6/3

2 Kings 21:6

⁶And he burned his son as an offering and used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger.

God had proclaimed Hezekiah to be the godliest king of Judah (2Kings 18:5). His son Manasseh was the wickedest. Manasseh replaced the altars on the high places. He put altars to the gods of heaven in the Temple. And as our verse today tells us, he burned his son as an offering. Along with that atrocious act is mentioned what so many take lightly today; he used fortune tellers and mediums. This is a sin God takes very seriously. It is seeking direction from the evil spiritual realm. The spirits of the godly will not tell you what you want to hear because they know you should seek God. If we will not seek God, demonic spirits will gladly direct us.

Manasseh reigned 55 years! It was one of the longest reigns in the history of Israel. There are two very difficult facts for us to face. The first is that our children will not always choose to follow our faith. The other is that the wicked often live a long and prosperous life. We might prefer it was otherwise, but we are not God. God loves us enough to not force Himself on anyone. Each person must decide for himself or herself if he or she will surrender to His love.

A long reign of an evil king may be giving the people he rules over exactly what they desire. God sees the hearts of men. We can trust that His choice is best, even when it means to shorten the life of the godly, or extend the life of the wicked. There must be freedom to choose even for our children. A forced faith is not faith at all. Instead of becoming angry with God, we should see that the real cause of suffering is sin in the world. The gift of free choice is a double-edged sword.

Consider: The case of Manasseh shows us that things are not always what we would desire. We must trust God and personally be the man or woman He has called us to be.