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If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Second Kings, chapter 20. Second Kings, chapter 20, well, the last time that we were together, we started looking at the ministry or the, the, the rule of Hezekiah. And he was really one of the best kings that the southern kingdom had. Although he had his issues, he had to work through some things in his life, he ended up being a very good king.

Well, tonight, we read one last story. It's about Hezekiah. And again, we see some areas of issue that he had in his life, but also some areas of growth that we're going to see for, from him. And so we pick up in chapter 20 with a story about Hezekiah's illness. Starting in verse one, it says this, in those days, Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, thus says the Lord,

set your house in order for you shall die and shall not live. And he turned his face to the wall and he prayed to the Lord saying, remember now, O Lord, I beseech you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. Now, just a little bit of background on this chapter. This chapter is actually a little bit of a backtrack.

This chapter actually probably takes place somewhere in the middle of chapter 18 timeline-wise. Probably shortly before. Or during the time when Sennacherib was besieging the city of Jerusalem. And so this doesn't really happen in chronological order. And Hezekiah was probably around the age of 39 when this took place. So pretty young guy for what he had going on there.

But Hezekiah as the king, and again, I think that this is early on in his reign when this takes place because of some different things that we see here. But he's told that he's mortally ill. And essentially he had a boil that had caused him to become very sick. And Isaiah the prophet had come to him and said, you need to know this is something that's going to lead to death.

You're not going to survive this. Surely you're going to die. And so you need to set your house in order. Make sure everything's ready to go. Make sure that you're ready for this next phase and that your family's ready for this because you're not going to survive this. And as we see, Hezekiah turns his face to the Lord. Actually he turns his face to the wall.

But he turns his heart towards the Lord. And he cries out to the Lord. And essentially he calls on God to do something miraculous. He prays to the Lord. He seeks the Lord. And he simply weeps bitterly before the Lord. If you will, he prays earnestly to the Lord that God would hear him. And I want you to notice how God responds to Hezekiah. It says, before Isaiah had gone out of the middle of the court, verse 4, the word of

the Lord came to him saying, return and say to Hezekiah, the leader of my people, thus says the Lord, the God of your father, David. I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. I will add 15 years to your life and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria.

And I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. I want you to pay really close attention to the beginning or to right in the middle of verse 5 there. Because God tells Isaiah to tell Hezekiah, thus says the Lord, I have heard your prayer. Now, again, this is the second time that we've seen this in Hezekiah's life. That God has heard his prayer and because God heard his prayer, God is going to move

in a miraculous sort of way. And I don't know about you, but sometimes subjects just keep being brought up over and over again to me. And this aspect of the earnestness of prayer keeps being brought up. Right? It's been brought up over and over again in my life. As a matter of fact, I was sitting in a regional, it was an online meeting, a regional FCA meeting

today of about a five-state region. And the guy that was giving the meeting gave his like three points that we needed to take away from the meeting. And one of them was earnestness of prayer. And he used this exact story to drive home the point that we need to make sure that prayer is not just something that we talk about. Because prayer is... Prayer is not the preparation for the battle.

Prayer is the battle. And there's an earnestness that needs to take place in our prayer. And if we want to see God move, if we want to see God move in our life, if we want to see God move in our generation, if we want to see God move in our family, if we want to see God move in our church, you name it, it always begins with the earnestness of prayer. Because when God's people seek him, when God's people get down on their knees and they really pray to the Lord.

And their hearts are fully divided. They're fully devoted and fully given over wholeheartedly to prayer. It's amazing how God responds to that. Because this wholehearted prayer is met with a wholehearted response when God tells Hezekiah, I have heard your prayer and I have seen your tears. And I wonder how many of us could get a response from God that was, I have heard your prayers.

Or if God would give us the response of, if you would just start to pray, I would hear your prayers. I don't know which camp you fit in tonight, I don't know which category you fit in tonight, I don't know which one I fit in tonight, and it's the one where I need to keep growing. Clearly because this has been brought up multiple times this week. Last night I was going through Psalm 119.

Because I'm behind in the Bible reading, because that's the way I live most of my life, is a little bit behind. I just posted a video about procrastination and it's just who I am. Anyway, I was reading through Psalm 119 and one of the things that I took note of over and over again in Psalm 119. It's not only about the Bible. It's the Word of God, but it's about wholeheartedness.

