2 Kings 21: 1 – 26
Kitchen Patrol
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’ 16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 So Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. 19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done. 21 So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them. 22 He forsook the LORD God of his fathers and did not walk in the way of the LORD. 23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. 24 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place. 25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.
Have you ever heard of ‘KP?’ It stands for ‘kitchen patrol’ and the term is derived from the military. In other words, you are a dishwasher. So, how does one attain such a lofty position. Having had much experience in this military official status you receive this calling due to being punished. I somehow rubbed sergeants the wrong way and so they sent me to the wonderful world of dish washing.
Some of my fellow men in arms or rather men in soap consider this assignment as terrible. They feel that it is the same tedious work done every day. They also feel that it is the grossest work the military has to offer. You scrape the food off that no one wanted from thousands of plates. It is boring, mindless, manual labor. You work ridiculous hours, 4 am-8 pm. Your bosses most likely treat you like dirt because they see you as a wise guy who needs to be taught a lesson.
For me though I felt that KP was an escape. Believe it or not some thinking went into my desire to be punished and assigned to KP duty. Imagine if you will, freezing rainy weather that your company must be out in. Washing dishes is the EASIEST job you can ever hope to do. Getting soaked and being exposed to sickness is not something I think you would want to happen to you. So, while everyone in my unit is out catching pneumonia, I am nice and warm and cozy being left alone to pass away the hours.
I wear my old army jeans, no slip boots and my assigned tee shirt. I put on an apron, sling a towel over your shoulder and tie a bandanna on my head and I am good to go. It's wet, it's hot and it's busy. The time flies by though.
Get a system going. I toss all the silverware in the sink and concentrate on one type of dish at a time. All the cups first since they are the biggest pain, the bowls next then the plates. As soon as you see a pot, put soap and water in it! Keep the cups, plates and bowls clean. Silverware is a breeze after it's been soaking for a few minutes. Save the pots and pans for the end of your shift.
It's methodical, it's tiresome and it's boring, but it frees my mind up to think about other things. They say that spending time in the military makes you into a man. It is true you have a lot of time to figure out what you might want to do in life.
Having won the award for best shooter in my battalion, I was trained to be a sniper. Here my Holy Lord was guiding my path. Since I like time to think which usually means I am alone this was the perfect position for me. I could climb a tree or take a spot under a nice bush a wait to complete my assignment. In most cases I was just left alone to do my job. My order to serve in KP came out to be a blessing for me.
The trick in washing dishes is to use a lot of soap with hot water. I did not say boiling water. I had to use 3 tubs of different temperatures of water with certain amounts of soap/bleach etc. and do them all by hand.
I'm was my own boss, no one was constantly over my should telling me what to do etc...
I had my own personal system down pact so good that the job wasn't even a job to me. The workers thought that I was such a hard worker, but to me it's like a walk in the park. I got can get a free meal each day and could take a break for coffee or other things whenever I felt like it without having to ask permission.
And before you think I totally loss my mind, think about this point for a moment. Our Holy Lord God took on the same position as a dish washer. We will talk about His work shortly.
From our review of God’s Holy word we will find out that Manasseh was overall a bad king for Judah, and left a bad legacy. While Manasseh himself had changed in his final years he was unable fully to reverse what he had done, both to Judah and to his family.
The high places which Hezekiah had destroyed had been restored by Manasseh and the people had been turned back to the old unregenerate ways of pagan worship. Manasseh had laid down a pathway that led to destruction which his late conversion could not prevent.
It is true that Manasseh had the misfortune to reign when Assyria was at the height of its power which put certain restraints on him, but he went far beyond what that required of him religiously. He reigned under Esarhaddon, whose conquests included Egypt reaching up even into upper Egypt, and then under Ashur-bani-pal who followed him. he was (humanly speaking inevitably), a vassal of both. He was also to suffer for his father’s sin concerning friendship with Babylon, for it was probably his alliance with the then king of Babylon, Shamash-shum-ukin, the rebellious brother of Esarhaddon, that resulted in his being dragged ‘by hooks’ to Babylon by Esarhaddon when that rebellion was quelled, and there he was judged and punished accordingly. After repenting he returned to Judah and sought to change what he had previously done, but it was mainly in vain. The people may have appeared outwardly to respond to his repentance in his later life, but it was not from the heart. His repentance came too late to alter the ingrained inward effects of his earlier evil days, effects which would rear their heads again during the reign of his son.
