2 Chronicles 33:11 - Meaning and Application

We have already seen Manasseh undo by his wickedness the good his father had done. Here we see him, by repentance, undo the evil he himself had done. It is surprising that this was not even mentioned in the book of Kings. There, nothing is said against it, but it seems he went on in sin and died in it. Perhaps that history focused on the nation’s wickedness, since that was what brought their destruction. Manasseh’s repentance, and the good that came from it, was personal rather than national, so it was passed over there. Here, though, it is fully told, and it gives a striking example of God’s rich mercy in forgiving and his powerful grace in changing hearts.

The first thing to notice is what led Manasseh to repent, and that was his suffering. In his trouble, he did not do what King Ahaz had done and sin even more against God. Instead, he humbled himself and returned to God. Affliction that is used by God often becomes a happy means of conversion. His distress is described in 2 Chronicles 33:11. God brought a foreign enemy against him, the king of Babylon, who had once shown respect to his father but now invaded him after he had turned away from God in treachery. He is also called the king of Assyria, because he had gained control of Assyria. That may have seemed easier after the defeat of Sennacherib’s army before Jerusalem.

This enemy wanted the treasures and precious things his messengers had seen. But God sent him to punish a sinful people and to humble a wandering prince. The captain caught Manasseh among the thorns, perhaps in some bush or hiding place, maybe even in his garden. Or the words may be figurative, meaning he was trapped by confusion and unable to see a way forward. He was, as we might say, caught in the briars and did not know how to get out. So he became an easy target for the Assyrian captains, who likely plundered his house and took whatever they wanted, just as Isaiah had foretold (2 Kings 20:17, 2 Kings 20:18). What had once been Hezekiah’s pride became their spoil. They bound Manasseh, who had already been held fast by the cords of his own sin, and took him as a prisoner to Babylon. We are not told exactly when this happened in his reign, though the Jews say it was in his twenty-second year.

Next are the signs of his repentance, in 2 Chronicles 33:12, 2 Chronicles 33:13. In his affliction he had time to think, and enough reason to do so. He saw clearly what his sin had brought him to. He found that the gods he had served could not help him. He understood that repentance was the only way to set his affairs right, so he returned to the one he had rebelled against.

First, he became convinced that the Lord, Jehovah, is the only living and true God. Then he knew, meaning he believed and truly considered, that the Lord was God. He could have learned that at a much lower cost if he had paid attention to God’s written word and preached word. Still, it was better to learn it this way than to die in ignorance and unbelief. If he had stayed a prince in the palace of Babylon, he would likely have grown firmer in idolatry. But as a captive in Babylon’s prisons, he was convinced and turned back.

Second, he now came to God as his own God, giving up all others and resolving to cling to him alone, the God of his fathers and the God who had made covenant with him. Third, he humbled himself deeply before God. He was truly sorry for his sins, ashamed of them, and afraid of God’s wrath. It is right for sinners to humble themselves before the face of the God they have offended. It is also right for sufferers to humble themselves under the hand of the God who corrects them and to accept the punishment for their sin. Our hearts should bow under humbling providence. Then we fit ourselves to it and meet God’s purpose in it.

Fourth, he prayed to God for pardon and for the return of God’s favor. Prayer is the relief of those who repent, and also the relief of those who suffer. There is a good prayer for this situation in the apocryphal book called The Prayer of Manasseh, king of Judah, when he was held captive in Babylon. Whether it was truly his prayer or not, that is uncertain. If it was, he gives glory to God as the God of their fathers and their righteous descendants, the Creator of the world, whose anger is unbearable, yet whose merciful promise is beyond measure. He pleads that God has promised repentance and forgiveness to sinners, and has appointed repentance for sinners so they may be saved. He says this was not only for the righteous, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but also for him, a sinner who had sinned more than the sands of the sea. He confesses his sin at length and makes it sound as serious as it really was. He asks, “Forgive me, O Lord, forgive me, and do not destroy me.” He also pleads that God is the God of those who repent, and ends by promising to praise him forever.

The third thing is God’s gracious answer to his repentance. God was moved by him and heard his plea. Though affliction may drive us to God, he does not reject us for that reason if we sincerely seek him. That is, after all, one reason afflictions are sent, to bring us back to him. As a sign of God’s favor, he opened a way for Manasseh to escape. Afflictions do not last one moment longer than they have done their work. When Manasseh was brought back to God and to his duty, he was soon brought back to his kingdom as well. This shows how ready God is to welcome returning sinners, and how quickly he is to show mercy. Let no great sinner give up hope. Manasseh himself found favor with God after repentance, and in him God gave an example of patience (1 Timothy 1:16; Isaiah 1:18).

The last thing is the fruit that fit his repentance after he returned to his own land, in 2 Chronicles 33:15, 2 Chronicles 33:16. First, he turned away from his sins. He removed the foreign gods, their images, and that idol, whatever it was, which he had set up so openly in the house of the Lord, as though it were master there. He threw out all the idol altars in the temple area and in Jerusalem as things he now hated. We hope he disliked them as much as he had once loved them, and could say to them, “Go away” (Isaiah 30:22).

Second, he returned to his duty. He repaired the altar of the Lord, which may have been damaged or broken down by idolatrous priests, or at least neglected and left in poor condition. He offered peace offerings to ask for God’s favor, and thank offerings to praise God for his deliverance. He also used his authority to reform his people, when before he had used it to corrupt them. He commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. Those who truly repent will not only return to God themselves, but will do all they can to bring back others who were led away by their example. If they do not, then they have not fully undone the wrong they did, nor made the cure as broad as the wound. We are told that he succeeded in turning them away from their false gods, though not from their high places (2 Chronicles 33:17).

They still sacrificed there, but they did it only to the Lord their God. Manasseh could not carry the reformation as far as he had carried the corruption. It is easy to ruin people’s habits, but not so easy to reform them again.

His prosperity, in some measure, followed his repentance. He could clearly see that sin had brought him down, because when he returned to God in obedience, God returned to him in mercy. Then he built a wall around the city of David (2 Chronicles 33:14), because by his sin he had left it exposed to enemies. He also put military captains in the fortified cities to protect his land. Josephus says that for the rest of his life he changed so much for the better that people thought of him as a very fortunate man.

Here we also have the close of his story. More than with most kings, we are directed to other writings for the full account of these events (2 Chronicles 33:18, 2 Chronicles 33:19). It seems that a record was kept of three things. First, his sins and guilt, the high places he built, and the groves and idols he set up before he was humbled. This was likely taken from his own confession, made when God gave him repentance, and left on record in a book called The Words of the Seers. To the prophets who spoke to him (2 Chronicles 33:18) and rebuked him for his sin, he sent this confession when he repented, as a way to thank them for their faithful correction. That is how repentant sinners should act, taking shame to themselves, thanking those who corrected them, and warning others.

Second, there was a record of the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord (2 Chronicles 33:10, 2 Chronicles 33:18), including their rebukes and their calls to repentance. Sinners should remember this: even if they pay little attention to them, an account is being kept of the words of the prophets who speak from God to warn them about their sin, danger, and duty. That account will be brought out against them on the great day.

Third, there was a record of his prayer to God, which is mentioned twice as something remarkable, and of how God answered him. This was written down for future generations, so that the people yet to be created would praise the Lord for how ready he is to receive returning prodigals. His burial place is also noted. He was not buried in the tombs of the kings, but in his own house. He was buried privately, and none of the public honor was shown to him at death that had been shown to his father. Repentant people may regain comfort sooner than they regain honor.