And that wholehearted pursuit of God. And that in that wholehearted pursuit of God, we realize that God always answers that because God is always willing to speak to those whose hearts are wholeheartedly pursuing Him. Because God is hearing our prayers, but sometimes those prayers need to be said. And sometimes those prayers need to be said in more than a flippant way, but in a, this is the only option that I have sort of way.

And I found myself asking a question. I don't even know if I have a good answer to this question. Why would God allow this into Hezekiah's life at this point in time? Why at this point in time is he told, you're going to die. That's it. 39 years old. You're going to have this thing and you're not going to survive it. Why does he do that? Other than to teach Hezekiah that the one thing that he has going for him in his life

is the power of God. That the one thing that he has to continue to seek in his life is the power of God. Because did you notice that not only did God promise that he would be healed, not only did God promise him another 50 years. He promised him another 50 years. He promised him 15 years in his life. But did you notice the third thing that God promised him?

I will defeat the army of Assyria. It's almost like perhaps this was along with all of those other prayers that he was praying during that besieging of Jerusalem when he was struggling to trust whether or not God was going to deliver him. When he was struggling to trust whether or not God was going to rescue him and Egypt was failing him and his wealth was failing him and paying off Assyria was failing him. And he found himself in a place where the only thing he could do was pray.

Listen. When we find ourselves in a place. Where the only thing that we can do is pray. We have found ourselves in the most powerful place possible. Because it is in our greatest weakness that God shows himself the most strong. And that's what God does here for Hezekiah. Hezekiah finds himself in a place where all he can do is seek the Lord in prayer and he

does it so wholeheartedly that God stops Isaiah in his tracks. And we can't brush by that. We can't just pretend that didn't happen. That Isaiah was roaming through the palace. And God. In the middle of Isaiah leaving. Says Isaiah don't go anywhere. You need to go back and talk to the king. Because his heart is in the right place. To be healed. And he stops Isaiah in his tracks and sends him back to give this message.

And so as we go on in verse 6 it says I will add 15 years to your life. I will deliver you in this city from the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake. And then Isaiah said. Take a cake of figs. And they took it and laid it on the boil and he recovered. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah what will be the sign that the Lord will heal me.

And that I shall go up to the house of the Lord this day. And Isaiah said this shall be the sign to you from the Lord. That the Lord will do the thing that he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward 10 steps or go back 10 steps. And Hezekiah answered. It's easy for the shadow to decline 10 steps. But let the shadow turn back 10 steps. And Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord and he brought the shadow on the stairway back

10 steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz. A couple of things I want us to take note of there. The first thing is that did you notice how God chose to heal Hezekiah. God could have done it any way that he wanted to. It could have just simply been a word from Isaiah. Could have been that Isaiah didn't say a thing. God could have just miraculously healed him in that moment.

But did you notice that what God used. He used a medicine of the day to heal him. And I know a lot of people end up in a lot of condemnation because the way that God chooses to heal you is through medicine. And you think well maybe my faith isn't strong enough because I had to take my anti-anxiety medicines to get past a really hard time in my life. I had to take my this kind of medicine for God to heal me.

Listen I think J. Vernon McGee said it best when he said supernatural healing is how God always heals but sometimes he chooses to use doctors and sometimes he chooses to use medicine. And I think especially in the case of Isaiah. Especially in the world we're living in right now. We can sometimes feel like we have lapsed faith because we have used anything outside of just

faith alone. Well I just need to pray and God's going to heal me. And God sends you the medicine. God sends you the medicinal healing that needs to be used and you go nope. I'm going to believe that God's going to heal me. And God's going what did I just do? I just gave you the way to be healed. And sometimes we feel condemnation because of that. But that's how God chose to heal in this instance.

One of the things you'll find in the Bible. Is that God chose to heal you. God does things lots of different ways. And the reason why he does things lots of different ways is because he wants us to rely on him for every step of the way. Maybe God is saying a faith healing is the way that that's going to take place. Maybe God is saying a medicinal healing is the way that that's going to take place.

Maybe God's saying the healing won't take place. We've all been there too. No matter what we rest in the fact that God is in control of the way that these things are handled. That's the first thing that I want to point out to you. The second thing that I want to point out to you. Is that Hezekiah really struggles with faith. Have you noticed that? Like for being a great man of faith.

