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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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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D K I N G S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXI.</FONT>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have a short but sad account of the reigns of two of
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the kings of Judah, Manasseh and Amon.
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I. Concerning Manasseh, all the account we have of him here is,
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1. That he devoted himself to sin, to all manner of wickedness,
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idolatry, and murder,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:1-9,16">ver. 1-9 and 16</A>.
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2. That therefore God devoted him, and Jerusalem for his sake, to ruin,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:10-18">ver. 10-18</A>.
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In the book of Chronicles we have an account of his troubles, and his
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repentance.
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II. Concerning Amon we are only told that he lived in sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:19-22">ver. 19-22</A>),
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died quickly by the sword, and left good Josiah his successor,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:23-26">ver. 23-26</A>.
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By these two reigns Jerusalem was much debauched and much weakened, and
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so hastened apace towards its destruction, which slumbered not.</P>
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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>Manasseh's Impious Reign.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 698.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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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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reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
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<I>was</I> Hephzibah.
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2 And he did <I>that which was</I> evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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after the abominations of the heathen, whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> cast out
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before the children of Israel.
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3 For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his
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father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made
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a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host
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of heaven, and served them.
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4 And he built altars in the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, of which the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
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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 made his son pass through the fire, and observed
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times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and
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wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, to
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provoke <I>him</I> to anger.
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7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in
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the house, of which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> said to David, and to Solomon his
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son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of
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all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
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8 Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of
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the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to
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do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to
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all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
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9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more
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evil than did the nations whom the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> destroyed before the
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children of Israel.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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How delightful were our meditations on the last reign! How many
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pleasing views had we of Sion in its glory (that is, in its purity and
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in its triumphs), of the king in his beauty! (for
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+33:17">Isa. xxxiii. 17</A>
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refers to Hezekiah), and (as it follows there,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>)
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Jerusalem was <I>a quiet habitation</I> because <I>a city of
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righteousness,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+1:26">Isa. i. 26</A>.
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But now we have melancholy work upon our hands, unpleasant ground to
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travel, and cannot but drive heavily. <I>How has the gold become dim
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and the most fine gold changed!</I> The beauty of Jerusalem is stained,
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and all her glory, all her joy, sunk and gone. These verses give such
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an account of this reign as make it, in all respects, the reverse of
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the last, and, in a manner, the ruin of it.</P>
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<P>
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I. Manasseh began young. He was but <I>twelve years old when he began
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to reign</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>),
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born when his father was about forty-two years old, three years after
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his sickness. If he had sons before, either they were dead, or set by
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as unpromising. As yet they knew of nothing bad in <I>him,</I> and they
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hoped he would prove good; but he proved very bad, and perhaps his
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coming to the crown so young might help to make it so, which yet will
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by no means excuse him, for his grandson Josiah came to it younger than
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he and yet acted well. But being young,
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1. He was puffed up with his honour and proud of it; and thinking
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himself very wise, because he was very great, valued himself upon his
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undoing what his father had done. It is too common for novices to be
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lifted up with pride, and so to <I>fall into the condemnation of the
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devil.</I>
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2. He was easily wrought upon and drawn aside by seducers, that lay in
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wait to deceive. Those that were enemies to Hezekiah's reformation,
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and retained an affection for the old idolatries, flattered him, and so
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gained his ear, and used his power at their pleasure. Many have been
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undone by coming too soon to their honours and estates.</P>
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<P>
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II. He reigned long, longest of any of the kings of Judah, fifty-five
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years. This was the only very bad reign that was a long one; Joram's
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was but eight years, and Ahaz's sixteen; as for Manasseh's, we hope
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that in the beginning of his reign for some time affairs continued to
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move in the course that his father left them in, and that in the latter
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end of his reign, after his repentance, religion got head again; and,
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no doubt, when things were at the worst God had his remnant that kept
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their integrity. Though he reigned long, yet some of this time he was
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a prisoner in Babylon, which may well be looked upon as a drawback from
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these years, though they are reckoned in the number because then he
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repented and began to reform.</P>
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<P>
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III. He reigned very ill.</P>
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<P>
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1. In general,
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(1.) <I>He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord,</I> and
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which, having been well educated, he could not but know was so
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>He wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord,</I> as if on
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purpose to provoke him to anger,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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(2.) <I>He did after the abominations of the heathen</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>)
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and as did Ahab
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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not taking warning by the destruction both of the nations of Canaan and
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the house of Ahab for their idolatry; nay
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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he <I>did more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed.</I>
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When the holy seed degenerate, they are commonly worse than the worst
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of the profane.</P>
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<P>
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2. More particularly,
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(1.) He <I>rebuilt the high places which his father had destroyed,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Thus did he trample upon the dust, and affront the memory, of his
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worthy father, though he knew how much he was favoured of God and
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honoured of men. He concurred, it is probable, with Rabshakeh's
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sentiments
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+18:22"><I>ch.</I> xviii. 22</A>),
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that Hezekiah had done ill in destroying those high places, and
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pretended the honour of God, and the edification and convenience of the
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people, in rebuilding them. This he began with, but proceeded to that
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which was much worse; for,
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(2.) He set up other gods, <I>Baal</I> and <I>Ashtaroth</I> (which we
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translate <I>a grove</I>), and all the host of heaven, the sun and
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moon, the other planets, and the constellations; these he worshipped
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and served
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>),
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gave their names to the images he made, and then did homage to them and
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prayed for help from them. To these he built altars
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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and offered sacrifices, no doubt, on these altars.
