1 00:00:00,880 --> 00:00:07,120 Father, we ask that if any of us have not been satisfied with 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:11,920 Your love, that you would use this Bible study to awaken 3 00:00:12,120 --> 00:00:14,880 affection in each of our hearts toward Christ. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,880 And Lord, we pray that we would be convinced of how sure Your 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:25,440 compassion is for each of us, especially as we come to this 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:29,480 chapter in this book. And Lord, lastly, we pray that 7 00:00:29,480 --> 00:00:35,160 every truth that is explored and explained would not just merely 8 00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:39,400 be filed in our minds. It would be adorned in our 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,440 conduct. That we would, as Titus tells 10 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:48,120 us, to adorn the doctrine of God so that the world may witness 11 00:00:48,480 --> 00:00:53,240 how beautiful this gospel is, how precious your Son, the Lord 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:58,280 Jesus Christ truly is. So even now, Lord, we submit 13 00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:02,280 every faculty of our being, we ask, Lord, that you would 14 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:06,480 protect the transmission of truth, that any scheme of Satan 15 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,800 that would try to interfere would be cancelled, that you 16 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:15,920 would help us overcome any sin, any unbelief, anything of the 17 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:20,240 flesh that would obstruct the promises of God flourishing in 18 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,720 our lives. And so, Lord, even in the 19 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:27,320 delivery of this message, in this time of expounding help, 20 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:33,320 may Christ alone be seen, may he alone be heard, and may he alone 21 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:35,960 be adored. We ask these things in his 22 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:40,120 living name, the matchless name of Jesus Christ. 23 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:45,760 Amen. As we are approaching the end of 24 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,760 the Book of Second Kings, I was curious to know how many kings 25 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:55,200 we have left to study. Well, in the final five chapters 26 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,720 of the Book of Second Kings, there are a total of 7 monarchs 27 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,000 to explore together in this book. 28 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:07,080 Now that may seem like quite a bit considering the pace of our 29 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:13,120 study on Friday nights, but not all of these rulers receive real 30 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,400 estate. Two out of the seven are given 31 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,160 significantly more attention than the others. 32 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:24,240 The first is Manessa, who is the son of Hezekiah. 33 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:30,840 The second is Josiah, one of the most prominent reformers in the 34 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:37,720 Kingdom of Judah. And as we come to 2nd Kings 21, 35 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:41,560 King Manasseh will be the focus of our study this evening. 36 00:02:42,640 --> 00:02:46,040 And as we turn there, we might expect that this young man will 37 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,160 continue leading God's people on the path of faithfulness as he 38 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:54,920 receives the baton from his righteous father, Hezekiah. 39 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:01,080 Tragically, we are going to learn instead that one of the 40 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:06,080 greatest spiritual leaders in Judah's history fathered the 41 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:11,680 most wicked man in Judah's history, Manasa. 42 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:17,800 That claim is a conjecture. By the way, that is exactly what 43 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,480 the author inspired by the Holy Spirit says about this man 44 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:24,760 Manessa in the very chapter we are going to delve into 45 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,880 together. And as difficult as it may be to 46 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:34,240 learn about someone who went in the complete opposite direction 47 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,920 of such an inspirational man like Hezekiah, there is much to 48 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:43,000 glean from this man's life. He is infamous. 49 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,840 Yes, he is problematic, but he has been placed in our Bibles 50 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:52,680 for our up building, for our encouragement. 51 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:56,400 And as we come again to this chapter, realize that in verse 52 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:59,360 one alone there is a meal for our meditation. 53 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,640 Let's start by looking at three things from the introduction of 54 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:07,440 this chapter by looking at some details. 55 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,720 Are you there with me? Second Kings 21, verse one and 56 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,840 verse 2. Manessa was 12 years old when he 57 00:04:14,840 --> 00:04:19,000 began to reign, and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. 58 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,720 His mother's name was Have Sepa, and he did what was evil in the 59 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:26,720 side of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the 60 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:32,160 nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. 61 00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:35,160 Three things I want to point out. 62 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:43,800 Number one, let's consider Manessa's age, 12 years old, 12 63 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:48,480 years old, occupying the most powerful seat in Judah. 64 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,800 Now, we've studied enough of the Book of Kings to not be so 65 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,240 surprised that such a young man, a child really has been elevated 66 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:01,680 to such a position. But when we connect Manessa to 67 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:06,920 his father, this, this little instruction here, this little 68 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,560 detail should be a special interest to us. 69 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:14,880 Remember that Hezekiah was supposed to die in his 30s, but 70 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:16,600 he was granted how many more years to live? 71 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:24,320 1515 years to live? Vanessa was 12 years old. 72 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,440 Implying what? That he was born a few years 73 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:33,160 after Hezekiah was miraculously healed after he was delivered 74 00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:38,200 from this deadly disease, which helps us understand a second 75 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,240 observation. The name of this new king 76 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:44,640 Manasseh. We've seen this name before in 77 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,040 our study of the Old Testament and it made me wonder if 78 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:52,480 Hezekiah named his son Manasseh for a similar reason. 79 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,840 Why Joseph named his first born Manasseh? 80 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,320 Because in Genesis 4151, Joseph said in calling his name 81 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:11,600 Manasseh, I will do so because God has made me forget all my 82 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:13,920 hardship and all my father's house. 83 00:06:14,520 --> 00:06:17,360 The name Manessa means making to forget. 84 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:23,240 And I wonder again if Hezekiah did something similar because of 85 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:27,760 the joy that Manessa brought to his life, offering a similar 86 00:06:27,760 --> 00:06:31,040 relief from his own pain that he had to endure. 87 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:37,120 And more than that, the reward, the sense of reward, that he 88 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,280 would not die without a direct descendant. 89 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:43,840 Could it be that that was one of the reasons why he lamented on 90 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:47,000 that bed as he turned his face to the wall, knowing that there 91 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:49,760 wouldn't be continuation from his line? 92 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:55,400 Some would say so. But oh, it made me think if 93 00:06:55,400 --> 00:07:00,240 Hezekiah would have prayed differently if he had just got a 94 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,080 glimpse of the trouble and the harm that Manasseh would bring 95 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,520 to the people of God. We can't say for certain. 96 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:14,360 However, as dark as Manessa's story is, he will be a powerful 97 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:19,360 example of the New Testament truth that wherever sin abounds, 98 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:25,240 grace abounds. More Thirdly, another thing to 99 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:29,920 consider, this is all just from verse one, his administration, 100 00:07:31,320 --> 00:07:33,040 more specifically the duration of it. 101 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:39,280 How long did he reign for 55? Years. 