhaps the reason was
because the design of that history was to show the wickedness of
the nation which brought destruction upon them; and this repentance
of Manasseh and the benefit of it, being personal only and not
national, is overlooked there; yet here it is fully related, and a
memorable instance it is of the riches of God's pardoning mercy and
the power of his renewing grace. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p6">I. The occasion of Manasseh's repentance,
and that was his affliction. In his distress he did not (like king
Ahaz) <i>trespass yet more against God,</i> but humbled himself and
returned to God. Sanctified afflictions often prove happy means of
conversion. What his distress was we are told, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.11" parsed="|2Chr|33|11|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>. God brought a foreign enemy
upon him; the king of Babylon, that courted his father who
faithfully served God, invaded him now that he had treacherously
departed from God. He is here called <i>king of Assyria,</i>
because he had made himself master of Assyria, which he would the
more easily do for the defeat of Sennacherib's army, and its
destruction before Jerusalem. He aimed at the treasures which the
ambassadors had seen, and all those precious things; but God sent
him to chastise a sinful people, and subdue a straying prince. The
captain took <i>Manasseh among the thorns,</i> in some bush or
other, perhaps in his garden, where he had hid himself. Or it is
spoken figuratively: he was perplexed in his counsels and
embarrassed in his affairs. He was, as we say, in the briers, and
knew not which way to extricate himself, and so became an easy prey
to the Assyrian captains, who no doubt plundered his house and took
away what they pleased, as Isaiah had foretold, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.20.17-2Kgs.20.18" parsed="|2Kgs|20|17|20|18" passage="2Ki 20:17,18">2 Kings xx. 17, 18</scripRef>. What was Hezekiah's
pride was their prey. They bound Manasseh, who had been held before
with the cords of his own iniquity, and carried him prisoner to
Babylon. About what time of his reign this was we are not told; the
Jews say it was in his twenty-second year.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p7">II. The expressions of his repentance
(<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.12-2Chr.33.13" parsed="|2Chr|33|12|33|13" passage="2Ch 33:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>):
<i>When he was in affliction</i> he had time to bethink himself and
reason enough too. He saw what he had brought himself to by his
sin. He found the gods he had served unable to help him. He knew
that repentance was the only way of restoring his affairs; and
therefore to him he returned from whom he had revolted. 1. He was
convinced the Jehovah is the only living and true God: <i>Then he
knew</i> (that is, he believed and considered) that the <i>Lord he
was God.</i> He might have known it 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 dearly for the knowledge of
God than to perish in ignorance and unbelief. Had he been a prince
in the palace of Babylon, it is probable he would have been
confirmed in his idolatry; but, being a captive in the prisons of
Babylon, he was convinced of it and reclaimed from it. 2. He
applied to him as <i>his</i> God now, renouncing all others, and
resolving to cleave to him only, the God of his fathers, and a God
on covenant with him. 3. He humbled himself greatly before him, was
truly sorry for his sins, ashamed of them, and afraid of the wrath
of God. It becomes sinners to humble themselves before the face of
that God whom they have offended. It becomes sufferers to humble
themselves under the hand of that God who corrects them, and to
accept the punishment of their iniquity. Our hearts should be
humbled under humbling providences; then we accommodate ourselves
to them, and answer God's end in them. 4. He prayed to him for the
pardon of sin and the return of his favour. Prayer is the relief of
penitents, the relief of the afflicted. That is a good prayer, and
very pertinent in this case, which we find among the apocryphal
books, entitled, <i>The prayer of Manasses, king of Judah, when he
was holden captive in Babylon.</i> Whether it was his or no is
uncertain; if it was, in it he <i>gives glory to God</i> as the
<i>God of their fathers</i> and <i>their righteous seed,</i> as the
Creator of the world, a God whose <i>anger is insupportable,</i>
and yet <i>his merciful promise unmeasurable.</i> He pleads that
God has <i>promised repentance and forgiveness to those that have
sinned,</i> and has <i>appointed repentance unto sinners, that they
may be saved,</i> not <i>unto the just,</i> as to <i>Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob,</i> but <i>to me</i> (says he) <i>that am a
sinner; for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the
sea:</i> so he confesses his sin largely, and aggravates it. He
prays, <i>Forgive me, O Lord! forgive me, and destroy me not;</i>
