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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXIII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have the history of the reign,
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I. Of Manasseh, who reigned long.
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1. His wretched apostasy from God, and revolt to idolatry and all
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wickedness,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:1-10">ver. 1-10</A>.
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2. His happy return to God in his affliction; his repentance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:11-13">ver. 11-13</A>),
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his reformation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:15-17">ver. 15-17</A>),
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and prosperity
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:14">ver. 14</A>),
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with the conclusion of his reign,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:18-20">ver. 18-20</A>.
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II. Of Amon, who reigned very wickedly
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:21-23">ver. 21-23</A>),
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and soon ended his days unhappily,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:24,25">ver. 24, 25</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Reign of Manasseh.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 662.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Manasseh <I>was</I> twelve years old when he began to reign, and
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he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem:
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2 But did <I>that which was</I> evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, like
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unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had cast out
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before the children of Israel.
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3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father
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had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made
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groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
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4 Also he built altars in the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, whereof the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
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5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two
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courts of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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6 And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the
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valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used
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enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar
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spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to provoke him to anger.
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7 And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the
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house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his
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son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before
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all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
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8 Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of
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the land which I have appointed for your fathers; so that they
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will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to
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the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of
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Moses.
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9 So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
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err, <I>and</I> to do worse than the heathen, whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> had
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destroyed before the children of Israel.
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10 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they
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would not hearken.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here an account of the great wickedness of Manasseh. It is the
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same almost word for word with that which we had
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:1-9">2 Kings xxi. 1-9</A>,
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and took a melancholy view of. It is no such pleasing subject that we
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should delight to dwell upon it again. This foolish young prince, in
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contradiction to the good example and good education his father gave
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him, abandoned himself to all impiety, transcribed the abominations of
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the heathen
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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ruined the established religion, unravelled his father's glorious
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reformation
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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profaned the house of God with his idolatry
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:4,5"><I>v.</I> 4, 5</A>),
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dedicated his children to Moloch, and made the devil's lying oracles
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his guides and his counsellors,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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In contempt of the choice God had made of Sion to be his rest for ever
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and Israel to be his covenant-people
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>),
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and the fair terms he stood upon with God, he embraced other gods,
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profaned God's chosen temple, and debauched his chosen people. He
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<I>made them to err,</I> and <I>do worse than the heathen</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>);
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for, if the uncle an spirit returns, he brings with him <I>seven other
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spirits more wicked than himself.</I> That which aggravated the sin of
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Manasseh was that God <I>spoke to him and his people</I> by the
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prophets, <I>but they would not hearken,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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We may here admire the grace of God in speaking to them, and their
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obstinacy in turning a deaf ear to him, that either their badness did
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not quite turn away his goodness, but still he waited to be gracious,
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or that his goodness did not turn them from their badness, but still
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they hated to be reformed. Now from this let us learn,
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1. That it is no new thing, but a very sad thing, for the children of
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godly parents to turn aside from that good way of God in which they
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have been trained. Parents may give many good things to their children,
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but they cannot give them grace.
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2. Corruptions in worship are such diseases of the church as it is
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very apt to relapse into again even when they seem to be cured.
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3. The god of this world has strangely blinded men's minds, and has a
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wonderful power over those that are led captive by him; else he could
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not draw them from God, their best friend, to depend upon their sworn
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enemy.</P>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch33_20"> </A>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>11 Wherefore the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> brought upon them the captains of the
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host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the
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thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.
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12 And when he was in affliction, he besought the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> his God,
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and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
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13 And prayed unto him: and he was intreated of him, and heard
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his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his
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kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> he <I>was</I> God.
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14 Now after this he built a wall without the city of David, on
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the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entering in at
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the fish gate, and compassed about Ophel, and raised it up a very
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great height, and put captains of war in all the fenced cities of
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Judah.
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15 And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the
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house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and all the altars that he had built in the
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mount of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and in Jerusalem, and cast <I>them</I>
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out of the city.
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16 And he repaired the altar of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and sacrificed
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thereon peace offerings and thank offerings, and commanded Judah
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to serve the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel.
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17 Nevertheless the people did sacrifice still in the high
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places, <I>yet</I> unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> their God only.
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18 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto
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his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name
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of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, behold, they <I>are written</I> in the book
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of the kings of Israel.
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19 His prayer also, and <I>how God</I> was intreated of him, and all
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his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high
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places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was
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humbled: behold, they <I>are</I> written among the sayings of the
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seers.
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20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in
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his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have seen Manasseh by his wickedness undoing the good that his
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father had done; here we have him by repentance undoing the evil that
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he himself had done. It is strange that this was not so much as
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mentioned in the book of <I>Kings,</I> nor does any thing appear there
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to the contrary but that he persisted and perished in his son. But
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perhaps the reason was because the design of that history was to show
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the wickedness of the nation which brought destruction upon them; and
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this repentance of Manasseh and the benefit of it, being personal only
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and not national, is overlooked there; yet here it is fully related,
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and a memorable instance it is of the riches of God's pardoning mercy
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and the power of his renewing grace. Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. The occasion of Manasseh's repentance, and that was his affliction.
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In his distress he did not (like king Ahaz) <I>trespass yet more
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against God,</I> but humbled himself and returned to God. Sanctified
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afflictions often prove happy means of conversion. What his distress
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was we are told,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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God brought a foreign enemy upon him; the king of Babylon, that courted
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his father who faithfully served God, invaded him now that he had
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treacherously departed from God. He is here called <I>king of
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Assyria,</I> because he had made himself master of Assyria, which he
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would the more easily do for the defeat of Sennacherib's army, and its
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destruction before Jerusalem. He aimed at the treasures which the
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ambassadors had seen, and all those precious things; but God sent him
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to chastise a sinful people, and subdue a straying prince. The captain
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took <I>Manasseh among the thorns,</I> in some bush or other, perhaps
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in his garden, where he had hid himself. Or it is spoken figuratively:
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he was perplexed in his counsels and embarrassed in his affairs. He
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was, as we say, in the briers, and knew not which way to extricate
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himself, and so became an easy prey to the Assyrian captains, who no
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doubt plundered his house and took away what they pleased, as Isaiah
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had foretold,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+20:17,18">2 Kings xx. 17, 18</A>.