102 00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:45,240 That is the longest reign in Judas history and it was a 103 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:47,160 record held by the most vile man. 104 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,360 Why? How can it be? 105 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,880 I mean, you compare with David, you compare with Hezekiah even, 106 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,680 and you wonder how is it that the Lord allowed such an 107 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:04,840 individual to remain in such a position of power and polluting 108 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:12,360 his people for this many years? We're not told, but it is a 109 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,640 strong reminder that life and a long life is not always a sign 110 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:17,760 of God's approval of how one lives. 111 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:22,400 Is it? Let me add this, It's not long. 112 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:24,760 It's not how long you live, but how you live that matters. 113 00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,680 It's not the quantity, it's not the number of your years, but 114 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:36,000 how those years are lived. Hezekiah did mourn his 29 years 115 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,600 of governance. The Manessa would do in nearly 116 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,760 twice that time. And when it comes to Manessa, 117 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:49,280 the only details that we are granted about his reign are the. 118 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:53,560 Evil crimes that he committed. That's really a large portion of 119 00:08:53,560 --> 00:08:56,520 this chapter. All the hideous things that this 120 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,200 man performed in that length of time. 121 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:03,120 And it would do us good to briefly look at some of these 122 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,280 things because it will help us. It will, it will really make an 123 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:08,760 impact on our study's conclusion. 124 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,760 So I, I believe that there are at least 5 categories, 5 125 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:18,640 indictments to Manessa's evil in the verses that we have not read 126 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:20,360 yet. And so let's do this. 127 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:24,640 Let's read these slowly and consider just how heinous and 128 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,640 deplorable and twisted Manessa was. 129 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,640 Look at verse 3. For he rebuilt the high places 130 00:09:33,640 --> 00:09:38,080 that Hezekiah his father had destroyed, and he erected altars 131 00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:42,360 for Baal and made an ashraz. Ahab, king of Israel had done 132 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:45,920 and worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them. 133 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:50,320 Highlight the first part. He rebuilt the high places that 134 00:09:50,320 --> 00:09:52,200 Hezekiah his father had destroyed. 135 00:09:52,560 --> 00:09:56,640 Now remember up to this point. Hezekiah was the only king who 136 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:02,360 had the boldness, the courage, the love for God to dismantle 137 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:06,880 and remove these stations of sacrifice that took the people 138 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,920 away from the central place of worship where God's name was 139 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:16,160 supposed to be called alone and his son reintroduced them. 140 00:10:18,680 --> 00:10:21,080 And there are those who I think through this, there's a 141 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,880 wonderful lesson. For those who would question the 142 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:30,240 legitimacy of reformation or a move of God like a revival by 143 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,280 pointing out the absence of lasting impact as supposed 144 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,200 evidence. And if you're one of those 145 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:43,080 skeptics who would rethink if something was genuine, if it was 146 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,120 really something of the Holy Spirit because long term it 147 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:50,080 doesn't seem to have produced righteousness and and fruit, 148 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:54,000 remember this. It would be unfair to discount 149 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:59,400 how God used Hezekiah to bring spiritual reform to the Kingdom. 150 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:06,000 It's possible for one generation to undo the work that the godly 151 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:11,160 have done in past years. That's entirely possible, and it 152 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,000 doesn't discredit what God has done before. 153 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,040 That could be true in a local church. 154 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,280 In an institution, In a city, In a denomination. 155 00:11:20,680 --> 00:11:26,080 What we find here is that Manessa's first egregious crime 156 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,640 was that he reversed his father's reforms. 157 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:36,040 And more than that. He resurrects bail worship and 158 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:42,200 the adoration of Ashrae like the days of Ahab, and beyond that he 159 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:44,480 institute's astral. Worship. 160 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:47,880 What does it say here at the end of verse three that He 161 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:51,760 worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them? 162 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:59,240 So He ascribes divine titles to stars and planets, and He 163 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:03,720 actually invites people also to sacrifice and Revere them. 164 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,000 And this is something that the Lord specifically prohibits in 165 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:11,600 Deuteronomy 17 verse 3, that the people of God were not to look 166 00:12:11,600 --> 00:12:15,640 at the sun and the moon and all the other celestial things and 167 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:20,640 ascribe divinity to them and worship them. 168 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:22,320 So this is the first thing that he does. 169 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,760 He he reverses what Hezekiah reformed. 170 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:31,120 Secondly, look at verse 4. And he built altars in the House 171 00:12:31,120 --> 00:12:34,080 of the Lord, of which the Lord had said in Jerusalem, will I 172 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:36,840 put my name? And he built altars for all the 173 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:40,520 hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house. 174 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:45,360 Of the Lord. The severity of this trespass is 175 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:49,200 not just in the fact that he builds these false altars, it's 176 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,720 the location of these altars where he placed them. 177 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:58,240 Where was it? In the House of the Lord, the 178 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:03,080 very place where God had consecrated to be about Him and 179 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,280 Him alone. And So what we see here with 180 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:07,560 Manessa is that he had total disregard for the sacredness of 181 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:11,760 the House of God. He could care less about how 182 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:13,400 holy it was. He could care. 183 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:16,480 Less about what God asked of those parameters and those 184 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,400 materials and what was to take place in terms of activity. 185 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,800 And the sense that you get already is that there is a 186 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:26,640 progression here going on of escalating defiance. 187 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:32,400 It starts here with the high places, these external areas 188 00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:35,680 where the people of Israel could conveniently worship, not just 189 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:37,760 community worship the true God, but other gods. 190 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:42,280 And now we're moving into the very heart of worship. 191 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,840 The place that God said he would meet with his people is being 192 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,320 defamed. It's as though Manasseh has no 193 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:56,280 problem defying God to his face. And this evil is emphasized, 194 00:13:56,280 --> 00:13:59,480 it's highlighted as it is repeated in verse 7. 195 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:04,960 Scroll down to verse 7. And the carved image of Asherah 196 00:14:05,080 --> 00:14:08,240 that he had made. He sat in the House of which the 197 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:11,480 Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house 198 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:14,880 and in Jerusalem, which I've chosen out of all the tribes of 199 00:14:14,880 --> 00:14:17,240 Israel, I will put my name forever. 200 00:14:17,560 --> 00:14:21,280 This is blasphemy. This is gross. 201 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:26,120 So not only does he place altars, he places an image. 202 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:30,840 Of a demonic God in the very courts of God. 203 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:37,440 There's an erasure here of God's presence and his exclusivity, 204 00:14:37,600 --> 00:14:42,080 his beauty, his glory. At at best, if you can say that 205 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:45,040 he, he's, he's being placed with these gods. 206 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:47,040 Which is a horrible thing to even say. 207 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:50,960 At worst, it's Manesa here trying to remove God altogether 208 00:14:50,960 --> 00:14:53,880 from the scene. So the second thing that he does 209 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,160 here is that he desecrates the temple of God. 210 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:02,600 Thirdly, this is going to be familiar to us, unfortunately. 