Welcome to this Daily PPJ devotional. Read 2 Chronicles 33 and Proverbs 31. This devotional is about 2 Chronicles 33. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, by following the abominations of the nations that the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. For he rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he raised up altars for the Baals, and made Asherah poles. and he worshipped and served all the hosts of heaven. Manasseh also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, My name will remain in Jerusalem forever. In both courtyards of the house of the Lord, he built altars to all the hosts of heaven. He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. Manasseh even took the carved image he had made and set it up in the house of God, of which God had said to David and his son Solomon, In this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will establish my name forever. I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to leave the land that I assigned to your fathers, if only they are careful to do all that I have commanded them through Moses, all the laws, statutes, and judgments. So Manasseh led the people of Judah and Jerusalem astray, so that they did greater evil than the nations that the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they did not listen. So the Lord brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon. And in his distress, Manasseh sought the favor of the Lord his God, and earnestly humbled himself before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the Lord received his plea and heard his petition. So he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. After this, Manasseh rebuilt the outer wall of the city of David from the west of Gihon in the valley to the entrance of the fish gate, and he brought it around the hill of Othel and heightened it considerably. He also stationed military commanders in all the fortified cities of Judah. He removed the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, along with all the altars he had built on the Temple Mount and in Jerusalem, and he dumped them outside the city. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and he told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the Lord their God. As for the rest of the Acts of Manasseh, along with his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, they are indeed written in the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. His prayer, and how God received his plea, as well as all his sin and unfaithfulness, and the sites where he built high places, and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself, they are indeed written in the records of the seers. And Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried at his palace, and his son Ammon reigned in his place. Ammon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Ammon served and sacrificed to all the idols that his father Manasseh had made. But he did not humble himself before the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. Instead, Ammon increased his guilt. Then the servants of Ammon conspired against him and killed him in his palace. but the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Ammon, and they made his son Josiah king in his place. This is God's word. Some human governments move back and forth like a pendulum, and that's what Judah's leadership was like at times during the divided kingdom. After all the good that Hezekiah had done in his lifetime, his son Manasseh came in and reversed it all. Verse 2 told us that. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And verses 3-5 catalog his sins, which included idolatry, of course. desecration of the temple, child sacrifice, divination, witchcraft, and spiritism. His actions were so evil that verse 9 said, Manasseh led Judah and the people of Jerusalem astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. God graciously sent his word to Judah according to verse 10. And then God imposed painful punishment on him personally as we saw in verse 11. At his lowest point, however, Manasseh humbled himself greatly, according to verse 12b, sought the Lord's favor, according to verse 12a, and God heard and delivered him, according to verse 13. And it was genuine repentance, too, because verse 13c said, Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. He also restored the altar of the Lord and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel. Again, that's verse 16 in the NIV. So, if Manasseh was truly repentant and showed genuine fruit of repentance, then why did verse 2 include him among the evil kings of Judah? The answer is that the phrase, he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, applied to some kings, or he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, applied to other kings, including Manasseh. That describes a king's leadership more than his personal walk with God. Of course, these two things are deeply linked. And an ungodly leader is, of course, almost always an ungodly man. Manasseh is an unusual edge case. Although he repented, his repentance came after many years of ungodly living and ungodly leadership. His soul may have been saved after his repentance. That did not erase the influence of his ungodly life and his ungodly leadership. Despite his repentance, Manasseh was an unqualified evil influence as king of Judah. So that's why he'll always be condemned as an ungodly king despite his repentance. Here's a lesson for us about the foolishness of sin. I don't know if anyone sins thinking, I'll just ask forgiveness for this later. And that shows a level of honesty that I don't think we usually have. Our sinful choices usually involve more self-deception and self-justification than that. But if someone does think that way, I'm gonna sin, but I'll ask forgiveness later, they're missing a very important truth. your sin and mine leaves a mark on other people. It gives them a way to justify their own sinful actions, a sort of moral permission, if you will, that really isn't moral at all, but quiets our conscience enough to let people choose evil. If you have influence over many people, many of those people will try out your sin for themselves. May God help us to say no to sin personally, not only for our personal spiritual health, though, but also to prevent sin from spreading to those who follow our lead. If you found this devotional helpful, go to my website dailypbj.com slash subscribe, enter your email address there, and you'll be subscribed to my daily emails. Those daily emails will contain a link to the daily scripture readings so you can be reading God's word. The email will cue you and help you learn a consistent pattern of reading God's word. But that same email every day will contain a link to these devotionals. So you can listen or watch or read them and I can help you apply what you've read to your life. 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