We are not told who reigned while he was in custody in Babylon, but it may well have been his son, with Assyrian overseers. And his son had presumably continued his evil ways, and while somewhat restrained when Manasseh returned a changed man, would allow his evil to blossom fully once Manasseh had died. His late repentance could not make up for what he had been and done for most of his life, and that had been abysmal. What he had earlier done had been several steps too far, and it had guaranteed the final judgment on Judah and Jerusalem.
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah.
The twelve years refers to when he became co-regent with his father in 696/95 BC, and the fifty-five years of reign included that co-regency. As usual the name of the important queen mother is given. Hephzibah means ‘my delight is in her’ (Isaiah 62.4 which may well have been written around this time).
2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
The verdict on his reign was that he did evil in the sight of YHWH, having walked in all the abominations of the nations whom YHWH had cast out before the children of Israel, the nations whose behavior had been so evil that YHWH had ordered either their destruction or their expulsion from the land.
The full evil of the life of Manasseh is brought out in verses 3-7, by a detailed description of all the abominations that he committed. Whilst it was true that his subjection to the King of Assyria would have required that at a minimum he introduce into the Temple an Assyrian altar, and the worship of Assur and the host of heaven (whose power was claimed by the Assyrians as having brought about his subjection, and who would need to ‘watch over’ the observance of the treaty made between them which would have been lodged in the Temple), it was not required of him that he go to excess in other directions. The Assyrians did not interfere with the local religion. Thus, his excesses in that regard may well have partly been because when he came to the throne as sole ruler at a comparatively young age he was under the influence of parties who had endeared themselves to him during his co-regency with a view to a return to the old ways once Hezekiah was dead.
3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.
Manasseh did not, of course, do all this himself. Rather he rescinded the order of Hezekiah against the old high places, so that those of the people so inclined, which were many, could once again restore the high places with their semi-Canaanite worship, and set up altars for Baal, while he himself seemingly set up an altar of Baal and an Asherah image in the Temple in the same way as Ahab had done. It was a deliberate reversal of Hezekiah’s reforms. The worship of the host of heaven, which would include Assur the sun god, was probably required by his Assyrian conquerors, but it was one thing to give formal recognition to them, it was quite another to enter their worship enthusiastically. He appears to have ‘gone over the top’. He was seemingly a willingly enthusiastic vassal.
4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”
Our Holy Master God YHWH had put His Name in Jerusalem in response to David’s action in bringing the Ark of YHWH (which was called after the Name of YHWH - 2 Samuel 6.2) into Jerusalem as his capital city. It was David’s desire that YHWH would adopt Jerusalem as the present place where He put His Name, and YHWH had responded to him because of His love for him. It was thus for David’s sake that He had adopted Jerusalem. And now Manasseh was restoring it to its old owners, the gods of Canaan. This was thus an open rejection by Manasseh of his own Davidic status, and of the uniqueness of the God of David.
5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
The old court around the Temple had been divided into two. This would probably be necessary to house the altar of YHWH in one section and the altars of Baal in the other. The worship of the host of heaven was widespread, even though the gods might have different names. But here, as the Assyrian gods are mentioned nowhere else in the passage, it is seemingly connected with Assyria (where ‘the host of heaven’ was certainly worshipped), for their presence and worship would certainly have been required.
6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.
This verse signifies that he also introduced the worship of Molech (Melech) the god of the Ammonites who required child sacrifice, or that he transferred those practices to the worship of Baal, as would occur in the future in Jeremiah’s day (Jeremiah 19.5). That passing through the fire involved such child sacrifice is clear from Jeremiah 19.5. He also indulged in the occult, using divination by omens, enchantments, consultations with familiar spirits through mediums, and wizardry, all of which was forbidden by the Law of YHWH (Leviticus 19.26; Deuteronomy 18.10-14).