211 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:06,800 Look at verse 6. And he burned his son as an 212 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:10,880 offering and used fortune telling and omens and dealt with 213 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:15,040 mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of 214 00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:21,240 the Lord provoking him to anger. Manasseh sacrificed. 215 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:23,880 His children. And you get the impression that 216 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,560 this man is highly motivated to honor virtually everything 217 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:32,440 except the true and living God. He revives Bill and Asher 218 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,920 worship, he promotes the adoration of astrology, and now 219 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:37,960 he Stokes the fire of Molech worship. 220 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,520 In Second Chronicles 33, verse 6, a parallel account. 221 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:47,640 We're told here that he actually sacrificed his sons, plural. 222 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:51,440 So not just one son, but many of his sons. 223 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:55,720 And our hearts should absolutely shatter as we are witnessing a 224 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:01,520 descendant of David committing such bloodshed and having this 225 00:16:02,320 --> 00:16:05,280 tampering, this defiling of the royal dynasty. 226 00:16:05,880 --> 00:16:09,040 There's something special about the seed of David, as we know. 227 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:15,840 And here's Manessa, carelessly, murderously, in the deplorable 228 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,480 manner. Bringing this line to near 229 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:24,200 extinction, this wickedness is jaw-dropping. 230 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:28,240 There's there's a reason why we're feeling this build up in 231 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:31,240 our righteous indignation. That's what the author is 232 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:37,280 intending here. And there's still more #4 we 233 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:39,440 read in the same verse. He engaged heavily in 234 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:45,720 witchcraft. We've seen very little of this 235 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,320 in the history of Israel's kings and Judas kings. 236 00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:54,120 The closest thing to this is, I believe, saw when he appealed to 237 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,560 a witch to give him some kind of consolation and direction as he 238 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,960 was at war with a foreign enemy. But that's not what we see with 239 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:04,400 Manessa. We find Manessa here instituting 240 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:11,319 satanic worship. Leviticus 1926 forbids this, 241 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:13,880 forbids the telling of fortune, that the interpretation of 242 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:18,480 omens, a law that Manessa freely disobeyed. 243 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,200 Let me just make a side note here because you'd be surprised 244 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:25,640 to know how many people who claim that the Bible is their 245 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,880 compass, like to check their horoscopes from time to time, 246 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:37,360 like to dabble with tarot cards, make a few phone calls to people 247 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:42,240 who claim to predict the future. You are dabbling in the demonic, 248 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:47,360 and this is something that not only the Old Testament condemns, 249 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:49,240 but it's found in the New Testament as well. 250 00:17:49,720 --> 00:17:53,280 You don't need anything else except God, His Word, and His 251 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:58,520 precious Spirit in your life. Beware of what seems to be 252 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:04,240 harmless and widely accepted. I know of people who have opened 253 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,240 up torment in their lives because they thought that they 254 00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:12,680 can innocently entertain things that are clearly satanic. 255 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:21,080 Just a side note #5 this is really a summary of Manasseh's 256 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,200 devilish habits, verse 7 and verse 8. 257 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:29,960 And the carved image of Ashra that he had made, he said in the 258 00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:33,440 House of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, in 259 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,280 this house and in Jerusalem, which I've chosen out of all the 260 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:38,440 tribes of Israel, I will put my name forever. 261 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,640 And I will not 'cause the feet of Israel to wander anymore out 262 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:46,000 of the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be 263 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,760 careful to do according to all that I've commanded them, and 264 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:52,680 according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 265 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,440 Now highlight the first part of verse 9. 266 00:18:55,840 --> 00:19:01,760 But they did not listen, and Manasseh LED them astray to do 267 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:05,360 more evil than the nations had done, whom the Lord destroyed 268 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:08,480 before the. People of Israel, but they did 269 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:14,400 not listen #5 The pinnacle really of the problem here is 270 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:16,600 that he had completely ignored God's Word. 271 00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,200 It moves me here to discover that what the Lord said to David 272 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,680 and Solomon, that's what we read in verse 7 and verse 8, right? 273 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,760 That what he had said to David and to Solomon his son was 274 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:31,440 something meant for Manessa and the people of Israel in his day. 275 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:37,200 That's just another proof text to confirm that although the 276 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:39,880 Bible was not written to us, it was indeed written. 277 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:45,240 What for us, For us. That's how we should approach 278 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:46,960 the text. That's how we should approach 279 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:48,240 the. Oracles of God. 280 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,240 You know, many people find it very frustrating to enjoy 281 00:19:52,240 --> 00:19:55,440 reading and studying the scriptures personally and 282 00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:58,240 individually. And one of my first go to 283 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:03,000 instructions for any person is to firmly establish in your 284 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:06,040 thinking that I am coming to the Bible. 285 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:09,520 Yes, to study it as objective truth, but to receive it on a 286 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:12,600 personal level. What is God? 287 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:16,920 Saying to me, What is he saying to me? 288 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,960 Not so you can find some promise to fulfill your dream. 289 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,240 Not necessarily. So what is he saying to me about 290 00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:24,760 himself? What is he saying to me about 291 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,320 man? What is he saying to me about 292 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,000 myself? If I'm in him, if I walk away 293 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,680 from him, what is he saying? You got to personalize it. 294 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:36,280 This is His voice for you. Though in his immediate context, 295 00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,040 it was two others. The Lord spoke something to 296 00:20:40,040 --> 00:20:42,640 David and Solomon and it was supposed to be received by 297 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,840 Manessa and his generation, and they totally disregarded. 298 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:52,200 It and it's really a wonderful comment to wrap up all that 299 00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:56,000 Manessa did in terms of the evil that he committed. 300 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:02,800 They did not listen. Please don't forget this many 301 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:08,640 evils can be committed when a person no longer is moved by the 302 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,240 promises in God's Word and the warnings in God's Word. 303 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:13,800 That's what we find in verse 7 and verse 8, do we not? 304 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:15,800 Where's the promise? Look back at verse 7. 305 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,000 Reverse a more specifically, I will not cause the feet of 306 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:22,560 Israel to wander anymore out of the land that I gave to their 307 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:23,840 fathers. That's a promise. 308 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:29,360 You're permanently here. I will not let any outside 309 00:21:29,360 --> 00:21:32,400 force. I will not let any kind of power 310 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:36,240 displace you. I will keep you here forever. 