Because I think that he was a great man of faith. God used him very powerfully. He kind of struggled to believe. Like here Isaiah is like we'll put this whatever cake of figs. I want to know what that looks like by the way. Like it was just like a tree just laid over on his leg. Like here. And then he's healed. I don't know. Anyway a cake of figs gets laid on him.

And fig newtons maybe. Is that where they came from? Anyway that's neither here nor there. And in the process of him being healed. He looks at Isaiah and says. Show me a sign. What sign is there that I'm going to be healed? God could have at this moment said. You know what? Let's just forget this whole thing. Right? A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign.

But he knew his faith was weak. And God met him where he was. And so he says fine. I'll give you a sign. Which direction would you like the shadow to go? Ten steps forward or ten steps backward? And Hezekiah goes. Let's do something big. Have the shadow move ten steps backwards. And so this. The stairway of Ahaz that it mentions down there in that verse. Was probably some sort of a sundial to show what time of the day it was.

So the sun moved back. Or essentially the shadow moved back ten steps. And he was like. Whoa. That's pretty amazing. Apparently this was even reported as far as Babylon. Which is what we're going to see here in just a moment. That that's the reason why some Babylonian rulers are going to show up. God can do the miraculous. And He can do it however He wants to.

Because that's who God is. So. I'm going to show you a cross. And this is what it says. It says, Now can God really make the shadow go back ten steps? Now I was just telling a group of kids the other morning. I said. You know what the most important verse in the Bible is? I want you to think about this. Don't answer. We'll see what do you think the most important verse in the Bible is.

I'm glad you asked. Because I'm going to tell you. The most important verse in the Bible. Is Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. It says. In the beginning God created. And that word is bara. Created from nothing. Spoken to existence. The heavens and the earth. The reason why that's the most important verse in the Bible. Because if you can believe that verse, then you'll have no problem believing anything else.

If the God who spoke the world into existence is able to do that, then I'm pretty sure he can do just about anything else he wants to, don't you? Because if he spoke it into existence, don't you think he's sovereignly in control over all of it? Don't you think he's sovereignly in control over our lives? And I told this group of kids, I said, listen, you need to understand something.

That means that you can rest in God. Because that God loves you, that God created you, and that means nothing in your life is too hard for that God. Because he already spoke the heavens and the earth into existence. It's going to be hard for you to throw him a curveball. Amen? And so he says, well, make it go back ten steps. And so that's what it does. It goes back ten steps.

Isaiah cries out to the Lord, and Hezekiah is healed. Can you imagine what it would have been like to live on that borrowed time? Fifteen extra years after they're like, listen, pack your bags because you're going home, right? And so he gets fifteen extra years. The unfortunate thing is, he made some unwise decisions in those fifteen years. Look at verse twelve.

At that time, listen, I'm going to do the best I can with this, but I'm a Kansas guy. At that time, Baradok Baladon, I mean, people that speak the language are just rolling over right now. Is that a son of Baladon, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah. For he heard that Hezekiah had been sick, and Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house.

The silver, the gold, the spices, the precious oil, and the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasury. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show him. Now, I believe, and I've read this in some other commentaries as well, that the Babylonians who worshipped the sun god probably saw something funky go on in the sky with the moving back of the shadow ten steps. And it was affected even that far.

We even read that in 2 Chronicles. And they went, wow, what was that? And then through the grapevine, they heard what had happened to Hezekiah. And so they send this band of men there to essentially give a gift and show their respect to Hezekiah. There's really probably a reason behind this, and that's that they were looking for an alliance against the Assyrian king,

because Assyria was trying to dominate the region. And Babylon had their own plans still at this point, not in time. But no matter what, they send this entourage to Hezekiah. And when this entourage comes to Hezekiah, Hezekiah is given a test, a test to see what is really in his heart. And unfortunately, what's revealed in the heart of Hezekiah is a little bit of pride.

Because did you notice what Hezekiah showed them? Let me first tell you what he did not show them. He did not take them to the temple. He didn't show them the brazen altar. He didn't show them the sea where the priests would wash before they would take part in the sacrifices. He didn't show them inside of there is where the most holy place is, where the presence of God dwells.

And this is ultimately what makes us great, not our treasures, not our army, none of those things. God is who makes this great, and this temple is where God dwells. And this is what makes us a great nation. He didn't talk to them about the sacrifices and all of those different kinds of things. No, what did he show them? He showed them his treasures. He showed them his armor.