he pleads, <i>Thou art the God of those that repent,</i> &amp;c.,
and concludes, <i>Therefore I will praise thee for ever,</i>
&amp;c.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p8">III. God's gracious acceptance of his
repentance: <i>God was entreated of him, and heard his
supplication.</i> Though affliction drive us to God, he will not
therefore reject us if in sincerity we seek him, for afflictions
are sent on purpose to bring us to him. As a token of God's favour
to him, he made a way for his escape. Afflictions are continued no
longer than till they have done their work. When Manasseh is
brought back to his God and to his duty he shall soon be <i>brought
back to his kingdom.</i> See how ready God is to accept and welcome
returning sinners, and how <i>swift to show mercy.</i> Let not
great sinners despair, when Manasseh himself, upon his repentance,
found favour with God; in him God <i>showed forth a pattern of
long-suffering,</i> as <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:1Tim.1.16 Bible:Isa.1.18" parsed="|1Tim|1|16|0|0;|Isa|1|18|0|0" passage="1Ti 1:16,Isa 1:18">1 Tim.
i. 16; Isa. i. 18</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p9">IV. The <i>fruits meet for repentance</i>
which he brought forth after his return to his own land, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.15-2Chr.33.16" parsed="|2Chr|33|15|33|16" passage="2Ch 33:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15, 16</scripRef>. 1. He turned
from his sins. He <i>took away the strange gods,</i> the images of
them, and that idol (whatever it was) which he had set up with so
much solemnity <i>in the house of the Lord,</i> as if it had been
master of that house. He cast out all the idolatrous altars that
were <i>in the mount of the house</i> and in Jerusalem, as
detestable things. Now (we hope) he loathed them as much as ever he
had loved them, and said to them, <i>Get you hence,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.30.22" parsed="|Isa|30|22|0|0" passage="Isa 30:22">Isa. xxx. 22</scripRef>. "<i>What have I to do
any more with idols?</i> I have had enough of them." 2. He returned
to his duty; for he <i>repaired the altar of the Lord,</i> which
had either been abused and broken down by some of the idolatrous
priests, or, at least, neglected and gone out of repair. He
sacrificed thereon peace-offerings to implore God's favour, and
thank-offerings to praise him for his deliverance. Nay, he now used
his power to reform his people, as before he had abused it to
corrupt them: <i>He commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of
Israel.</i> Note, Those that truly repent of their sins will not
only return to God themselves, but will do all they can to recover
those that have by their example been seduced and drawn away from
God; else they do not thoroughly (as they ought) undo what they
have done amiss, nor make the plaster as wide as the wound. We find
that he prevailed to bring them off from their <i>false gods,</i>
but not from their <i>high places,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.17" parsed="|2Chr|33|17|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. They still sacrificed in them,
<i>yet to the Lord their God only;</i> Manasseh 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p10">V. His prosperity, in some measure, after
his repentance. He might plainly see it was sin that ruined him;
for, when he returned to God in a way of duty, God returned to him
in a way of mercy: and then he <i>built a wall about the city of
David</i> (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.14" parsed="|2Chr|33|14|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>),
for by sin he had unwalled it and exposed it to the enemy. He also
put captains of war in the fenced cities for the security of his
country. Josephus says that all the rest of his time he was so
changed for the better that he was looked upon as a very happy
man.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p11"><i>Lastly,</i> Here is the conclusion of
his history. The heads of those things for a full narrative of
which we are referred to the other writings that were then extant
are more than of any of the kings, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.18-2Chr.33.19" parsed="|2Chr|33|18|33|19" passage="2Ch 33:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18, 19</scripRef>. A particular account,
it seems, was kept, 1. Of <i>all his sin, and his trespass,</i> the
<i>high places</i> he built, <i>the groves and images he set up,
before he was humbled.</i> Probably this was taken from his own
confession which he made of his sin when God gave him repentance,
and which he left upon record, in a book entitled, <i>The words of
the seers.</i> To those seers that <i>spoke to him</i> (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.18" parsed="|2Chr|33|18|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>) 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, to give thanks to their reprovers, and warning to