311 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:40,400 And the warning follows. If only they will be careful to 312 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:42,480 do all that I have commanded them. 313 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:48,720 They did not listen. There's even a greater danger 314 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:52,760 when we find ourselves unfazed by a messenger of God who 315 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:55,360 reminds us urgently and passionately about the Word of 316 00:21:55,360 --> 00:21:57,280 God. So here we're told here that 317 00:21:57,280 --> 00:21:59,160 they did not listen to the written word, right? 318 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,080 But in the parallel account there's an added detail. 319 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:06,880 So here, what it says in Second Chronicles 33 verse 10, the Lord 320 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,560 spoke to Manessa and to his people, but they paid no 321 00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,240 attention. So in Second Kings, I believe 322 00:22:13,240 --> 00:22:16,160 the emphasis is on the the word of God, the written word of God, 323 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:19,080 because there's a quotation. But in Second Chronicles, I 324 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:22,120 believe it's the prophetic voice of God that is ultimately meant 325 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:26,960 to point the people. Back to the Word of God, brother 326 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,480 and sister. If you consistently find 327 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:36,840 yourself unmoved when the Word of God is open and when it is 328 00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:41,040 heralded and when it is explained in the Spirit, be on 329 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:46,000 alert. Be aware that you are in a 330 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:50,360 perilous position, that your soul is in danger. 331 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:59,560 Becoming dull of hearing is a symptom of a dull soul, and 332 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:01,080 that's precisely what we find here. 333 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:04,640 They had no personal engagement or reverence for the Word of 334 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,840 God, and even when it was presented through fiery lips. 335 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:15,960 They paid no attention dangerous and in case we're not convinced 336 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:21,760 of the monstrous and horrific sins that this man committed the 337 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:26,400 Lord provides a summary I guess you can say through his prophets 338 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:32,080 in the next part of second Kings 21 as they pronounce judgment on 339 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:35,640 Manasa and his people. Look at verse 10 of second Kings 340 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:37,600 21. If you haven't noticed, we're 341 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:39,840 we're going through this entire chapter. 342 00:23:39,840 --> 00:23:43,040 Usually we're slower with our Bible study, but I believe it 343 00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:47,080 will be more beneficial to zoom out and consider the whole story 344 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,640 to no greater impact. Look at verse 10. 345 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,880 And the Lord said by his servants the prophets, because 346 00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:57,160 Manasseh king of Judah, has committed these abominations, 347 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:00,800 and has done things more evil than all the Amorites did who 348 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,560 were before him, and has made Judah also descend with his 349 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:05,800 idols. Therefore thus says the Lord the 350 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,360 God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and 351 00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:11,520 Judah such disaster. That the ears of everyone who 352 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,680 fears of it, or hears of it rather, will tingle. 353 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,560 You have studied kings enough to know that whenever. 354 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,920 There is a wicked ruler who emerges. 355 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:30,280 He's usually compared to a previous wicked king, either in 356 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:36,000 recent or far distant memory. So it'll read something like and 357 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:37,720 he did evil in the sight of Lord. 358 00:24:37,760 --> 00:24:39,720 As such and such. Remember this. 359 00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:42,760 It's a pattern in the Book of Kings, both 1st and 2nd kings. 360 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:47,800 But when it comes to Manasseh, there is no comparison to a 361 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:51,760 previous king in Judah. There isn't even a comparison 362 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,040 with. A wicked, notorious king in 363 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,160 Israel. The northern Kingdom. 364 00:24:56,920 --> 00:25:01,040 Who is he compared to the inhabitants of the land of 365 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:06,480 Canaan before the people of Israel came in to take over the 366 00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:10,120 Amorites, one of the several nations that populated? 367 00:25:10,520 --> 00:25:13,360 The Promised Land before they were expelled. 368 00:25:14,120 --> 00:25:17,440 And not only is Manasseh compared to the Amorites, we're 369 00:25:17,440 --> 00:25:19,240 told that he did worse than them. 370 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:27,080 Feel it. What was this man doing to 371 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:33,840 actually outshine the evil of those that God had to vomit out 372 00:25:33,840 --> 00:25:39,000 of this piece of real estate? And this is intentional, 373 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,960 obviously led by the Spirit. But the careful student of the 374 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,160 Bible is supposed to follow this up with a question. 375 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:48,880 Well, if God expelled the Amorites among other Canaanites 376 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:52,280 from the land for their evil, what is he going to do with the 377 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:59,960 Kingdom of Judah exactly? That's the point we're supposed 378 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:03,360 to realize. Exile has to be on the way. 379 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,560 God must, if He is, just deal with this people accordingly. 380 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,360 And He will. He's about to do that. 381 00:26:15,200 --> 00:26:18,760 And in the same way that the Lord waited for the iniquity of 382 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:21,520 the Amorites to reach its full measure, remember that the Lord 383 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,120 said that to Abraham in Genesis 15. 384 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:28,720 He's been doing the same with his own people, and we have now 385 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:30,600 reached the brim of his patients. 386 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:33,640 So he says, I'm going to do three things. 387 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:36,720 We read one of them in verse 12. Let's look at it again. 388 00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:40,160 Behold, I am bringing upon Jerusalem and Judas such a 389 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:43,360 disaster that the ears of everyone who hears of it will 390 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:50,040 tangle. In other words, the news of this 391 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:55,040 manifestation of my divine chastisement will be so severe 392 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,400 and so shocking that it will be like an alarm in people's ears. 393 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,400 What's interesting is that this picture of the ears tingling 394 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:07,680 appears in other places in the Bible, always connected to a 395 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:11,320 pronouncement of judgement. Jeremiah was called to preach a 396 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:13,600 message that will cause people's ears to tingle. 397 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,920 Samuel, when he was just starting on a ministry, would 398 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,200 also have that same responsibility. 399 00:27:20,320 --> 00:27:22,400 And I believe there's a wonderful contrast between being 400 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:26,240 faithful with God's Word, even if it is a hard word to to give 401 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,640 and receive, with what Paul told Timothy about many false 402 00:27:30,640 --> 00:27:35,720 teachers who will do what they will try to scratch itching 403 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:41,920 ears. A faithful messenger of God will 404 00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:48,120 speak the Word of God even if it causes ears to tingle, and a 405 00:27:48,120 --> 00:27:51,080 false teacher will seek to always scratch what people want 406 00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:56,240 to hear. Manessa and his people can 407 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,080 expect to hear of something that will cause them to not even 408 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:01,600 believe what their ears are hearing. 409 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:04,880 That's the first thing. What's the second thing? 410 00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:08,680 Look at verse 13 and I will stretch over Jerusalem, the 411 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,880 measuring line of Samaria and the Plumb line of the House of 412 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,800 Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it 413 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,160 and turning it upside down. There are two other things. 414 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:20,120 You're the first one is that he's going to stretch over 415 00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:23,040 Jerusalem these measuring tapes and lines. 