The contrast between Manasseh and his father Hezekiah could not be greater. Manasseh was wicked through and through and his 55-year reign had a devastating impact on Judah. He rebuilt the high places for idol worship which his father had broken down, he erected images to the false gods of Baal and Asherah, and even in the temple at Jerusalem. He sacrificed his son in an offering to his false god (v6).

How did such a good king like Hezekiah be followed by such a wicked son like Manasseh and then his son Amon (v19-26) who was no better? This should encourage us to pray passionately for the next generation.

Manasseh has led the people of Judah astray and now judgment is announced (v10-18). They are described as not only being like the northern kingdom of Israel who have been carried into exile, but also of being like the evil nations that previously occupied this land.

We need to be careful that as God’s people we’re always distinct, different from the world around us. When we become like the world judgment comes.