Closer Day By Day

By today’s reading, we would have completed reading 2 different accounts of the kings of Israel and Judah.  What are your thoughts after reading about the kings the second time?

It’s easy to get jaded with familiar stories but I am sure we can find something that strikes a chord with us today again.

Bible Passage:  2 Chronicles 33-36

I know my past few Bible blog entries have been way too long and I apologize for it.  Someone told me that way to be more focused and concise is my writing is to think… “What is the one thing I want the readers to know” and then write it down so that I will not get ‘lost’ in my writing.

So… I will take that advice to heart today and state this is the one thing I hope we can all think about today…

Can Our Repentance Be Too Little Too Late… For Others?

This thought came to mind as I read the actions of Mannaseh in 2 Chronicles 33:14-17.

We know the legacy the kings would often leave but Mannaseh’s was especially bad.  He was heavily involved in occult pratices that included astrology, child sacrifice, witchcraft, seances, and other means of contacting spirits.  If we read the Scriptures, we will know that all these were explicitly condemned by God.  And yet… Manasseh pursued them anyway.

Manasseh reigned for 55 years - longer than any king in the history of Judah - and most of his reign was evil.

His wickedness was also repeated by the kings after him - which led to the final destruction of Jerusalem - to be exiled for 70 years before God stirred up the spirit of king Cyrus, king of Persia, to allow the people of Judah to return and rebuild the temple.

We have much to be thankful for in our life of faith.  Some of us are born into the TJC family while others have been called by His grace.

Yet, no matter how we have come to this church, we have our own flaws and weaknesses.  Although we may not have done as grave evil as Manasseh, these old sinful habits die hard.  And as years go by and we continue to get caught up in the cycle of sin and repentance, we may realize like Manasseh that it could be a case of too little too late for others to benefit from our repentance.

Manasseh could not effect a lasting change to the world despite his repentance in Babylon.

During most of his reigh, Judah paid tribute  to Assyria as a vassal state - a fact that may be explained the idolatorous behavioy of Manasseh.  Despite many warnings from the Lord (2 Chron 33:10), Manasseh was eventually captured and shamed by the Assyrians and deported to Babylon.

However, when Manasseh recognised his errors and repented, the Lord, true to His compassion and mercy, delievered him (2 Chron 33:13).  It was a testimony how God will go through great lengths to pull a person back from a life of sin.  It also shows us that if we are sincere and genuine in our repentance, God hears and forgives.

Manasseh returned to Jerusalem and immediately began a program of spiritual reform (2 Chron 33:15-17).   But it was a case of too little, too late.

Why do I say this?

Manasseh had spent his whole life completely destroying the good work that his father had done.  Now when he was old, he tried to reclaim that lost ground.  He tried to bring the people back to God because he saw the error of his ways.

But the wickedness and sinful actions of his people were already firmly entrenched and there was little he could do to reverse the trend. Even though the people followed his spiritual reforms, their heart was not true…

2 Chronicles 33:16-17 says…

He also repaired the altar of the LORD, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the LORD God of Israel.  Nevertheless the people still sacrificed on the high places, but only to the LORD their God.

(NJKV)

To understand it even more, I also read The Message version that says..

He issued orders to the people: “You shall serve and worship God, the God of Israel.” But the people didn’t take him seriously—they used the name “God” but kept on going to the old pagan neighborhood shrines and doing the same old things.

Despite Manasseh’s attempt to lead his people back to true worship of God, they kept to their old ways, and only paid lip service to God.

So… God’s judgement of Judah was poised to fall.  It was only a matter of time (2 Kings 20:16-18).

Thus Manasseh’s left behind a bittersweet legacy.  He had time enough to repent, but very little time to reform.  Although he had a change personally, his repentance and fear of God came too late to save his country.

This is something for me to consider as well.  Are there areas in my life that I still fall far short of God’s glory that while I may recognise, I still put off repenting and changing my ways.

I may think that this only affects myself but most of the time, this is not true.  Our life of faith affects many others.  In Manasseh’s case, a whole nation.  For us, maybe our immediate family.  Or our friends.

Because our misdeeds or lack of faith may influence those around us to act likewise.  And while we may see the error of our ways and repent, they may not.

So instead, let us, as we learned in last week’s reading of 2 Chronicles, that we should aim to Start RIght, Stay Right and End Right… so that all those around us will be able to Be Right as well.

May God have mercy on us all.