416 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:26,480 Now here's what's interesting. These tools are used to actually 417 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:32,400 build when you want to construct something and there's a reversal 418 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:33,560 here. I'm actually going to use this 419 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:37,960 to destroy. What are we supposed to make of 420 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,320 this? That God's judgements are 421 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:45,120 precise, They are faithful, They are reliable. 422 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:47,520 They're never exaggerated. They're never out of 423 00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,600 uncalculated. Anger or frustration? 424 00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,640 No, no. He knows exactly what to give to 425 00:28:54,640 --> 00:29:01,240 those who have broken his law. I'm going to destroy precisely 426 00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:03,360 on the basis of what you have done. 427 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:08,200 I will give to you the judgement that deserves, that it deserves. 428 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:12,760 And lastly, I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, 429 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,240 wiping it and turning it upside to upside down. 430 00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:18,160 Meaning what? This land here that signifies 431 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:19,480 the plate. I'm going to remove all the 432 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:22,640 citizens from it. All of you that have lived here 433 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,560 and have enjoyed this land, you will be cleansed from this 434 00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:28,840 place. And that's clarified in the very 435 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:31,040 next verse. I will forsake the remnant of 436 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,520 MyHeritage and give them into the hand of their enemies, and 437 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,160 they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies, 438 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,720 because they have done what is evil in my sight and have 439 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:42,400 provoked me to anchor anger since the days of their fathers 440 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:45,920 coming out of Egypt. Even to this day you see that 441 00:29:45,920 --> 00:29:49,040 how the Lord has been waiting for the sins of His people to 442 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,720 reach a certain extent before He executes judgment. 443 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,360 So how does Vanessa respond? This is what the prophets are 444 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,720 saying now. Judgement is on its way. 445 00:29:59,880 --> 00:30:03,120 You've been found wanting and here's what we read in verse 16. 446 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:06,640 Moreover, Manessa shed very much innocent blood. 447 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:13,200 And if you consider the context, I believe what this also means 448 00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:18,760 is that he killed some of these prophets till he had filled 449 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:20,720 Jerusalem from one end to another. 450 00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:24,600 Besides the sin that he made Judah to sin so that they did 451 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:29,400 what was evil in the sight of the Lord, This guy is hopeless 452 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,080 if you're honest, right? You read this, you think there's 453 00:30:32,080 --> 00:30:37,640 no way the fact that he ruled and reigned for 55 years should 454 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:42,640 disturb us? And really I'm not going to read 455 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,280 it. But if you look at verse 17, it 456 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,320 just ends the way most kings end. 457 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:48,920 It just gives a summation of his rule. 458 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,560 It's just as obituary and we're told that he slept with his 459 00:30:51,560 --> 00:30:54,240 father's and we move on to the next king. 460 00:30:56,560 --> 00:31:01,120 It's one of the most disturbing portraits of any ruler in the 461 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,960 Bible. But that's not really how it 462 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:07,600 ends. So if you remember studying 463 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,520 Hezekiah last week, then you'll recall that he did not die in 464 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,200 his pride, but that the Holy Spirit gives us a different 465 00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,320 vantage point in Second Chronicles where we realized 466 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,440 that he did eventually humble himself. 467 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,880 And in like manner, Second Chronicles tells us how Manessa 468 00:31:27,160 --> 00:31:31,120 actually died. And I like to think that 469 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:36,080 although this man shut his eyes to the righteous example of his 470 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:43,040 father, he did remember how he ended his last 15 years of life. 471 00:31:44,720 --> 00:31:50,520 And he also humbly repented. This is why in a way, I've been 472 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,000 speeding up in this chapter because I want us to really 473 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:54,960 focus on how this man turned around. 474 00:31:55,480 --> 00:32:01,400 So let's go to Second Chronicles briefly, and I want you to see 475 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,920 what the Bible says about him. Second Chronicles, 33. 476 00:32:11,220 --> 00:32:14,980 I find it a little ironic that Manessa's name means making to 477 00:32:14,980 --> 00:32:20,500 forget because his actions suggest that he did not take one 478 00:32:20,500 --> 00:32:23,680 thing to heart about his father's instruction and 479 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:29,160 example. Assuming that Hezekiah kept his 480 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,400 promise after he was healed, remember that there was a 481 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:36,760 chapter in Isaiah where we have we have a look into his journal 482 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,640 entry once he was restored to complete health. 483 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:42,800 One of the things that he said was in Isaiah 3819. 484 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:49,560 The living, the living. He says thank you as I do this 485 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:51,720 day. The Father makes known to the 486 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:57,480 children your faithfulness. So we have every reason to 487 00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:03,280 believe that though Manessa was a young child when his father 488 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:07,680 died, he was old enough to understand what it means to 489 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,520 worship the true God, what God has done for his Father, for 490 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:13,880 God's people throughout history, in recent history. 491 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:17,400 So that makes you wonder, how is he so faithless? 492 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:21,800 My mind went straight to something that you see repeated 493 00:33:21,800 --> 00:33:24,440 in the book of Proverbs where there's this appeal. 494 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:27,280 At the framework of the book of Proverbs is a father speaking to 495 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,360 his son. And right at the opening of 496 00:33:29,360 --> 00:33:32,520 Proverbs, we read in Proverbs 18, My son, do not forsake your 497 00:33:32,520 --> 00:33:37,720 father's instruction and forsake not your mother's teaching, 498 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:42,640 implying that it's possible for you to do so, to ignore what 499 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:46,800 you've heard, to despise what you have been instructed about. 500 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:52,160 You know Spurgeon, who said now it is a notorious fact that men 501 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,720 who do go wrong after a good training are the worst men in 502 00:33:55,720 --> 00:34:00,120 the world. That may seem harsh, but there's 503 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,640 some truth to that. Men who have received good, 504 00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:08,040 righteous, holy training and still live in a manner as 505 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:12,120 Manessa, live in complete defiance to the truths that 506 00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,840 they've been granted for guidance in life are often times 507 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:20,080 the worst, and this is a reality that you and I are going to 508 00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:24,440 revisit in this Sunday. Receiving illumination does not 509 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:31,120 guarantee transformation. Each of us is responsible for 510 00:34:31,120 --> 00:34:36,280 the revelation that we receive in this life, and the level of 511 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:39,400 light that we are granted will determine the accountability we 512 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:44,440 will have for the truth that has been provided, often times 513 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:49,159 through our parents. And that's what we find here, 514 00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:57,080 that this man, as Spurgeon said, demonstrated a behavior that is 515 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:01,440 unspeakable, and yet it was not in vain. 516 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,920 Something happens to this man, something so remarkable, and 517 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:08,920 it's found there in Second Chronicles 33. 518 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:12,720 Look at verse 10. Chronicles is not too far from 519 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:19,920 Second Kings. As you know, the Lord spoke to 520 00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,120 Manessa and to his people, but they paid no attention. 