Not only did he introduce false worship in abundance, but Manasseh also ‘wrought much evil, in the sight of YHWH’, provoking Him to anger. Central to this was his rejection of the covenant requirements of YHWH (Canaanite worship, with its perverted sex acts, did, of course, openly result in flagrant disobedience to YHWH’s other commandments).
7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever;
Chief among his crimes was the setting up of the image of the mother goddess of the Canaanite religion, not only in Jerusalem which was a crime, but also in the very house of which YHWH had said to David and Solomon, ‘There will I put My Name’ (1 Kings 11.36). The setting up of the Asherah with its evil and lascivious associations appears to have been looked on, if that were possible, as even more serious than the pillars and altars of Baal. The sexual extravagances associated with Asherah are here set in stark contrast to the purity of the Name of YHWH.
8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.”
Our Great and Mighty God Of Israel YHWH had promised that He would not cause the feet of Israel to wander out of the land which He had given to their fathers any more. In other words, there would be no danger of exile for them. They would be safe in the land. But it had been conditional on their observing to do all that He had commanded them, and all that had been commanded to them by Moses as written in the Law of Moses, YHWH’s servant. And we have already seen that three major exiles of God’s people had already resulted because of their disobedience. The first was in chapter 15.29, following the destruction and annexation of the region around Naphtali, when many from those regions were transported; the second in chapter 17.6; 18.11-12 following the destruction of Samaria; and the third in chapter 18.13, resulting from the initial invasion of Judah. Thereafter every Assyrian and Babylonian, and even Egyptian, invasion would result in many exiles, for these nations never went back without taking captives with them. So, as for many nations of the other nations, exile was a common occurrence for the Israelites, and continually brought home the warning that if they were disobedient God would spew them out of the land (Leviticus 18.28). (What is erroneously called ‘The Exile’ in popular Biblical teaching, as though there was only one, is only recalled because it resulted from the destruction of Jerusalem and we have records about some of them returning. But exile was not uncommon. In those days people lived in expectation of the possibility of exile. It did not take a prophet to forecast the possibility of exile. What the prophet did was explain the reason for the exile.
9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of Israel.
In spite of all that YHWH had said the people did not listen. And Manasseh ‘seduced them’ and led them into such evil ways that they were even more evil than the nations whom YHWH had destroyed before the children of Israel.
10 And the LORD spoke by His servants the prophets, saying,
It is clear therefore that this could have only one inevitable end, that they would be spewed out of the land. A further series of exiles was inevitable.
11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols),
Ahab had done ‘very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites did whom YHWH cast out before the children of Israel’ (1 Kings 21.26), but Manasseh is seen as being worse than Ahab. He had done wickedly above all that the Amorites who were before him did. Manasseh had done wickedness which exceeded even the wickedness of the Amorites, and the Amorites were seen by the time of Moses as the epitome of evil - Genesis 15.16). There could be no greater condemnation. And what was worse he had also made Judah to sin with his idols. He had led astray his people.
12 therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle.
What was to happen to Jerusalem and Judah was to be so devastating that men’s ears would tingle when they heard it. The Hebrew word which is here translated “tingle” literally means to rattle or vibrate. We might liken it to our common expression, of a “ringing in one’s ears”. The LORD is saying that this message which is to be delivered to Judah will be as a loud ringing in the ears of those who are made to hear it. If a sound rings in the ears it cannot be escaped or overlooked, one cannot ignore it or act as though no sound was heard, it is unmistakable and unavoidable.
These words “ring in the ears” of those who can hear. They strike fear into the hearts of those whom the LORD gives ears to hear and eyes to see. They are made to see the hopelessness of their own situation and cry out “O woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.” They are brought to the brink of despair and can clearly testify of the justice of GOD in casting them into the pit of everlasting destruction. They can discover no power within themselves to deliver themselves from this awful fate and can find no place of deliverance at their disposal nor any ability to remedy their own sad condition.