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(3.) He <I>made his son pass through the fire,</I> by which he
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dedicated him a votary to Moloch, in contempt of the seal of
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circumcision by which he had been dedicated to God.
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(4.) He made the devil his oracle, and, in contempt both of urim and
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prophecy, he <I>used enchantments and dealt with familiar spirits</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>)
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like Saul. Conjurers and fortune-tellers (who pretended, by the stars
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or the clouds, lucky and unlucky days, good and bad omens, the flight
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of birds, or the entrails of beasts, to foretel things to come) were
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great men with him, his intimates, his confidants; their arts pleased
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his fancy, and gained his belief, and his counsels were under their
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direction.
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(5.) We find afterwards
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
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that he shed innocent blood very much in gratification of his own
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passion and revenge; some perhaps were secretly murdered, others taken
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off by colour of law. Probably much of the blood he shed was theirs
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that opposed idolatry and witnessed against it, that would not bow the
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knee to Baal. The <I>blood of the prophets</I> is, in a particular
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manner, charged upon Jerusalem, and it is probable that he put to death
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many of them. The tradition of the Jews is that he caused the prophet
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Isaiah to be sawn asunder; and many think the apostle refers to this in
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+11:37">Heb. xi. 37</A>,
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where he speaks of those that had so suffered.</P>
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<P>
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3. Three things are here mentioned as aggravations of Manasseh's
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idolatry:--
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(1.) That he set up his images and altars <I>in the house of the
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Lord</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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in the two courts of the temple
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
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in the very house of which God had said to Solomon, <I>Here will I put
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my name,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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Thus he defied God to his face, and impudently affronted him with his
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rivals immediately under his eye, as one that was neither afraid of
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God's wrath nor ashamed of his own folly and wickedness. Thus he
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desecrated what had been consecrated to God, and did, in effect, turn
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God out of his own house and put the rebels in possession of it. Thus,
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when the faithful worshippers of God came to the place he had appointed
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for the performance of their duty to him, they found, to their great
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grief and terror, other gods ready to receive their offerings. God had
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said that here he would record his name, here he would put it for ever,
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and here it was accordingly preserved, while the idolatrous altars were
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kept at a distance; but Manasseh, by bringing them into God's house,
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did what he could to alter the property, and to make the name of the
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God of Israel to be no more in remembrance.
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(2.) That hereby he put a great slight upon the word of God, and his
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covenant with Israel. Observe the favour he had shown to that people in
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putting his name among them,--the kindness he intended them, never to
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<I>make them move out of that good land,</I>--and the reasonableness of
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his expectations from them, <I>only if they will observe to do
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according to all that I have commanded them,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:7,8"><I>v.</I> 7, 8</A>.
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Upon these good terms did Israel stand with God, and had as fair a
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prospect of being happy as any people could have; but <I>they hearkened
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not,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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They would not be kept close to God either by his precepts or by his
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promises; both were cast behind their back.
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(3.) That hereby he seduced the people of God, debauched them, and drew
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them into idolatry,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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He caused Judah to sin
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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as Jeroboam had caused <I>Israel to sin.</I> His very example was
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enough to corrupt the generality of unthinking people, who would do as
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their king did, right or wrong. All that aimed at preferment would do
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as the court did; and others thought it safest to comply, for fear of
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making their king their enemy. Thus, one way or other, the holy city
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became a harlot, and Manasseh made her so. Those will have a great deal
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to answer for that not only are wicked themselves, but help to make
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others so.</P>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ki21_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Manasseh's Ruin Foretold.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 643.</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>10 And the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
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11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations,
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<I>and</I> hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which
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<I>were</I> before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his
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idols:
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12 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, Behold, I <I>am</I>
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bringing <I>such</I> evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever
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heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
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13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and
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the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as <I>a
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man</I> wipeth a dish, wiping <I>it,</I> and turning <I>it</I> upside down.
