Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - God's Reaction to Repentance | The Writings | 2 Chronicles 33

Episode Date: April 3, 2024

Is there anyone too far gone for God to forgive? How can you receive God's forgiveness? In today's episode, Jensen shares a powerful story from 2 Chronicles 33 of sin, repentance and forgiveness. Read the Bible with us in 2024! This year, we’re tackling a group of Old Testament books traditionally known as “The Writings”— Psalms, Chronicles, Proverbs, Daniel, Ruth and more! Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 2 Chronicles 33

Welcome to 10-minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. Fun fact, the longest reigning king of Judah is also known to be one of the most detestable kings. His name was King Manasseh. And as we read the account of all he did, it comes in stark contrast with his father, Hezekiah. Chapter 33, verse 2 of Second Chronicles tells us, and he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel. And what he did certainly was evil.

What follows is seven long verses filled with descriptions of the horrible things King Manasse did. He built altars to false gods. He worshipped creation. He sacrificed his sons to false gods. He worked with fortune tellers and mediums, and he filled the temple of the Lord's, Lord with pagan idols defiling God's holy house. In verse 10 we read, the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Now, we get very little detail here of what the Lord says, but in Second Kings, we're given an expanded version of what is said here. The Lord said through his servants the prophets, Manasseh, King of Judah, has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amarites who preceded him and has led Judah into sin with his idols.

Therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says. I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. I will stretch out over Jerusalem the measuring line used against Samaria and the plum line used against the house of Ahab. I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. I will forsake the remnant of my inheritance and give them into the hands of enemies. They will be looted and plundered by all their enemies. They have done evil in my eyes and have aroused my anger from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until this day.

The judgment is clear. God is going to send his people into exile because they have forsaken him. In Second Kings, the author ends with this judgment, shedding no more light on the life of Manasseh. But the author of Second Chronicles continues to tell Manassah's story beyond this condemnation. After we are told that people ignore God's word, the chronicler says, therefore, meaning because you didn't listen, I'm sending a foreign army, and they come and take away King Manasa back to Babylon. They capture him with hooks and bind him in chains of bronze, and in this time of trial, we read this of Manasseh. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God

and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty, and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasa knew that the Lord was God. Manassah repents. He humbles himself in his own. He humbles himself in his kingdom. He his desperation, he calls out to God, and God hears him, and he saves him. A man who has committed heinous acts, who has defiled his holy temple, who has led his people astray. God was moved by his plea and rescues him. And we shouldn't be shocked that God does this. When Solomon was dedicating the temple of God, he prayed this over the people of God. When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you. And when they turn back and give praise to your name,

praying and making supplication before you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave them and their ancestors. When God's people have been conquered by their enemies because of their own sin, Solomon asks that despite their sin, if they call out to God, if they repent, that God, that God, would be faithful to hear them and forgive his people and to bring them back into the promised land. And here, we see God answering that prayer in the life of the king, even the most detestable king, Manasseh. And when Manassah returns, he tries to write his wrongs and restore worship to the true God. The chronicler shows us that despite his efforts, the calamity that he has brought on the people of Judah,

their faithlessness cannot be reversed. They still fail to worship faithfully despite his efforts. We learn shortly that the next king returns along with the people to the evil of his fathers before him. And yet, the chronicler ends his discussion of Manasseh with this reminder of his prayer and God's transformation in his life. Now, the rest of the acts of Manasseh and his prayer to God and the words of the seers who spoke to him in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, behold, they are in the chronicles of the kings of

Israel. And his prayer, and how God was moved by his entreaty, and all his sin and his faithlessness, and the sights on which he built high places and set up the ashram and the images, before he humbled himself, behold, they are written in the chronicles of the seers. So Manassas slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house, and Amen, his son reigned in his place. So our attention is brought once again to highlight how God was moved by Manasse's prayer and humility. Something that the author of Second Kings leaves out in its entirety is clearly the focus of this author's writing. Why? The chronicler is choosing to highlight God's faithfulness to those who repent and call out to him, to those who turn from sin and brokenness and live faithful lives

in response to God's mercy. Now remember his original audience. What have they been through? They are the people of God who have returned to the promised land after an exile of 70 years. They are struggling with their identity, struggling to establish themselves as the people of God, wondering if God will still be their God, if He will be faithful to his promises to send the Messianic King. Our author is writing specifically to encourage them in this moment to remain faithful. and establish themselves as the faithful people of God. And so, of course, with his intended purpose and writing,

of course he includes this account of God's faithfulness even to those who have sinned against him. You see, no one, not even Manasseh, is outside of the grace of God. They can be absolutely sure of that. Despite God's judgment in the exile, He has been faithful to return them to the promised land. He heard their cries. Now the question is, will they live as God's faithful people again? And we're asked the same question today. Our God has been faithful. He sent the Messiah. Jesus has secured salvation for us. He has sent his

spirit. He is opening the eyes and hearts of believers, softening our hearts of stone into living, beating hearts, capable of seeing and knowing the goodness of God? Will we put our faith in the goodness of that God? The one who, despite our ugly, broken, sinful, diseased hearts, despite the worst of us, the deepest darkest parts of our lives, despite all of that, he died so that we could be made new again. He rose from the dead so that we could be free from the chains of sin. We may not have shackles of bronze like Manasseh. We may not be captives of a foreign nation, but Romans 6-6 tells us that we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we would no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

We have been set free from the bondage that sin held on us. We are no longer slaves to sin. Christ has accomplished atonement for our sins. We are free to live in righteousness, to say no to temptation, to follow after the ways of Jesus. The question is, will we? Will we see the beauty and gravity of what God has done for us? What he has secured for us, given us, despite all that we have done as slaves to sin? May we turn over to God the places of our lives that we have allowed sin to run rampant. May we repent, turning away from our sin and see Jesus walking in the way of righteousness. May we find the encouragement and hope we need to live faithful lives in the words of Second Chronicles about King Manasseh.

God will always be faithful to his people. His promises are sure he has set us free to live lives of righteousness. Put your trust, your faith in the one true God who rescued you out of the bondage of sin and delivered you into his good everlasting kingdom.