Biblical Oddities: The Birth of Manasseh

I’ve decided to start a new regular feature on the blog – a series of short posts every Saturday on various Biblical oddities that I’ve come across. These aren’t necessarily deep or life-changing truths; they’re just odd little things that I’ve discovered that I thought might be worth sharing.

Today’s topic deals with Manasseh, king of Judah. He was an incredibly wicked ruler:

2 Kings 21:1: “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah.
2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.”

The wickedness of this man was truly horrifying. For example, among other things, he offered his own children as burnt offerings:

II Kings 21:6: “And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
7 And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:”

As you can see, he defiled the temple of God by putting idols in it. On top of all that, he murdered lots and lots of people:

II Kings 21:16: “Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord”

Manasseh was so bad that God was still angry about it decades later, and decided to destroy Judah because of it:

II Kings 24:2: “And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
3 Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;
4 And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.”

So, then, we see that Manasseh was an incredibly bad king and an extremely wicked man. There is a lot that can be said about that, but what I want to focus on is the fact that he became king when he was 12 years old:

2 Kings 21:1: “Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Hephzibah.

Manasseh’s father was Hezekiah, and he began reigning after Hezekiah died. Hezekiah was a good king who feared the Lord, but at the end of his life he fell sick and was about to die:

2 Kings 20:1: “In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,
3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.”

Hezekiah begged God to spare his life. God granted his prayer:

2 Kings 20:4: “And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.”

God extended Hezekiah’s life by 15 years. This is important, because Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign. That means Manasseh was born during those 15 extra years that God gave Hezekiah.

If Hezekiah had actually died, Manasseh would never have been born. The reason God destroyed Judah and deported the Jews who lived there was because of the sins of Manasseh, as II Kings 24:3 says. If Manasseh had never existed then history might have turned out very differently. The extra 15 years of life that Hezekiah asked for – and received – led to the destruction of Judah and the deportation of those who lived there.

It’s something to think about, isn’t it?