521 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:26,720 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army 522 00:35:26,720 --> 00:35:29,920 of the king of Assyria, who captured Manessa with hooks and 523 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:32,760 bound them with chains of bronze, and brought him to 524 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:36,000 Babylon. And when he was in distress, he 525 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,840 entreated the favor of the Lord his God, and humbled himself 526 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:40,800 greatly before the God of his Father's. 527 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:45,640 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty, and heard 528 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:49,480 his plea, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his Kingdom. 529 00:35:49,840 --> 00:35:54,120 Then Manessa knew that the Lord was God. 530 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:01,120 Here's what's so fascinating about this. 531 00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:10,720 I think there are at least three observations we can make, and I 532 00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:14,120 don't want to make too many so that we lose track of the main 533 00:36:14,120 --> 00:36:17,400 point of the study, but I want you to 1st consider the 534 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:21,320 sovereignty of God. Look again at verse 11. 535 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:24,240 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army 536 00:36:24,240 --> 00:36:28,360 of the king of Assyria. Look at that phrase brought upon 537 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:29,960 them. Who did the Lord? 538 00:36:31,080 --> 00:36:34,080 And Scroll down to verse 13, the middle of it. 539 00:36:34,520 --> 00:36:37,560 God was moved by his entreaty and hurt his plea and brought 540 00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,600 him again to Jerusalem. Who's orchestrating all of this? 541 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:45,520 It's God. God is the one who removed the 542 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:49,200 protective layers for the people of Assyria to come in and to 543 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:53,720 ransack the place and to confiscate Manessa and others. 544 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:59,440 And God was the one at the right time that had Manessa returned 545 00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:03,480 to his home. And we're supposed to be moved 546 00:37:03,480 --> 00:37:08,200 by the absolute power and authority of our God, that 547 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:11,880 although he is shifting nations, he at the same time is using 548 00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:17,000 that to give one particular man a final chance to repent before 549 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:20,440 it's too late. So understand that the ways of 550 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:25,000 God are not just all powerful, they're incredibly wise. 551 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:28,920 And God can accomplish. Many things at the same time 552 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:33,000 beyond your knowledge and mine. We are often fixated on one or 553 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,720 two dimensions and the Lord here is doing multiple things. 554 00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:42,480 And consider that for your own life that you think one thing is 555 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:45,480 happening, one thing is being accomplished, and when in fact 556 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,520 there are thousands of assignments being fulfilled. 557 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:52,960 I wonder what the people of this time on the world scale we're 558 00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,840 thinking as Assyria was moving in, as Babylon was now also 559 00:37:56,840 --> 00:37:58,920 growing in their power. All these things are taking 560 00:37:58,920 --> 00:38:01,720 place, and yet what's in view here is 1 particular man in the 561 00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:05,480 state of his soul. This is remarkable, the 562 00:38:05,480 --> 00:38:08,440 sovereignty of God in one person's life, even though he's 563 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:11,640 moving the world. To get his attention. 564 00:38:14,080 --> 00:38:17,720 But as I mentioned, consider secondly the wisdom of God, the 565 00:38:17,720 --> 00:38:21,040 wisdom of God in divinely ordained affliction. 566 00:38:22,120 --> 00:38:25,360 Divinely ordained affliction has a way of awakening the 567 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:32,200 conscience even in the most calloused of men when sermons 568 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:36,520 bounce. Off of hearts, the sharpness of 569 00:38:36,520 --> 00:38:38,600 suffering has a way of cutting through it. 570 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,160 When it came to the word of the Lord, didn't listen. 571 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:46,160 When it came to the prophets of the Lord, he paid no attention. 572 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:51,200 When it came to hooks in his flesh and the heavy shackles 573 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:55,280 around his shoulders and tying around his ankles and keeping 574 00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:58,560 his wrist together, that's when he began to think seriously 575 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:00,360 about his sin. And about. 576 00:39:00,360 --> 00:39:04,520 The grace of God. The wisdom of God. 577 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:08,560 That's what it took from Manessa to be dragged out of his home 578 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:12,400 and to be placed in a foreign dungeon before he even 579 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:17,840 considered the goodness of God, the power of God, the love of 580 00:39:17,840 --> 00:39:22,160 God, the forgiveness of God. And don't miss this important 581 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,800 point. Look back at this year in verse 582 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,440 12. The middle of it, and humbled 583 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,360 himself greatly before the God of his father's. 584 00:39:32,640 --> 00:39:38,760 That's so specific. The God of his father's, the God 585 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:43,480 that he heard, his dad Hezekiah talking about it. 586 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:49,120 It came to mind here. Not in Jerusalem, not when he 587 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:51,560 had unrestrained power, not when he was unhinged. 588 00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:59,440 The final moments of his life, what he heard from his father 589 00:40:00,320 --> 00:40:03,800 came to him. Don't be discouraged because of 590 00:40:03,800 --> 00:40:08,200 the lack of fruit in your evangelism or the lack of fruit 591 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:12,080 in your discipleship. Even if it's your your children, 592 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:15,000 you're not seeing the maturity that you want to see. 593 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:17,240 You're not seeing the zeal you want to see. 594 00:40:19,240 --> 00:40:23,080 I won't name the brother, but last Sunday we had a few 595 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:26,760 membership interviews. And with every membership 596 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:29,440 interview, we asked people to give a synopsis of their story. 597 00:40:31,200 --> 00:40:33,520 And this precious brother had mentioned that another brother 598 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:35,720 from this church a few years ago. 599 00:40:35,720 --> 00:40:39,880 I handed them a nice Bible when he was totally lost and he put 600 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:44,040 this Bible away and he didn't look at that Bible for three 601 00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:46,880 years. And in that Bible was a 602 00:40:46,880 --> 00:40:51,360 handwritten note, contact information if you ever had any 603 00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:54,640 questions. And when he was at the lowest of 604 00:40:54,640 --> 00:40:59,560 the low he fetched for that Bible, he wiped the dust off of 605 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:02,160 it. He opened it up, went through 606 00:41:02,160 --> 00:41:04,800 the Gospel of Matthew. He found that contact card. 607 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,400 He came to this church and he got saved. 608 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:14,760 Yes, three years. That seed was dormant for three 609 00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:20,000 years. You never know, Manessa. 610 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:23,080 What did he do? He humbled himself greatly 611 00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:32,520 before the God of his fathers. Lastly, the mercy of God. 612 00:41:34,240 --> 00:41:37,480 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard 613 00:41:37,480 --> 00:41:41,720 his plea. Now, if we read Manessa's story 614 00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:44,960 and restoration and isolation, it's still moving. 615 00:41:46,080 --> 00:41:50,520 But when you remember that we're witnessing Hezekiah's son 616 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:53,920 repenting, that is even more incredible. 617 00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:58,840 Because the same God who heard the desperate faith of a man who 618 00:41:58,840 --> 00:42:03,280 was encircled by a foreign enemy known as Assyria, and who saw 619 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:07,840 the tears of the same man who in his weakness turned to the wall 620 00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:12,160 to get some privacy and whisper to prayer, is the very same God 621 00:42:12,160 --> 00:42:17,800 who swiftly heard the prayer of a miserable man like Vanessa. 622 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:22,160 How many times in studying Hezekiah's life we've seen how 623 00:42:22,160 --> 00:42:25,520 God saw him and heard him in that state of prayer. 624 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:28,520 And he is no different with someone like this. 625 00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:37,160 How quick he is to respond to repentance, How eager he is to 626 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:43,440 restore the repentant. It says that he was moved by his 627 00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:45,400 entreaty. What about all the things that 628 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:49,320 he did in Second Kings 21? So great and so fierce is the 629 00:42:49,320 --> 00:42:54,240 mercy of God. He didn't keep Manessa in that 630 00:42:54,240 --> 00:42:56,480 penalty box for a few more years. 