Never Too Late | Manasseh | PART 2

Manasseh was the worst king the kingdom of Judah had ever seen. Yet, God was not done with him. Let’s dive into this truly “Never too late” story that gives hope to all of us! Series: Never Too Late, Speaker: Pastor Don Dodge, Scripture: 2 Chronicles 33:1-2, 2 Chronicles 33:3, Deuteronomy 31:16-17, 2 Chronicles 33:4-5, 2 Chronicles 33:6, 2 Kings 21:13-14, 2 Chronicles 33:10-11, 2 Chronicles 33:14-17, Video: https://www.facebook.com/avalonchurch/videos/288008619126745/, Sermon page: https://podcast.avalonchurch.org/sermons/never-too-late-manasseh-part-2/, Sermon Notes: 2020-07-26_never-too-late-part-2_sermon-notes.pdf, Discussion Questions: 2020-07-26_never-too-late-part-2_discussion-questions.pdf, Notes: Manasseh Intro Series: It’s never too late. Stories of the heart change that led to a huge impact in their lives and the lives of generations after. Intro Rian. Elder Scariest interviewer that I ever had the privilege of being interviewed by. Great sense of humor. Rian’s story is intriguing and it’s a good intro to the scripture today. Story: Rian Seipler Rian shares his stories. Overview of Chronicles Last book of OT With so many promises that were fulfilled, With their exile to Babylon reversed. They were still oppressed by other nations. Jerusalem was still a mess, The Temple still just a shadow of the past. It was like they were still in exile. ...still waiting for God to do something big. Though Chronicles ends the OT story looking for a conclusion, ...It is a story that was intended to offer hope. That God was going to finish what he started. ...That he would send the Messiah, ...The King from the line of David, ...Who would be better than David! ...Who would come and restore Everything that was broken. So today we’re going to look at the story of a King named Manasseh. Probably the worst king the S. kingdom of Judah had ever known. The story takes place in 2 Chron.33. How bad he was 1Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. – 2 Chron. 33:1-2 (NLT) For 55 years, he led the nation away from God. 55 years of corruption. There was no Congress to slow him down. No other branches of government to stop him. There were no protestors who could do anything about it. He was King. Where he went, the country went. The only one who could stop him, ...Was another king. 3 He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had broken down. He constructed altars for the images of Baal and set up Asherah poles. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them. – 2 Chron. 33:3 (NLT) These included the sex gods and temple prostitution. These included infanticide. There was some awful things people did To appease the gods. So for 55 years, King Manasseh hedged his bets. He worshiped all the gods of the ancient world, ...just in case. In doing so, he forgot what got him there in the first place. He forgot God’s promise to Abraham, ...Bringing a child to a couple that could not have kids, ...Promising a nation by which the world would be blessed. He forgot the slavery in Egypt, ...And how God raised up Moses, ...He forgot Passover and the parting of the Red Sea, ...And witnessing God’s power to lead the people to the Promised Land He forgot the prediction that was given to Moses Right before he died; 16 ...these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. 17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. – Deut 31:16-17 Manasseh forgot how he got there, That his great, great, great grandfather David, Was chosen to lead these people differently than the other nations. ...That YHWH God was the ultimate ruler, ...And his temple was just down the road from Manasseh’s palace. Instead, 4 [Manasseh] built pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord, the place where the Lord had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” 5 He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. – 2 Chron. 33:4-5 (NLT) 6 Manasseh also sacrificed his own sons in the fire in the valley of Ben-Hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing his anger. – 2 Chron. 33:6 (NLT) Manasseh’s Father was Hezekiah a very good King who we’ll talk about next week. Manasseh completely rejected his family... his heritage. ...till eventually he sacrificed some of his own children to appease the gods of the surrounding nations. He practiced sorcery and witchcraft ...Knowing that this is why King Saul’s family was not king. Sometimes, we keep taking one bad step after another