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What was Hezekiah's pride was their prey. They bound Manasseh, who had
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been held before with the cords of his own iniquity, and carried him
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prisoner to Babylon. About what time of his reign this was we are not
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told; the Jews say it was in his twenty-second year.</P>
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<P>
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II. The expressions of his repentance
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>):
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<I>When he was in affliction</I> he had time to bethink himself and
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reason enough too. He saw what he had brought himself to by his sin. He
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found the gods he had served unable to help him. He knew that
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repentance was the only way of restoring his affairs; and therefore to
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him he returned from whom he had revolted.
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1. He was convinced the Jehovah is the only living and true God:
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<I>Then he knew</I> (that is, he believed and considered) that the
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<I>Lord he was God.</I> He might have known it at a less expense if he
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would have given due attention and credit to the word written and
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preached: but it was better to pay thus dearly for the knowledge of God
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than to perish in ignorance and unbelief. Had he been a prince in the
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palace of Babylon, it is probable he would have been confirmed in his
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idolatry; but, being a captive in the prisons of Babylon, he was
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convinced of it and reclaimed from it.
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2. He applied to him as <I>his</I> God now, renouncing all others, and
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resolving to cleave to him only, the God of his fathers, and a God on
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covenant with him.
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3. He humbled himself greatly before him, was truly sorry for his sins,
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ashamed of them, and afraid of the wrath of God. It becomes sinners to
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humble themselves before the face of that God whom they have offended.
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It becomes sufferers to humble themselves under the hand of that God
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who corrects them, and to accept the punishment of their iniquity. Our
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hearts should be humbled under humbling providences; then we
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accommodate ourselves to them, and answer God's end in them.
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4. He prayed to him for the pardon of sin and the return of his favour.
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Prayer is the relief of penitents, the relief of the afflicted. That is
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a good prayer, and very pertinent in this case, which we find among the
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apocryphal books, entitled, <I>The prayer of Manasses, king of Judah,
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when he was holden captive in Babylon.</I> Whether it was his or no is
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uncertain; if it was, in it he <I>gives glory to God</I> as the <I>God
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of their fathers</I> and <I>their righteous seed,</I> as the Creator of
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the world, a God whose <I>anger is insupportable,</I> and yet <I>his
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merciful promise unmeasurable.</I> He pleads that God has <I>promised
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repentance and forgiveness to those that have sinned,</I> and has
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<I>appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved,</I> not
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<I>unto the just,</I> as to <I>Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,</I> but <I>to
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me</I> (says he) <I>that am a sinner; for I have sinned above the
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number of the sands of the sea:</I> so he confesses his sin largely,
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and aggravates it. He prays, <I>Forgive me, O Lord! forgive me, and
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destroy me not;</I> he pleads, <I>Thou art the God of those that
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repent,</I> &c., and concludes, <I>Therefore I will praise thee for
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ever,</I> &c.</P>
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<P>
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III. God's gracious acceptance of his repentance: <I>God was entreated
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of him, and heard his supplication.</I> Though affliction drive us to
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God, he will not therefore reject us if in sincerity we seek him, for
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afflictions are sent on purpose to bring us to him. As a token of God's
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favour to him, he made a way for his escape. Afflictions are continued
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no longer than till they have done their work. When Manasseh is brought
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back to his God and to his duty he shall soon be <I>brought back to his
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kingdom.</I> See how ready God is to accept and welcome returning
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sinners, and how <I>swift to show mercy.</I> Let not great sinners
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despair, when Manasseh himself, upon his repentance, found favour with
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God; in him God <I>showed forth a pattern of long-suffering,</I> as
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+1:16,Isa+1:18">1 Tim. i. 16; Isa. i. 18</A>.</P>
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<P>
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IV. The <I>fruits meet for repentance</I> which he brought forth after
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his return to his own land,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>.
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1. He turned from his sins. He <I>took away the strange gods,</I> the
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images of them, and that idol (whatever it was) which he had set up
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with so much solemnity <I>in the house of the Lord,</I> as if it had
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been master of that house. He cast out all the idolatrous altars that
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were <I>in the mount of the house</I> and in Jerusalem, as detestable
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things. Now (we hope) he loathed them as much as ever he had loved
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them, and said to them, <I>Get you hence,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+30:22">Isa. xxx. 22</A>.
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"<I>What have I to do any more with idols?</I> I have had enough of
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them."
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2. He returned to his duty; for he <I>repaired the altar of the
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Lord,</I> which had either been abused and broken down by some of the
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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
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|
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
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|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
|
|
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|
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>
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<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,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:18,19"><I>v.</I> 18, 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>)
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:10,18"><I>v.</I> 10, 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="2Ch33_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ch33_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ch33_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ch33_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ch33_25"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Reign and Death of Amon.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 641.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
|
|
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 L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, 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.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have little recorded concerning Amon, but enough unless it were
|
|
better. Here is,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. His great wickedness. He did as <I>Manasseh had done</I> in the days
|
|
of his apostasy,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+7:2">Deut. vii. 2</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
II. His speedy destruction. He reigned but two years and then his
|
|
servants <I>conspired against him</I> and <I>slew him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+33:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
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>
|
|
|
|
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