After the best, Hezakiah, we have the worst,Manasseh, a tyrant and polytheist. Seeing Hezakiah’s lifework vanish must have been heartbreaking. Or should it be considered a stimulating challenge? The Chronicler adds new material to Manasseh’s practices; captivity, repentance and return to purify Jerusalem. The repentance and reforms in Jerusalem seem contrary to the evidence since the pagan practices were still prevalent in the days of Josiah. The prayer of Manasseh mentioned in verse 19 prompted an unknown writer to compose the apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh which is added as an appendix to many editions of the Vulgate Bible. Manasseh’s successor, Amon, follows and is assassinated in the palace. Josiah was eight when he became king. According to the Chronicler, Josiah starts reforms in the twelfth year of his reign before someone said “I have found the book of the law.” Scholars believe the book to be the essential parts of Deuteronomy-teaching belief in the grace of the living God, showing how his people should worship him and how, as God’s people, they should deal with one another. The writer of this book never saw the impact that it had upon its finding. How much of what we sow do we reap? The Chronicler continues to emphasize the role of the Levites in repairing the temple and in its services during the reform of Josiah.
After the best, Hezakiah, we have the worst,Manasseh, a tyrant and polytheist. Seeing Hezakiah’s lifework vanish must have been heartbreaking. Or should it be considered a stimulating challenge? The Chronicler adds new material to Manasseh’s practices; captivity, repentance and return to purify Jerusalem. The repentance and reforms in Jerusalem seem contrary to the evidence since the pagan practices were still prevalent in the days of Josiah. The prayer of Manasseh mentioned in verse 19 prompted an unknown writer to compose the apocryphal Prayer of Manasseh which is added as an appendix to many editions of the Vulgate Bible. Manasseh’s successor, Amon, follows and is assassinated in the palace. Josiah was eight when he became king. According to the Chronicler, Josiah starts reforms in the twelfth year of his reign before someone said “I have found the book of the law.” Scholars believe the book to be the essential parts of Deuteronomy-teaching belief in the grace of the living God, showing how his people should worship him and how, as God’s people, they should deal with one another. The writer of this book never saw the impact that it had upon its finding. How much of what we sow do we reap? The Chronicler continues to emphasize the role of the Levites in repairing the temple and in its services during the reform of Josiah.
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