2 Kings · chapter 21 of 25
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2 Kings 21 tells the long reign of Manasseh, the most wicked king of Judah: he rebuilds the high places, sets up altars to Baal and the host of heaven in the temple, sacrifices his son and sheds much innocent blood. The prophets announce that Jerusalem will be wiped like a dish. His son Amon reigns two years, follows his steps and is assassinated, and the people put Josiah on the throne.
After Hezekiah, one of the most faithful kings of Judah, the throne passes to his son Manasseh, who reverses all his reforms. 2 Kings 21 is one of the darkest chapters of the book, and the narrator points to it as the cause of the judgment that will fall on Judah. Manasseh's wickedness is so grave that God decides to allow the exile, even though other kings will later do what is right.
Manasseh becomes king at twelve and reigns fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother is Hephzibah. He does evil in the sight of the Lord, following the despicable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out. He rebuilds the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed, erects altars for Baal, makes an Asherah as Ahab did, and worships the host of heaven. He builds altars to all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and sets a carved image of Asherah in the temple, of which the Lord had said he would put his name there forever. He makes his son pass through the fire, practices fortune-telling and sorcery, and deals with mediums and necromancers. He also sheds very much innocent blood, until he has filled Jerusalem from one end to the other.
The Lord speaks through his servants the prophets. He says that because Manasseh did things worse than the Amorites and made Judah sin with his idols, he will bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle. He will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plumb line of the house of Ahab, and wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. He will forsake the remnant of his heritage and give them into the hand of their enemies. But the people do not listen, and Manasseh leads them astray to do more evil than the nations the Lord destroyed.
Manasseh dies and is buried in the garden of his house. His son Amon reigns, aged twenty-two, for two years. He does evil, as his father did, and serves the idols. He forsakes the Lord. His servants conspire against him and kill him in his house, but the people of the land kill the conspirators and make his son Josiah king.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Manasseh does evil in the sight of the Lord and follows the despicable practices of the nations God had driven out. The phrase sums up his reign: the chosen people adopt the customs of those who were judged.
Manasseh sets an image of Asherah in the house where the Lord had said he would put his name forever. The defilement happens in the holiest place, and that is why the sin is so grave.
The Lord announces that he will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, turning it upside down. The image is domestic, but it conveys a total and final judgment.
Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, until he filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, besides causing Judah to sin. The narrator does not limit his sin to idolatry: there was also violence against innocent people.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Twelve years old. — 2 Kings 21:1
Answer: The high places. — 2 Kings 21:3
Answer: Altars for the host of heaven and an image of Asherah. — 2 Kings 21:5-7
Answer: He made him pass through the fire. — 2 Kings 21:6
Answer: As one wipes a dish, turning it upside down. — 2 Kings 21:13
Answer: His son Josiah, by the people of the land. — 2 Kings 21:23-24
The chapter shows that a single generation can undo what the previous one built. Hezekiah was faithful and his son contradicted everything. This invites us not to take for granted that faith is inherited and to teach the young people of our family and church with intention. In a small group you can talk about how to pass on a living faith.
It is also striking that Manasseh sinned inside the temple, as if religion could coexist with idolatry. It is worth asking what things we accept in our spiritual life that do not come from God. And although judgment was announced, the account in 2 Chronicles 33 says Manasseh later repented, a proof of God's mercy.
2 Kings 21 ends with Josiah on the throne, a child who will change the course of Judah. In chapter 22 the new king, only eight years old, will be the protagonist of a reform that begins with the discovery of the book of the law in the temple.
The book of 2 Kings does not mention it. However, 2 Chronicles 33 says he was taken captive to Babylon, humbled himself before God and was restored to his throne. That account shows that God's mercy reached even the worst of the kings.
It refers to offering a son as a sacrifice to a pagan god, probably Molech. The law of Moses expressly forbade it. It is one of the practices most condemned by the prophets.
They are construction tools used as an image of judgment. God will measure Jerusalem by the same standard he used for Samaria and the house of Ahab, and will apply the same sentence.