Every believing parent has a deep desire that their children love the Lord with their whole heart. Yet, there is no way to guarantee this reality. Righteous children follow unrighteous parents, and righteous parents sometimes discover that their children will not follow the Lord.

Although Hezekiah was a righteous king, his son and Judah’s next king, Manasseh, was wicked. He began to reign when he was only 12. Sadly, he chose to be the opposite of his father. Whereas Hezekiah tore down the high places and idolatrous worship centers, Manasseh rebuilt them (vv. 3–4). While Hezekiah tried to be like David (18:3), Manasseh followed the example of Ahab, the wicked king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel (21:3)! To know the future, he didn’t avail himself of God’s ordained prophets, but instead “consulted mediums and spiritists” (v. 6). He even “sacrificed his own son” (v. 6). Furthermore, he abused the citizens of Jerusalem, putting innocent people to death (v. 16).

Surprisingly, Manasseh had a 55-year long reign, the longest of any king of Israel or Judah (v. 1). A result of this long reign was that the nation followed him in his wicked ways. “Manasseh led them astray, so that they did more evil than the nations the LORD had destroyed” (v. 9).

The result of all this wickedness was that God finally declared that Judah would go into exile. While the declaration for the northern kingdom came after its first king, God delayed this judgment for Judah, but judgment did come. “I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria…and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down” (v. 13).

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