631 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:00,520 He immediately responded the moment he humbled himself. 632 00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:06,440 That's why we can freely tell sinners at a meeting like this 633 00:43:06,440 --> 00:43:08,640 or when you're evangelizing on the streets, that if you were to 634 00:43:08,640 --> 00:43:12,040 confess Christ now, in that moment, if it's in genuine 635 00:43:12,040 --> 00:43:15,240 repentance and faith, you can be justified. 636 00:43:17,880 --> 00:43:19,920 A lot of Christians who believe in the power of the gospel are 637 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,800 skeptical of that. And I understand we have to be 638 00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:26,720 careful, we have to be slow and we have to examine fruit. 639 00:43:26,720 --> 00:43:31,960 But don't ever for a moment think that God is not willing to 640 00:43:32,040 --> 00:43:35,760 in a second erase someone's record of sin. 641 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:41,800 Such is the power, the depth, the royalty of that precious 642 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:46,240 blood that flowed so honorable in the sight of God that 643 00:43:46,240 --> 00:43:49,760 whenever anybody appeals to it, God will honor it because of 644 00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:54,080 that sacrifice. It's not so much the Sinner, 645 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:56,960 yes, although he loves sinners. It's the price that was paid for 646 00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:59,960 sinners. If we consider the power of the 647 00:43:59,960 --> 00:44:03,200 New Covenant, that makes forgiveness even more fierce 648 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:10,240 than what we see here. There's an interesting sentence 649 00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:15,640 at the end of verse 13. Then Manessa knew that the Lord 650 00:44:15,640 --> 00:44:18,280 was God. What do you mean he knew that 651 00:44:18,280 --> 00:44:19,680 the Lord was God? I thought he called out to the 652 00:44:19,680 --> 00:44:22,200 God of his father's. Didn't he know exactly who he 653 00:44:22,200 --> 00:44:24,160 was speaking to? How was it that after he 654 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:26,480 returned to Jerusalem, oh, he realized, oh, OK, now I know 655 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:29,720 that you're God. The word no here is not some 656 00:44:29,720 --> 00:44:33,160 intellectual ascent. It's not some knowledge, 657 00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:37,960 understanding information that was deposited in his brain 658 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:40,640 necessarily. It's an experiential knowledge. 659 00:44:42,360 --> 00:44:44,800 So the way to properly understand this is that after 660 00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:47,760 Manessa had repented, after the Lord showered grace upon him, 661 00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:54,080 there is this experience of God that he knew so much that can be 662 00:44:54,080 --> 00:44:55,480 said. I mean, a whole sermon can be 663 00:44:55,480 --> 00:44:58,800 preached on that verse alone, the end of that verse. 664 00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:03,840 But I'll just say this, It is not accidental that Manessa knew 665 00:45:03,840 --> 00:45:07,800 the Lord in a real and personal way after he truly repented. 666 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:18,120 There are many people who are frustrated in the reality of 667 00:45:18,120 --> 00:45:22,680 God, of the reality of God in their lives. 668 00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:29,360 And they almost approach. God making himself known to them 669 00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:32,760 in an arrogant way, in a way that tests Him. 670 00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:36,480 May I suggest to you that the what the Lord is waiting for you 671 00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:40,280 before He manifests himself is for you to be sick and tired of 672 00:45:40,280 --> 00:45:47,480 your sin and to truly repent wholeheartedly repent. 673 00:45:50,720 --> 00:45:52,920 So I've said this before, I don't want to be redundant, but 674 00:45:52,920 --> 00:45:58,120 hopefully it helps somebody who grew up in a Christian home like 675 00:45:58,120 --> 00:46:00,600 myself. I responded to, I've been to 676 00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:01,840 meetings where they had altar calls. 677 00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:03,680 I probably responded to 18 of them. 678 00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:09,440 Sometimes there were messages that were more inclined to be 679 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:11,800 encouraging. Other times they were more 680 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:14,400 inclined to be fearful. Then, no matter how it was 681 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:16,600 packaged, whenever an invitation went out. 682 00:46:17,080 --> 00:46:19,120 I just want to make sure that you know if you're giving an 683 00:46:19,120 --> 00:46:22,320 invitation. The more times I can say yes, 684 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:24,360 the better chances I believe I have of being accepted. 685 00:46:24,360 --> 00:46:25,800 So yeah, assign me. If you want me to walk up front, 686 00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:27,000 no problem. It means I go to heaven. 687 00:46:27,000 --> 00:46:29,040 I'll walk up front as many times as you want me to walk up front. 688 00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:36,160 Never born again, never truly transformed, never truly walking 689 00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,200 in the way that Jesus says you're supposed to walk if you 690 00:46:38,200 --> 00:46:42,320 are filled with the Holy Spirit, if you even have the Holy 691 00:46:42,320 --> 00:46:43,520 Spirit, if you're sealed of the Holy Spirit. 692 00:46:43,800 --> 00:46:46,440 There is not a trace of that in my life up to the age of 20. 693 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:50,520 And when I really was born again, at some point I thought 694 00:46:50,520 --> 00:46:55,560 to myself, why did it take me calling out to God in a basement 695 00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:59,280 apartment in the second year of my college education for me to 696 00:46:59,280 --> 00:47:02,320 really know what it means to be born again? 697 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:07,200 And it came to me all those other times leading up to that 698 00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:11,160 point. I really still wanted the world. 699 00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:17,400 I wanted Christ. But down deep inside, I felt 700 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:21,680 like church and Christian upbringing held me back from 701 00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:23,720 something that others were enjoying. 702 00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:27,840 And so I I want that I'll take Christ if you if you're offering 703 00:47:27,840 --> 00:47:30,200 him. But I also want to indulge. 704 00:47:30,200 --> 00:47:33,480 I also want to explore. And as long as my repentance was 705 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:36,120 half hearted, I never really knew God. 706 00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:45,120 You will never really know God. Even if you give him 99% of your 707 00:47:45,120 --> 00:47:48,560 heart, you will not really know him. 708 00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:54,920 So is there any more proof of this kind of a thing? 709 00:47:55,680 --> 00:47:58,480 Yes. My mind went to a passage in 710 00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:03,680 Acts 319 to 20 where Peter told those Jews after a miraculous 711 00:48:03,680 --> 00:48:06,520 healing of a man who was lame for many years. 712 00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:11,240 Repent therefore and turn back that your sins may be blotted 713 00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:15,240 out and that times of refreshing may come from the presence of 714 00:48:15,240 --> 00:48:21,440 the Lord in the ends of by saying and that he may send the 715 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:26,640 Christ appointed for you Jesus. There are three things that are 716 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:29,600 attached to three rewards if you will that are connected to 717 00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:36,200 repentance to turn from your sin completely. 1 is that your sins 718 00:48:36,200 --> 00:48:39,680 will be blotted out and the word they're so intense it actually 719 00:48:39,680 --> 00:48:43,200 means for for a removal ink from parchment. 720 00:48:44,680 --> 00:48:48,160 Like a deleting of record, as permanent as it may seem. 721 00:48:49,240 --> 00:48:51,520 Secondly, that times are refreshing may come from the 722 00:48:51,520 --> 00:48:54,920 presence of the Lord and more people would connect us with the 723 00:48:54,920 --> 00:49:00,520 third one and speaking about the promise of the Messianic rule 724 00:49:00,520 --> 00:49:03,920 and reign, especially because Peter speaking to a Jewish 725 00:49:03,920 --> 00:49:06,000 audience as though to say Israel. 726 00:49:06,000 --> 00:49:08,440 The sooner you repent and recognize your Messiah, the 727 00:49:08,440 --> 00:49:12,000 sooner he will come and bring what he promised. 728 00:49:12,200 --> 00:49:15,040 One that will greatly outshine all the things that you've known 729 00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:18,240 in your history. That is dependent upon your 730 00:49:18,240 --> 00:49:21,200 repentance, which I think is true largely. 731 00:49:21,320 --> 00:49:23,440 But I believe there's a personal application with the second 732 00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:28,480 point here, that there is a genuine satisfaction, cleansing 733 00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:33,160 wholeness that is known only through the canal of repentance. 734 00:49:35,800 --> 00:49:37,800 So when does the presence of the Lord manifest? 735 00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:43,400 After you repent, After you truly repent. 736 00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:48,480 Well, more can be said about that, but allow me to come to 737 00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:51,800 the last portion of Second Kings 21 as we close together. 738 00:49:56,200 --> 00:49:59,800 So Manessa, like his father, ended. 739 00:49:59,800 --> 00:50:06,560 Well, that's glorious. But then we have this little 740 00:50:06,560 --> 00:50:10,440 snippet about Manessa's son, and I'm going to read it in one 741 00:50:11,640 --> 00:50:16,240 sitting here, and then just make a couple of brief observations 742 00:50:16,600 --> 00:50:20,160 that are connected to this man. Manasseh Amon was 22 years old 743 00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:22,840 when he began to reign, and he reigned 2 years in Jerusalem. 