He showed them all of the things that the world says, now that's what makes you great. I have a question for you. What is it that you tell people that makes you great? What is it that if somebody were to say, what is the secret of your greatness? What is the secret of your success? What is the secret of your life, your secret of happiness, your secret of joy,

your secret of peace? What's the first thing that comes to your mind? Is it the wonderful job that you have? Is it the intelligence that God has given to you? Is it all of those things? Or do you know and understand that at the heart, the only thing that makes you great, the only thing that ultimately makes you great, is the fact that God has done everything for you?

One of the other things I shared with some kids this week is when I first met my wife, she had just stopped being a fashion major. She did sales at Nordstrom. And so she taught me a little bit about fashion early on. Clearly didn't do a very good job. But we did the best we could, right? So she taught me a little bit. One of the things that she told me is that

what makes clothing valuable is its designer. That's what ultimately makes clothing valuable. Because she would show me things that were worth just ungodly amounts of money. I'm like, why on earth would somebody pay that amount of money for that? And she said, because of who the designer is. Because the designer gave that clothing its worth. I think you know where I'm going here.

And what I love being able to tell kids, is what gives you your worth is not what you can do, is not how you succeed, it's not the amount of money that you have, the kind of looks that you have, how good you are at a sport, how good you are in school, or even the aspirations that you have in your life. Your name means nothing. What gives you worth, what gives you value, is your designer. And no matter what you do with all of the other things, if you can know who your designer is, then you can know what your worth is.

And your worth far surpasses what you can ever imagine, because you have been designed intricately, and individually, and specifically by God. Wouldn't it have been wonderful if that's what Hezekiah would have shown the men from Babylon? Is that what makes our nation great is our designer, is our creator, and this is where we worship him? I hope that we are the people who when asked, what is it that makes you great?

We always go back to the place of saying, it's because of who my designer is. It's because of who my savior is. Because that's where my worth is found. That's where my value is found. And that's how I know what greatness looks like, is because I have been designed and created by God. Unfortunately, Hezekiah fails the test, and pride is what takes over. There was nothing, end of verse 13,

in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not show them. Now over to verse 14, it says this. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, what did these men say, and where have they come from to you? And Hezekiah said, they've come from a far country, from Babylon. I think that's how he said it. It's probably not really how he said it,

but that's how I read it. So there's that. He said, what have they seen in your house? And Hezekiah said, they've seen all that's in my house. There's nothing, nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them. And Hezekiah said, or Isaiah said to Hezekiah, hear the word of the Lord. Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house and all that your fathers have laid up

in store to this day will be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord. Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, the word of the Lord which you have spoken is good. For he thought, is it not so if there will be peace and truth in my days?

The rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might and how he made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Hezekiah slept with his fathers and Manasseh, his son, became king in his place. Now I've heard two different interpretations of how Hezekiah responds here. So Isaiah comes to him and says, listen, this was a bad idea and maybe one that you should have not gone with because here's what you need to know.

Babylon is ultimately going to drag every part of this city away. They're going to take all of the treasures away, physical treasures that you have, but even more than that, they're going to take the real treasure of your house away. The real treasure of your house is the young men who will be raised here. They're going to be taken away too, which by the way, Daniel is a fulfillment of that.

Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they're a fulfillment of this prophecy that Isaiah says, Isaiah gives right here. And then Hezekiah responds really interestingly. He says, the word which you speak is good. Really? Like that doesn't feel like a good word to me, but that's not what he responds. The word that you speak is good and at least it's not going to happen in my days.

Now I've heard this interpreted two different ways. I'm going to let you decide for yourself because I really don't know what the right way is. One way is that he interprets it sort of in an arrogant, whew, praise God, I'm going to get out of that one. It's a good word that you speak because it's not going to happen while I'm alive. I've sort of dodged a bullet here.

That's one way that I've heard this interpreted. Another way, which this is the first time I've ever read this, another way is that Hezekiah was ultimately submitting to his failure and what God was going to ultimately do to the land of Judah and sort of a, I was wrong, but at least God has spared me in this particular time. I don't know what the right way to interpret that is. No matter what, it's kind of an interesting section of scripture.

