2 Kings 21

SOAP, 2 Kings 21: Monday, July 11, 2022

Welcome to the Daily SOAP from New Hope. This is Paton Cadwallader, your guest host for today.

Today we will be reading from 2 Kings 21 and focusing on verses 1-6. If you haven’t already done so, please take the time to read the entire chapter to get the full context. I will be reading from the NIV version.

“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed; he also erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole, as Ahab king of Israel had done. He bowed down to all the starry hosts and worshiped them. He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put my Name.” In the two courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his own son in the fire, practiced divination, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.”

To understand the significance of this text, I believe we need to go back and recall the reign of Manasseh’s father, Hezekiah. Hezekiah was a king after God’s own heart who worked hard to correct the sins of the kings before him. He did what was right in God’s eyes and had much success. In 2 Kings 20, we see that God healed Hezekiah from grave illness and added 15 years to his life. His son, Manasseh, was born during this timeframe. However, with all that Hezekiah did right, we see sins of pride and selfishness get in the way. When envoys from Babylon came to greet Hezekiah, he lavishly displayed all of his wealth and grandeur. Due to his pride, God spoke through the prophet, Isaiah, and told Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20 verse 17, “The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord.” Most shocking, though, is Hezekiah’s response. He says in verse 19 “The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,”…for he thought, “Will there not be peace and security in my lifetime?” Hezekiah didn’t care that everything would be taken away, because it wasn’t going to happen in his lifetime. He was selfishly focused on himself and his own comfort. This leaves me to wonder…If Hezekiah was not so selfishly driven to follow the Lord for his own gains, would his son Manasseh have turned out differently? I am not placing the blame of Manasseh’s evil actions on Hezekiah. But, as a parent, it seems like Hezekiah truly missed the big picture and the opportunity to share his love of the Lord with his son. Put simply, Hezekiah was focused on the tree, but missing the forest. He did not see past himself and the implications his actions had on his loved ones and family. He was too concerned to check off the box and do what was right for the Lord, without doing it for the right reasons. We must all be cautious to not just do religious work for the sake of religious work, but to do everything with the focus of sharing Christ’s love with others. Let us keep focused on the big picture, Christ Jesus, and our desire to make more and better followers of Him.

Let’s close in prayer.

Dear Lord, help us to stay focused on you, not on ourselves. May our actions not just be busy religious work, but actions focused on furthering your kingdom. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide us, Lord, because we cannot do it on our own. Left to our own devices, even with the best intentions, we fall short in so many ways. Lord, we need you. Direct us, Lord, so that all that we may do will glorify and honor you. In the precious name of Jesus, we pray. Amen