13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.
For He would measure Jerusalem by the measuring line of sinful Samaria and by the plummet of the house of Ahab, and as verse 11 indicates by that measure they would come off worse. For our Holy God Is going to clean house. He will clean the dishes. He would wipe it like a man wipes a dish and then turns it upside down. (An equivalent modern expression might be that ‘He would hang them out to dry’). The thought is of total and complete judgment. All this will happen because it was because of their filthiness that YHWH would have to wipe them and turn them upside down.
14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies,
They would no longer be His chosen people, but He would cast them off, and hand them over to their enemies, and the result would be that they would become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.
15 because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’
All this would occur because they had done what was evil in His sight and had provoked Him to anger since the very day when they came out of Egypt, even to this present day. God’s judgment did not come on His people simply because of the behavior and attitude of their kings. It resulted from the fact that the people were equally provocatively sinful.
16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the LORD.
Along with Manasseh’s idolatry, as so often happened, went a propensity for evil, for it resulted in the Law of YHWH being set aside. ‘Shed innocent blood very much’ may be speaking only of judicial murder, although if so it was clearly carried out in large numbers, removing opponents, and especially those who sought to be faithful to YHWH (later tradition says that it included Isaiah), but it probably also included general persecution and the revealing of a total disregard for human life, something which once begun would happily be taken up by all so inclined. It would be seen by many as a convenient way of removing political or business rivals, appropriating other people’s wealth, and obtaining vengeance for perceived slights. Jerusalem had become a blood-bath.
The picture is one of wholesale bloodshed, unlike anything seen before. And this was on top of his making Judah to sin, in doing what was evil in the sight of YHWH, both by idolatry, and by them acting contrary to the covenant. His evil propensities were thus being taken up by others.
17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
In contrast with earlier kings the main factor about Manasseh was not his might but ‘the sin that he sinned’ (he was the only king to have this epitaph.
18 So Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place.
Manasseh died peacefully and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzzah. His son Amon reigned instead of him.
Amon continued in the way in which he had been brought up and reinstituted the idolatrous practices of the reign of his father prior to his repentance. He neither worshipped YHWH truly nor continued in the ways prescribed by His Law. This may partly have been to ingratiate himself with Assyria who would take an immediate interest in the new king. But his activities in general clearly angered the ruling elite in Jerusalem so much so that they conspired against him and assassinated him in his own house. This may have been at the instigation of a reviving Egypt in the face of Assyrian decline.
19 Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah.
Amon took over as king when his father was a hostage, although only under Assyrian supervision, especially as he is said to have come to the throne at twenty-two years of age.
20 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done
Amon followed in the evil ways of his father, doing what was ‘evil in the eyes of YHWH’ in the same way as his father had done, and reversing Manasseh’s later policy. This may partly have been due to Assyrian influence.
21 So he walked in all the ways that his father had walked; and he served the idols that his father had served and worshiped them.
He behaved as his father had done in his evil days and served the same idols as his father had done and worshipped them. His idolatry was too ingrained to be affected by his father’s conversion.
22 He forsook the LORD God of his fathers and did not walk in the way of the LORD
Above all he forsook YHWH, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in His ways. The Law of YHWH was thrust to one side. This was his crowning sin.
23 Then the servants of Amon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house.
It was the forsaking of YHWH that was the real and ultimate cause of his staff conspiring against him and putting him to death in his own house.
24 But the people of the land executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then the people of the land made his son Josiah king in his place.
The people of the land were not happy with the situation, and they in their turn slew the conspirators so that they could make Amon’s son Josiah king instead of him. They no more wanted Egyptian interference than they wanted Assyrian rule.
25 Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26 And he was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza. Then Josiah his son reigned in his place.
Like his father Amon was buried in his sepulcher in the garden of Uzza, and he was succeeded by the young Josiah. What a sad state it is to have nothing good said about you. Your life was a total waste.