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14 And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and
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deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall
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become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
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15 Because they have done <I>that which was</I> evil in my sight,
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and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came
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forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
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16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had
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filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin
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wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing <I>that which was</I> evil in
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the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did,
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and his sin that he sinned, <I>are</I> they not written in the book of
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the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
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18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
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|
garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son
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reigned in his stead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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|
Here is the doom of Judah and Jerusalem read, and it is heavy doom. The
|
|
prophets were sent, in the first place, to teach them the knowledge of
|
|
God, to remind them of their duty and direct them in it. If they
|
|
succeeded not in that, their next work was to reprove them for their
|
|
sins, and to set them in view before them, that they might repent and
|
|
reform, and return to their duty. If in this they prevailed not, but
|
|
sinners went on frowardly, their next work was to foretel the judgments
|
|
of God, that the terror of them might awaken those to repentance who
|
|
would not be made sensible of the obligations of his love, or else that
|
|
the execution of them, in their season, might be a demonstration of the
|
|
divine mission of the prophets that foretold them. The prophets were
|
|
deputed judges to those that would not hear and receive them as
|
|
teachers. We have here,</P>
|
|
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<P>
|
|
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I. A recital of the crime. The indictment is read upon which the
|
|
judgment is grounded,
|
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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|
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Manasseh had done wickedly himself, though he knew better things, had
|
|
even justified the Amorites, whose copy he wrote after, by outdoing
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|
them in impieties, and debauched the people of God, whom he had taught
|
|
to sin and forced to sin; and besides that (though that was bad enough)
|
|
<I>he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood</I>
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|
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>),
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|
|
|
had multiplied his murders in every corner of the city, and filled the
|
|
measure of Jerusalem's blood-guiltiness
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:32">Matt. xxiii. 32</A>)
|
|
|
|
up to the brim, and all this against the crown and dignity of the King
|
|
of kings, the peace of his kingdom, and the statutes in these cases
|
|
made and provided.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. A prediction of the judgment God would bring upon them for this:
|
|
<I>They have done that which was evil,</I> and therefore <I>I am
|
|
bringing evil upon them</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>);
|
|
|
|
it will come and it is not far off. The judgment should be,
|
|
|
|
1. Very terrible and amazing; the very report of it should <I>make
|
|
men's ears to tingle</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>),
|
|
|
|
that is, their hearts to tremble. It should make a great noise in the
|
|
world and occasion many speculations.
|
|
|
|
2. It should be copied out (as the sins of Jerusalem had been) from
|
|
Samaria and the house of Ahab,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
|
|
When God lays righteousness to the line it shall be the line of
|
|
Samaria, measuring out to Jerusalem that which had been the lot of
|
|
Samaria; when he lays judgment to the plummet it shall be <I>the
|
|
plummet of the house of Ahab,</I> marking out for the same ruin to
|
|
which that wretched family was devoted. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:17">Isa. xxviii. 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
Note, Those who resemble and imitate others in their sins must expect
|
|
to fare as they fared.
|
|
|
|
3. That it should be an utter destruction: <I>I will wipe it as a man
|
|
wipes a dish.</I> This intimates,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That every thing should be put into disorder, and their state
|
|
subverted; they should be turned upside down, and all their foundations
|
|
put out of course.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That the city should be emptied of its inhabitants, which had been
|
|
the filth of it, as a dish is emptied when it is wiped: "They shall all
|
|
be carried captive, the <I>land shall enjoy her sabbaths,</I> and be
|
|
laid by as a dish when it is wiped." See the comparison of the boiled
|
|
pot, not much unlike this,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Eze+24:1-14">Ezek. xxiv. 1-14</A>.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That yet this should be in order to the purifying, not the
|
|
destroying, of Jerusalem. The dish shall not be dropped, not broken to
|
|
pieces, or melted down, but only wiped. This shall be the fruit, the
|
|
taking away of the sinners first, and then of the sin.
|
|
|
|
4. That <I>therefore</I> they should be destroyed, because they should
|
|
be deserted
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>):
|
|
|
|
<I>I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance.</I> Justly are those
|
|
that forsake God forsaken of him; nor does he ever leave any till they
|
|
have first left him: but, when God has forsaken a people, their defence
|
|
has departed, and they become a prey, an easy prey, to all their
|
|
enemies. Sin is spoken of here as the alpha and omega of their
|
|
miseries.
