2 Kings 21:1

THE WICKED REIGNS OF MANASSEH AND AMON

In this short chapter, the fifty-five year reign of Manasseh - the longest in Judah's history - and the two-year reign of his son Amon are compressed and extremely abbreviated. The reason is simple enough. The evil reigns of these men deserved even less attention than they received here.

A PARTIAL LIST OF MANASSEH'S ABOMINATIONS

"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up the altars for Baal, and made an Ashera, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah. And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practiced augury, and used enchantments, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah to provoke him to anger."

"Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign" (2 Kings 21:1). "When Hezekiah named his son Manasseh, he might have done so in the spirit of Joseph who gave that name to his first-born (Genesis 41:51), because God `made him forget' his dangerous illness."[1]

"And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah" (2 Kings 21:2). The ineffectiveness of Hezekiah's extensive reforms is evident in what happened under Manasseh. "There was little sympathy with his reforms in the hearts of the people; the fear of God had vanished from the hearts of the people. Corruption and vice were multiplied."[2] Degenerate and licentious leaders of the nation gained control of the young king, sinking the whole nation into the depths of depravity.

"He built again the high places" (2 Kings 21:3). This was the first step toward the gross idolatry promoted by Manasseh.

"He made an Ashera, as did Ahab" (2 Kings 21:3). Adam Clarke identified Ashera with the Roman goddess, "Venus."[3] Although the word "Ashera" is sometimes translated "grove," there is no doubt that the reference here is to an image. "It was an emblem of Astarte."[4]

"He built altars for all the host of heaven" (2 Kings 21:5). We cannot understand why some scholars attempt to identify this worship of the host of heaven as some kind of a late development in Israel. They did it in the times of the wilderness wanderings (Acts 7:42), and besides that Solomon built a temple to Moloch, which god, among other things was a sun-god, as evidenced by the great temple of Moloch in Carthage. This is also supported by the martyr Stephen who mentioned the worship of the heavenly bodies side by side with that of Moloch (Acts 7:42-43). The worship of the heavenly host focused principally upon the sun, moon, the five planets known in antiquity, and the twelve constellations associated with the Zodiac.

"He made his son to pass through the fire" (2 Kings 21:6). In 2 Chronicles 33:6, the text states that "He made his sons to pass through the fire." Thus, he might have sacrificed several of his children to Moloch.

"He practiced augury, and used enchantments" (2 Kings 21:6). DeHoff observed that, "Similar practices such as fortune-telling are prevalent even today in civilized countries."[5] "From time to time there is a renewal of interest in fortune-telling; and much of it borders on witchcraft. The abuse of drugs is also related to efforts of some to `see visions.'"[6]

The seeking of omens, or other kinds of magical information, is called necromancy. Practitioners of this art gaze at the tea leaves, the entrails of some animal, the movement of the clouds, the flight of birds, or at the position of arrows shaken out of a quiver. How pitiful were such practices, especially when exhibited in one of the kings of the dynasty of David.