And what we learn is that sometimes God's plan A, which might have been for Hezekiah passing away at the age of 30, 39 is sometimes God's best plan. But we also learn that when God gives you extra time, make sure that you are fully surrendered to Him no matter what extra time that you have because we never know when we're going to have to face the greatest temptation of our life. Do you know what the greatest temptation of our life is? The greatest temptation of our life is success.

That's the most dangerous place that we can be in our lives. Have you ever noticed that? Listen, when everything's going bad, where are you? You are facing the wall, crying out to God with your heart completely poured out to Him. When you have success, where are you? Look at what I've done. Look at all of the treasures that I have amassed. And we'll each have to pass the test.

The test of the difficulties of life and the most difficult test, the test of success in our life. And the question is, will God be at the center either way? And so, one of the things that we learn from Hezekiah, and I'm going to wrap up with this on this part. We've got a whole other chapter to do. Is that no matter how great a leader is, he is still just a man.

No matter how great a leader is. And Hezekiah was remembered as one of the greatest kings of the land of Judah. But at the end of the day, he was still just a man. God has to be our one true hope. It can never be in a leader on this side of eternity. Because at the end of the day, they're just people. And they're all going to make mistakes, whether you agree with them or not.

So, the end of chapter 20 says, Hezekiah slept with his fathers and they were all going to die. And they were all going to die. And they were all going to die. And Manasseh, his son, became king in his place. We go from the height to the depth. Manasseh, chapter 21, verse 1, was 12 years old when he became king. And he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was

Hephzibah. Now, most people agree that he probably reigned as a co-regent early on with his father. So, he was probably born around the time that Hezekiah was healed of this illness. And then reigned as a co-regent with his father for a few years. Reigned with Hezekiah until Hezekiah passed away. But I want you to notice the commentary that's given to us about Manasseh.

He did evil in the sight of the Lord. According to the abomination of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. Now, there's two fascinating things about the fact that Manasseh's going to be probably one of the worst kings that Judah has. Amaziah was the worst. He's a close second. There's two things that are interesting to pay attention to about that.

The first thing is that he's going to reign for 55 years. That's one of the longest reigns of any king of the land of Judah. And you go, if he was so bad, why did God let him reign for so long? Well, because ultimately God gave the people the leader that they wanted and not the leader that they needed. And the leader that they wanted was one that would lead them back into idolatry.

Because undoubtedly Hezekiah met some issues when he cleaned house the way that he did. And so, just because a leader is bad doesn't mean that God won't allow them to lead for a long time because sometimes God gives leaders to bless a nation and sometimes God gives leaders to judge a nation. That's the first thing that I thought was kind of interesting. The second thing that I think is interesting is this.

Manasseh was raised by an incredibly godly father. He wasn't perfect. He had his issues, just like everybody does. But he was still a very godly man. And yet, raised by such a godly father, Manasseh still fell into some of the worst sin that any king of Judah had ever fallen into. Matter of fact, the commentary is going to be pretty ugly about him in just a moment.

And it reminds me of something, especially to those of us that are raising kids in here right now. At the end of the day, all we can do is teach them the truth. All we can do is lead them the best that we can, point them to Jesus, but there will come a day where they're just going to have to make decisions for themselves. And sometimes those decisions will honor the things that you taught them, and sometimes those decisions will not honor the things that you taught them.

And you just have to rest in God to know that you did the best that you can. Because I have seen kids grow up in some of the worst families that turned out better than I could have ever imagined. And I have seen kids grow up in some of the best families that have turned out worse than I could have ever imagined. Because at the end of the day, we all have a sin nature.

At the end of the day, we're all going to make our own decisions. And especially, in the social media-driven culture that we live in today, where we're always comparing each other's kids and how well we're doing with our kids, we put so much pressure on ourselves as parents, sometimes duly. Sometimes we need to have that pressure on ourselves. But sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves as parents, and we go through so much condemnation because we think, I tried so hard.

Why didn't they turn out the way I wanted? I followed the plan. I read the book. You know, I followed everything it said in the 10-step book. Why didn't they turn out the way that I thought that they were going to? Because everybody has a sin nature, and everybody's eventually going to have to make a decision for themselves. And that's what Manasseh did, unfortunately.

And so we're told that Manasseh did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. And then he gives a little commentary on what that looks like. It says, He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah, his father, had destroyed. He built altars for Baal and made an Asherah as Asherah, Ahab, king of Israel, had done.