|
|
|
|
(1.) Old guilt came in remembrance, as that which began to fill the
|
|
measure
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<I>They have provoked me to anger</I> from their conception and birth
|
|
as a people, <I>since the day their fathers came out of Egypt.</I>" The
|
|
men of this generation, treading in their fathers' steps, are justly
|
|
reckoned with for their fathers' sins.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The guilt of blood was that which filled the measure,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Nothing has a louder cry, nor brings a sorer vengeance, than that.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
This is all we have here of Manasseh; he stands convicted and
|
|
condemned; but we hope in the book of Chronicles to hear of his
|
|
repentance, and acceptance with God. Meantime, we must be content, in
|
|
this place, to have only one intimation of his repentance (for so we
|
|
are willing to take it), that he was buried, it is likely by his own
|
|
order, <I>in the garden of his own house</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>);
|
|
|
|
for, being truly humbled for his sins, he judged himself <I>no more
|
|
worthy to be called a son,</I> a son of David, and therefore not worthy
|
|
to have even his dead body buried <I>in the sepulchres of his
|
|
fathers.</I> True penitents take shame to themselves, not honour; yet,
|
|
having lost the credit of an innocent, the credit of a penitent was the
|
|
next best he was capable of. And better it is, and more honourable,
|
|
for a sinner to die repenting, and be buried in a garden, than to die
|
|
impenitent, and be buried in the abbey.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_24"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="2Ki21_26"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Amon's Reign and Death.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 643.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>19 Amon <I>was</I> twenty and two years old when he began to reign,
|
|
and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name
|
|
<I>was</I> Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
|
|
20 And he did <I>that which was</I> evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
|
|
as his father Manasseh did.
|
|
21 And he walked in all the way that his father walked in, and
|
|
served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them:
|
|
22 And he forsook the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of his fathers, and walked not
|
|
in the way of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
|
|
23 And the servants of Amon conspired against him, and slew the
|
|
king in his own house.
|
|
24 And 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.
|
|
25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, <I>are</I> they
|
|
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
|
|
26 And he was buried in his sepulchre in the garden of Uzza:
|
|
and Josiah his son reigned in his stead.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is a short account of the short and inglorious reign of Amon, the
|
|
son of Manasseh. Whether Manasseh, in his blind and brutish zeal for
|
|
his idols, had sacrificed his other sons--or whether, having been
|
|
dedicated to his idols, they were refused by the people--so it was that
|
|
his successor was a son not born till he was forty-five years old. And
|
|
of him we are here told,
|
|
|
|
1. That his reign was very wicked: <I>He forsook the God of his
|
|
fathers</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
disobeyed the commands given to his fathers, and disclaimed the
|
|
covenant made with his fathers, <I>and walked not in the way of the
|
|
Lord,</I> but <I>in all the way which his father walked in,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:20,21"><I>v.</I> 20, 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
He trod in the steps of his father's idolatry, and revived that which
|
|
he, in the latter end of his days, had put down. Note, Those who set
|
|
bad examples, though they may repent themselves, yet cannot be sure
|
|
that those whom they have drawn into sin by their example will repent;
|
|
it is often otherwise.
|
|
|
|
2. That his end was very tragical. He having rebelled against God, his
|
|
own servants <I>conspired against him and slew him,</I> probably upon
|
|
some personal disgust, when he had reigned but two years,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
His servants, who should have guarded him, murdered him; his own house,
|
|
that should have been his castle of defence, was the place of his
|
|
execution. He had profaned God's house with his idols, and now God
|
|
suffered his own house to be polluted with his blood. How unrighteous
|
|
soever those were that did it, God was righteous who suffered it to be
|
|
done. Two things the people of the land did, by their representatives,
|
|
hereupon:--
|
|
|
|
(1.) They did justice on the traitors that had slain the king, and put
|
|
them to death; for, though he was a <I>bad</I> king, he was
|
|
<I>their</I> king, and it was a part of their allegiance to him to
|
|
avenge his death. Thus they cleared themselves from having any hand in
|
|
the crime, and did what was incumbent on them to deter others from the
|
|
like villainous practices.
|
|
|
|
(2.) They did a kindness to themselves in <I>making Josiah his son king
|
|
in his stead,</I> whom probably the conspirators had a design to put
|
|
by, but the people stood by him and settled him in the throne,
|
|
encouraged, it may be, by the indications he gave, even in his early
|
|
days, of a good disposition. Now they made a happy change from one of
|
|
the worst to one of the best of all the kings of Judah. "Once more,"
|
|
says God, "they shall be tried with a reformation; and, if that
|
|
succeed, well; if not, then after that I will cut them down." Amon was
|
|
buried in the same garden where his father was,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+21:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
If his father put himself under that humiliation, the people will put
|
|
him under it.</P>
|
|
|
|
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