God’s mercy is ever available to pardon any sinner that repents. Now, He has given humanity His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as pardon for all wrong and the grace that gives life to every sinner who believes in Him. The proud are shortly cut to size, but while their pride lasts, they look like a special breed of the human race in their eyes. Let every person see themselves as God sees them, “A wind that passes and comes not again” (Ps 78:39), and they shall throw away their pride.
“So Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.” (2 Chr 33:9). One of humanity’s most significant problems since falling into sin is pride. Pride often surfaces when a person receives elevation or promotion. Usually, a person looks unassuming and lays low until they are promoted, then they get infected with the “viruses of pride”. Satan is the “vector” of this pride, which quickly makes a person turn away from God. He turned away from God when he became proud and was cast out of his holy place in Heaven.
Manasseh succeeded his godly father, King Hezekiah, but was so ungodly that he even built altars in the Temple of God. He was steeped in evil to the extent that he burned his sons as an offering to idols. He practised soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, shedding much innocent blood to fill Jerusalem from one end to another. These acts of him provoked God to anger. Usually, Judah’s kings were relatively godly compared to Israel’s, but all became ungodly as Jeroboam’s successors.
Since no one could defy God in this way for long, He stepped in and brought judgment. God allowed the King of Assyria to capture Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze before sending him to Babylon. God spoke to him and his people, but they paid no attention (2 Chro 33:10). In Babylon, Manasseh, who was in distress, entreated the favour of God by humbling himself and praying to God, who heard his plea. “Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.” (2 Chr 33:12-13).