And he worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served them. So the first thing he did is he rebuilt all of the altars that his father had torn down. Even some of the most pagan, immoral altars possible, which is what the Asherah pole was. He rebuilt all of them and even worshipped all of the hosts of heaven. And any time that the name Ahab is thrown in there,

that's really bad. And any time the nations that the Lord dispossessed is thrown in there, it's really bad. It means he did worse than even the pagan people of the world. The second thing it says that he did is he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, in Jerusalem I will put my name. And I find it interesting that the writer of 2 Kings

gives that little commentary that he did that because he'd already said he rebuilt the altars, but he goes one step further to tell us exactly how depraved Manasseh was because he didn't just build altars out there in the high places. He actually put them in the temple. He actually built altars to foreign gods inside of the temple. And then we're given that commentary in the place where God said he would establish his name.

In other words, a place where God was only to be honored. He put altars to foreign gods in there. He went on to say, for he built altars, verse 5, for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. And it just keeps getting worse. He made his son pass through the fire and he practiced witchcraft and used divination and dealt with mediums

and spiritists and he did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking him to anger. Made his son pass through the fire is exactly what it sounds like. He sacrificed one of his own sons and I don't know how depraved you have to be to get to that place. You have to stop believing that human life truly has value to get to that place but that's what he did. And then it says,

verse 7, that he carved the image of Asherah that he made in the house of the Lord. It said to David, and to his son Solomon in this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel I will put my name forever and will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. But they did not listen and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the other nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel. I think verse 9 is sort of the nail in the coffin of all of the things that he did that he did worse than any other nation that the Lord had driven out

for the nation of Israel. I want you to bear in mind something. The reason why God used the nation of Israel as an instrument of judgment on the nations that were living in the land is because they had become so depraved. And you have to know something. If you become more depraved than the people that God had driven out, God can't let you go free. God can't not deal with that.

And that's exactly what he does. We're told in verse 10, the Lord spoke to his servants, the prophets saying, because Manasseh, the king of Judah, has done these abominations, having done wickedly more than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols. Therefore, thus says the Lord God of Israel, behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and plummet the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.

I will abandon the remnant of my inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies. And they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done evil in my sight, and have been provoking me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt even to this day. Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other, because his sin with which he made Judah sin and doing evil in the sight of the Lord, the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he committed, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Judah? Manasseh slept with his fathers, was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzzah,

and Ammon his son became king in his place. You have to know something about a nation. When a nation reaches a place of depravity to the level where they have rejected God, where they have rejected his statutes, where they have rejected his principles, and become so depraved after God has shown so much patience, which he had with the nation of Judah, hundreds of years of patience, 55 years for Manasseh alone, eventually God has to deal with a nation. We see it over and over again throughout Scripture, and quite frankly, we see it over and over again throughout history, that when a nation rises up against God in such a profane way, God can no longer continue to bless that nation.

God has to bring judgment on that nation, because God is while merciful, he's also a just God. And I do feel like as the United States of America, we should take note of the nation of Israel, because God has blessed this nation to be able to be a place where God's word has spread freely, where God's word has run freely, and we have become a place that has sent out missionaries throughout the entire world to continue to spread the truth of God's word. But as we as a nation continue to become more and more pagan, which by the way, two presidents ago, one of our presidents said, we are no longer a Christian nation. God will eventually have to deal with that.

Because as Billy Graham once said, if God doesn't judge the United States of America, then he owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology. And that's the place where we are. But I want us to realize something. In the midst of the judgment that God is going to pour out on the nation of Judah, God's mercy was still there for Israel. I want you to look at this story and I want you to go with me

to a place in Scripture. I want you to go over to 2 Chronicles chapter 33. Because as Paul Harvey would say, this is the rest of the story.

I want you to look at verse 10 of 2 Chronicles 33. I'll give you a second to get there.

It says this in verse 10. The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them. And they captured Manasseh Manasseh with hooks, and they bound him with bronze chains, and they took him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the Lord his God,

and he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, he was moved by his entreaty, and he heard his supplication, and he brought him again to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Man, if you're an underliner, the last line of verse 13 is a fantastic one to underline. And then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

He placed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel. In the midst of the evil that he did, in the midst of the judgment that God was bringing, you have a picture of the grace of God beginning to be poured out still. Because Manasseh found himself in a place where judgment had done its good work in his heart, where the chastening hand of God was effective in his life, and he did not have... He didn't have the sorrow of the world that leads to death.