744 00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:29,640 Two years, 55 years, two years. Wow. 745 00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:33,640 His mother's name was Mushulameth, the daughter of 746 00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:37,320 Heruz of Jatba. And he did what was evil in the 747 00:50:37,320 --> 00:50:40,600 sight of the Lord, as Manasseh his father had done. 748 00:50:41,360 --> 00:50:43,400 He walked in all the way in which his father walked, and 749 00:50:43,400 --> 00:50:45,840 served the idols that his father served, and worshipped them. 750 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:48,640 He abandoned the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk 751 00:50:48,640 --> 00:50:50,960 in the way of the Lord. And the servants of Amon 752 00:50:51,040 --> 00:50:53,840 conspired against him and put the king to death in his house. 753 00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:56,640 But the people of the land struck down all those who had 754 00:50:56,640 --> 00:50:59,400 conspired against King Amen. And the people of the land made 755 00:50:59,400 --> 00:51:01,440 Josiah his son, king in his place. 756 00:51:01,640 --> 00:51:03,880 Now the rest of the acts of Amen that he did, are they not 757 00:51:03,880 --> 00:51:05,760 written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of 758 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:08,000 Judah? And he was buried in his tomb in 759 00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:11,440 the garden of Ouza, And Josiah his son reigned in his place. 760 00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:18,040 It's even more specific in its explanation in Second Chronicles 761 00:51:18,040 --> 00:51:19,680 33. But we won't turn there. 762 00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:24,320 All I want to, all I want to say is how is it that if Manessa had 763 00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:27,200 such a radical repentance, and what's beautiful is on your own 764 00:51:27,200 --> 00:51:31,440 time, look at the rest of Second Chronicles 33 and you realize 765 00:51:31,440 --> 00:51:33,240 just how true Manessa's repentance was. 766 00:51:33,240 --> 00:51:38,000 He goes back to Jerusalem and he brings reform because repentance 767 00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:41,240 actually has fruit with it. It's it's amazing what he does 768 00:51:41,240 --> 00:51:42,560 with the little time that he has left. 769 00:51:42,560 --> 00:51:46,920 He did great damage, but he tried to undo his own wrongs. 770 00:51:49,320 --> 00:51:50,520 But you know what he couldn't undo? 771 00:51:51,440 --> 00:51:55,400 His son. His son having a real faith, 772 00:51:55,400 --> 00:51:58,640 real walk with God, even after Manessa repents. 773 00:52:02,400 --> 00:52:06,680 As hopeful as this Bible said I hope has been to you, we have to 774 00:52:06,680 --> 00:52:09,760 be honest with how the Scripture presents this situation. 775 00:52:11,840 --> 00:52:20,760 Repentance cancels guilt, but oftentimes it does not cancel 776 00:52:20,760 --> 00:52:27,560 ripple effects, does not always reverse consequences, and that's 777 00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:31,840 what we find here. Your compromise in mine, 778 00:52:31,840 --> 00:52:36,040 especially if we are leaders in any capacity, can have lasting 779 00:52:36,040 --> 00:52:45,040 consequences and so powerful our decisions to sin, especially in 780 00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:49,560 prolonged seasons of sin, that even though we may recover, 781 00:52:50,760 --> 00:52:54,000 those that we are affiliated with may not ever recover. 782 00:52:56,400 --> 00:52:59,000 So Manessa is able to turn around, come to the Lord, and 783 00:52:59,000 --> 00:53:04,160 die in faith. His son was so influenced by his 784 00:53:04,160 --> 00:53:07,560 sin that he could never escape it for himself. 785 00:53:08,640 --> 00:53:09,800 Why do I bring this point up to you? 786 00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:13,400 Because as much as we want to enjoy and relish in the grace of 787 00:53:13,400 --> 00:53:16,840 God, and it's always available to us, that should never, ever 788 00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:21,920 for a moment encourage you to entertain sin with the hope that 789 00:53:21,920 --> 00:53:24,480 I'm going to be forgiven and God is waiting to restore me. 790 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:27,600 Yeah, He may restore you, but you have no idea what kind of 791 00:53:27,600 --> 00:53:28,920 impact you'll leave on other people. 792 00:53:31,480 --> 00:53:33,400 I'll give you another example of this in case you're not 793 00:53:33,400 --> 00:53:37,200 convinced so early in the story of Abraham. 794 00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:41,760 There's a famine in the land and Abraham goes to a completely 795 00:53:41,760 --> 00:53:44,200 different place, the land of Gerar. 796 00:53:45,520 --> 00:53:47,800 In one instance. Before that, he actually goes to 797 00:53:47,800 --> 00:53:50,760 Egypt. Now, when he goes to Egypt, he 798 00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:53,760 lies and he gets into all this mess and all this compromise. 799 00:53:54,320 --> 00:53:57,080 And that's in Genesis 12. But when you go to Genesis 13, 800 00:53:57,320 --> 00:53:59,960 we read there that he goes back to the altar that he built at 801 00:53:59,960 --> 00:54:02,000 first. So he he's restored to his 802 00:54:02,000 --> 00:54:06,560 worship and his love for God and he's walking in the light again. 803 00:54:08,520 --> 00:54:12,760 Who went down to Egypt with him? It wasn't just his wife, his 804 00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:18,480 nephew Lot. Read the rest of Genesis 13. 805 00:54:18,480 --> 00:54:21,760 What you'll find is Abraham is restored in his fellowship with 806 00:54:21,760 --> 00:54:26,120 the Lord. Lot never recovers what he's 807 00:54:26,120 --> 00:54:31,720 seen and experienced in Egypt. Read it carefully. 808 00:54:33,760 --> 00:54:36,120 Their resources were so overwhelming both for Abraham 809 00:54:36,120 --> 00:54:37,560 and Lot that they had to split ways. 810 00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:41,200 And Abraham gives Lot the decision to make whatever 811 00:54:41,200 --> 00:54:45,480 direction, his place of abode, his home, his new, his new 812 00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:48,760 future. And he looks towards Sodom and 813 00:54:48,760 --> 00:54:52,160 the Holy Spirit so specific and saying what it looked like to 814 00:54:52,160 --> 00:54:53,520 Lot. And one of the descriptions is 815 00:54:53,520 --> 00:54:56,920 it looked like the land of what, Egypt. 816 00:54:59,120 --> 00:55:02,360 So Abraham, who led his family into Egypt to begin with, was 817 00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:15,800 able to be restored, but Egypt never left Lot fathers, older 818 00:55:15,800 --> 00:55:21,720 brothers, husbands, pastors, even mothers. 819 00:55:24,320 --> 00:55:28,120 Be careful the decisions that you make, because there are 820 00:55:28,120 --> 00:55:31,320 others who are watching you. There are others you may be 821 00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:36,680 exposing your sin to. And yes, God got in a moment's 822 00:55:36,680 --> 00:55:40,560 notice, change the direction of your life, but who's to say that 823 00:55:40,560 --> 00:55:42,880 would be the same for those that you led in the wrong path? 824 00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:48,880 So there should be at the same time this overwhelming sense of 825 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:51,440 joy and delight and rest, of knowing the grace of God, but 826 00:55:51,440 --> 00:55:56,520 also a fear, a holy fear, not a legalistic fear, but a genuine 827 00:55:56,640 --> 00:56:01,040 fear of the Lord. To say, I know I'm not perfect. 828 00:56:01,240 --> 00:56:03,520 I know I'll never be perfect until the Lord glorifies his 829 00:56:03,520 --> 00:56:06,880 body. But with a story like this, oh 830 00:56:06,880 --> 00:56:13,600 Lord, give me the ability to shun all sin, to reject it, to 831 00:56:13,600 --> 00:56:19,600 repel it, to deny it. Because sin is so cancerous, it 832 00:56:19,600 --> 00:56:25,280 never stays with us, does it is able to contaminate people 833 00:56:25,280 --> 00:56:28,600 around us. And Manessa's story, although a 834 00:56:28,600 --> 00:56:33,400 gloriously hopeful 1, is a sobering 1 to remind us that we 835 00:56:33,400 --> 00:56:36,280 may hate sin and love righteousness all the more. 836 00:56:37,000 --> 00:56:38,360 Let's pray and ask God to help us. 837 00:56:59,410 --> 00:57:03,890 Father, even if there be a manasa type listening to this 838 00:57:03,890 --> 00:57:09,890 study today, we pray that you would breakthrough any walls, 839 00:57:11,290 --> 00:57:17,650 any layers of iniquity that have made them insensitive to your 840 00:57:17,650 --> 00:57:20,010 conviction. Lord, before suffering may be 841 00:57:20,010 --> 00:57:23,490 their portion, we ask that you would use this Bible study to 842 00:57:23,490 --> 00:57:30,920 soothe in them and to persuade them to see repentance as a gift 843 00:57:31,720 --> 00:57:33,480 and something that you are willing to respond to 844 00:57:33,480 --> 00:57:39,520 immediately. And Lord, we do pray also for 845 00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:43,640 those who are walking in repentance, perhaps being 846 00:57:43,640 --> 00:57:46,240 tempted to do something, thinking that it will be 847 00:57:46,240 --> 00:57:49,600 contained to ourselves, that even if there are consequences, 848 00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:52,240 it would just be for us and we can manage them. 849 00:57:52,240 --> 00:57:59,360 Lord, destroy all deception and help us to live as faithfully as 850 00:57:59,360 --> 00:58:03,360 possible so that we would inspire others to love you and 851 00:58:04,600 --> 00:58:09,360 not deny you or be deceived the way we might have been deceived. 852 00:58:10,680 --> 00:58:15,120 So that we pray that from now until the end the fragrance of 853 00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:20,920 Jesus Christ would rest on us and that our lives would be salt 854 00:58:21,200 --> 00:58:24,680 so that people would thirst and want living water. 855 00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:29,080 But tonight we rejoice in you and we thank you that you've 856 00:58:29,080 --> 00:58:32,760 placed this in our Bibles so that we can see just how 857 00:58:32,760 --> 00:58:37,760 splendid and glorious you are. Thank you that you've allowed 858 00:58:37,760 --> 00:58:40,560 grace to be the means to energize us to be godly. 859 00:58:41,840 --> 00:58:43,960 Lord, we give you all praise and honor tonight. 860 00:58:44,040 --> 00:58:49,120 In Jesus name we pray, Amen. The praise team will come in a 861 00:58:49,120 --> 00:58:51,480 moment, but listen, don't rush. If you want to stand, you can 862 00:58:51,480 --> 00:58:53,800 stand. If you want to remain seated and 863 00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:56,480 just pour your heart out before the Lord, you can do that as 864 00:58:56,480 --> 00:59:00,920 well. If you need to repent, repent at 865 00:59:00,920 --> 00:59:03,000 times of refreshing may come into your life. 866 00:59:04,680 --> 00:59:08,000 But let's just respond to this study and trust that the Lord 867 00:59:08,000 --> 00:59:10,320 hears us. If he was willing to hear a man 868 00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:13,400 like Vanessa, how much more us who are in Christ?