Bible Commentaries

2 Chronicles 33:12-13

I. It deserves to be noticed that the fall of Manasseh was an exception to the general law respecting the history of children of a godly parentage. It is a fact which children in Christian households should ponder seriously that if they do break loose from the restraints of their religious training, they become exceptional cases of sin against exceptional privilege.

II. This is confirmed by the fact, which the early manhood of Manasseh also illustrates, that when the children of the good become vicious, they do become worse than the average of wicked men. Manasseh fell back to the disgraceful level of his grandfather Ahaz.

III. The fall of Manasseh proves that the virus of an evil parentage when arrested in one generation may pass over and reappear in the generation following.

IV. The fall of Manasseh illustrates the power of high station and worldly prosperity to counteract the influence of a religious education.

V. The misfortunes which followed the apostasy of Manasseh illustrate the faithfulness of God to His covenant with godly parents.

VI. The salvation of the penitent prince should be both an encouragement and a warning to those sons of Christian parents who have lost the paths of virtue.

A. Phelps, The Old Testament a Living Book, p. 124.

References: 2 Chronicles 33:11.—E. H. Plumptre, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. iv., pp. 450,452. 2 Chronicles 33:13.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 105.

2 Chronicles 33:20-25

Notice the chief lessons which lie in the life of these three kings.

I. Manasseh. There is no limit to the mercy of God. Sinners the chief are welcome to complete forgiveness. If only great saints got into heaven, we who are great sinners would lose hope. But when we see Manasseh and men like him going in and getting welcome, there is hope for us. If we follow their steps in repentance, we shall be permitted to join their company in rest.

II. Amon. Beware of turning the riches of God's grace into a snare. As Manasseh's case is recorded in the Bible that an aged sinner desiring to turn may not be cast into despair, Amon's case is recorded beside it that the young may not delay an hour, lest they perish for ever.

III. None of us will be saved or lost in consequence of anything in our parents. Amon saw his father born again when he was old, but the son did not inherit his father's goodness. Josiah was the child of an ungodly parent, and yet he became a godly child. These two lessons are plainly written in the history, the one to make the presumptuous humble, the other to give the despairing hope: (1) a converted father cannot secure the safety of an unconverted son, and (2) an unconverted father cannot drag down a child in his fall if that child follows the Lord.

W. Arnot, Family Treasury, 1861, p. 353.

Reference: 2 Chronicles 34:1.—Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 188.