He had the sorrow of the Lord that led to repentance. Because while he was there in that prison in Babylon, he cried out to the Lord, and God heard his prayer, and he forgave him, and he healed him, and he cleansed him to the point where Manasseh knew that the Lord was God. Do I think that our nation is going to be judged 100% because we're going to find in the next chapter with Josiah, God's going to say, listen, the things that have been done are to the point where I have to deal with the nation, but I'm going to give you another chance, a chance for revival. Is God going to judge our nation?

Absolutely, 100%. I absolutely believe that. But is there an opportunity for people to be saved? Absolutely, 100%. I believe that. I believe that that's what we're watching take place, right? I believe that that's why we're watching churches fill up right now. It's not just our church that's running out of room. Every church that's teaching the word of God is running out of room right now.

You know why? Because people are hungry for the truth. They are hungry for the word of God, and they want to hear it taught because they want to return to what God wants for them to do. And like Manasseh, many people are saying, this is who I was, but that's not who I am anymore. This is who I was, but I have cried out to the Lord, and he has healed me, and he has restored me.

I want to be saved. I watched an interview. I've shared this before. I watched an interview with a young lady who was the most profitable OnlyFans model on that entire website, and she got saved. And not only did she get saved, but she got radically saved, and she did everything that she could to get all of her content taken down because she didn't want anybody ever again to be stumbled by anything that she did.

And now she is a preacher of the truth as opposed to someone who spreads filth because that's what the power of the gospel can do in the life of people. And we need to remember as a church that we are probably going to have people start showing up that have had some pretty ugly pasts. We're going to have people start showing up that have had some pretty ugly things take place in their life. Listen, just like you.

And we need to be people who welcome them with open arms and don't say, well, you don't look like I think you should look. You don't smell like I think that you should smell. You have tattoos that I don't like. You dress like I don't like. I don't like the color that your hair is. We can't be those people. We need to be the people that say, if God's done a work of grace in your life,

I don't care what you look like. God's going to deal with that. I just love you because you're my brother. I just love you because you're my sister. So why don't you come be a part of the family? Can you imagine the day Manasseh came back to Judah? The day that he came back and everybody was like, what happened to you? Scars from the hook in his jaw, probably scars from all the things that he went through,

but completely brand new because he had repented of his sins and God had cleansed him and made him new. And he said, guys, we're doing things a different way now. This is not the old Manasseh any longer. This is not the old guy any longer. I've been made brand new and we're going to change the way that we do things around here because listen, that's what the gospel does in the life of people.

And if we really want to see the gospel do that in the life of people, we're going to have to be willing to get our hands dirty with the people that need it the most. Well, back to, back to chapter 21. I should have put a bookmark there. There it is. Verse 19. And now, you know, the rest of the story. Verse 19. Ammon was 22 years old when he became king and he reigned two

years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was that because I can't pronounce that. The daughter of her Jotba something. He did evil in the sight of the Lord is Manasseh. His father had done for he walked in all the ways that his father had walked and he served the idols that his father had served and he worshiped. They worshiped them and did not walk in the way of the Lord and

the servants of Ammon conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. And then the king, then the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against Ammon and the people of the land made Josiah, his son, king in his place. The rest of the acts, which Ammon did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles, the kings of Judah. And he was buried in the garden of Uzzah and Josiah, his son became king in his place.

So, again, on a little bit of a low note, but we're reminded of the gospel. We're reminded of God's mercy and we're reminded of God's grace. And next week, we'll look at some of the happiest chapters in the Bible because we will see real revival take place under this young king named Josiah. Father, we come to you now and Lord, I just thank you that you are the God of all mercy, that you are the God of all comfort and you are the God of all grace.

And so, Father, may we continue to experience that grace of God, in our own lives as we continue to be honest with you about the areas where we need change. Lord, as we continue to cry out to you earnestly for the change we desire to see in the people around us. And Lord, as we just simply bask in the mercy that you show to us on a daily basis. Lord, keep us close to you.

Help us to abhor the things that are evil and to cling to that which is good with our whole heart. We just thank you, Father. Amen. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.