others. 2. Of <i>the words of the seers that spoke to him in the
name of the Lord</i> (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.10 Bible:2Chr.33.18" parsed="|2Chr|33|10|0|0;|2Chr|33|18|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:10,18"><i>v.</i>
10, 18</scripRef>), the reproofs they gave him for his sin and
their exhortations to repentance. Note, Sinners ought to 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, warn them of their danger, and call
them to their duty, which will be produced against them in the
great day. 3. Of his <i>prayer to God</i> (this is twice mentioned
as a remarkable thing) <i>and how God was entreated of him.</i>
This was <i>written for the generations to come, that the people
that should be created might praise the Lord</i> for his readiness
to receive returning prodigals. Notice is taken of the place of his
burial, not in <i>the sepulchres of the kings,</i> but <i>in his
own house;</i> 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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiCh.xxxiv-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.21-2Chr.33.25" parsed="|2Chr|33|21|33|25" passage="2Ch 33:21-25" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.33.21-2Chr.33.25">
<h4 id="iiCh.xxxiv-p11.5">The Reign and Death of Amon. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p11.6">b. c.</span> 641.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p12">21 Amon <i>was</i> two and twenty years old when
he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem.   22
But he did <i>that which was</i> evil in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p12.1">Lord</span>, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon
sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had
made, and served them;   23 And humbled not himself before the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p12.2">Lord</span>, as Manasseh his father had
humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.   24 And
his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
  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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p13">We have little recorded concerning Amon,
but enough unless it were better. Here is,</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p14">I. His great wickedness. He did as
<i>Manasseh had done</i> in the days of his apostasy, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.22" parsed="|2Chr|33|22|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>. Those who think this
an evidence that Manasseh did not truly repent forget how many good
kings had wicked sons. Only it should seem that Manasseh was in
<i>this</i> defective, that, when he <i>cast out the images,</i> he
did not utterly deface and destroy them, according to the law which
required Israel to <i>burn the images with fire,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.7.2" parsed="|Deut|7|2|0|0" passage="De 7:2">Deut. vii. 2</scripRef>. How necessary that law
was this instance shows; for the <i>carved images</i> being only
thrown by, and not burnt, Amon knew where to find them, soon set
them up, and sacrificed to them. It is added, to represent him
exceedingly sinful and to justify God in cutting him off so soon,
1. That he out-did his father in sinning: <i>He trespassed more and
more,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.23" parsed="|2Chr|33|23|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>.
His father did ill, but he did worse. Those that were joined to
idols grew more and more mad upon them. 2. That he came short of
his father in repenting: He <i>humbled not himself before the Lord,
as his father had humbled himself.</i> He fell like him, but did
not get up again like him. It is not so much sin as impenitence in
sin that ruins men, not so much that they offend as that they do
not humble themselves for their offences, not the disease, but the
neglect of the remedy.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxxiv-p15">II. His speedy destruction. He reigned but
two years and then his servants <i>conspired against him</i> and
<i>slew him,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxxiv-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.33.24" parsed="|2Chr|33|24|0|0" passage="2Ch 33:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>. Perhaps when Amon sinned as his father did in the
beginning of his days he promised himself that he should repent as
his father did in the latter end of his days. But his case shows
what a madness it is to presume upon that. If he hoped to repent
when he was old, he was wretchedly disappointed; for he was cut off
when he was young. He rebelled against God, and his own servants
rebelled against him. Herein God was righteous, but they were
wicked, and justly did the <i>people of the land</i> put them to
death as traitors. The lives of kings are particularly under the
protection of Providence and the laws both of God and man.</p>
</div></div2>