Bible Studies
Tingling Ears and Clean Dishes (2 Kings 21:1-9)
Series: Studies in Second KingsIntroduction:
1. First, there was David, a good king, not sinless, but repentant and one who gave his whole heart to the Lord. 2. Second, there was Solomon, a good king who went bad and lost most of his kingdom. 3. From that time Judah had some good and some bad kings. Most recently in our study, Hezekiah has instituted reforms and refocused the people on the Lord. 4. But Israel has been taken into Assyrian captivity because of her rebellion. Babylon is a threatening world power. Will Hezekiah’s reforms continue after his death? God has sent many prophets. Will the people listen? Will God’s patience be exhausted or extended? What will happen to Judah? 5. The next 57 years, encompassing the reigns of Manasseh and Amon, mark the worst period of rebellion against God that Judah has ever seen. 6. It is described in 2 Kings 21 (and 2 Chron. 33).Discussion:
I. Manasseh reversed all the changes that good king Hezekiah had made.A. The authors of 2 Kings and 2 Chron. associate him with the evil of the Canaanites.
1. “He did according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel.”
2. “He rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah had destroyed.” Note that these high places were originally associated with the worship of the Canaanites. It seems that sometimes they may have been “remodeled” as places of sacrifice to the Lord God (2 Chron. 33:17). They were supposed to be sacrificing in Jerusalem.
B. Manasseh is associated with the evil of Ahab, king of Israel, who promoted Baal worship.
1. “He erected altars for Baal and made the Asherah.”
2. Ahab is described as doing more evil than all the kings before him.
C. Manasseh “worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.”
1. Evidently this is a reference to astrological kinds of worship, worship of the sun, moon, stars, etc.
2. He brought such worship into the house of the Lord. “He built two altars for the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.”
D. “He made his son pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists.” These had all been specifically forbidden under the law of Moses (Deut. 18:9-14).
E. He even set up a carved image of Asherah in the house of the Lord.
F. Manasseh was flying in the face of everything that God had revealed!
1. The authors keep calling attention, “BUT GOD SAID . . . !” (4, 7). 2 Chron. 33:10 says, “The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people.”
2. The authors then conclude: “But THEY DID NOT LISTEN (THEY PAID NO ATTENTION, 2 Chron. 33:10), and Manasseh seduced (misled, 2 Chron. 33:9) them to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.”
3. Any progress made by the leadership of Hezekiah has evaporated under the leadership of Manasseh.
4. Will God destroy them? He had destroyed the Canaanites. The northern kingdom was in Assyrian captivity. What will happen in Judah?
II. “The Lord SPOKE through His servants the prophets”(2 Kings 21:10-15).A. “Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears it, both his ears will tingle.”
1. The ears are the instruments for hearing.
2. Scholars concern themselves with the meaning of the Hebrew here translated “tingle” (NASB). It is used in 1 Sam. 3:11 and Jer. 19:3 to describe the human reaction to bad news.
3. Whether the ears tingling or the whole body quivering, the idea is that those who hear what God has done will be stunned and tremble in terror.
B. “I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down.”
1. God is going to act like a building inspector. Like he dropped His plumb line in Samaria and evaluated her so he will do with Jerusalem.
2. If you do not understand the imagery of building perhaps you have washed dishes. “I will wipe Jerusalem like a dish, wipe it and turn it upside down.”
C. “I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become plunder and spoil.”
1. God had protected Jerusalem from the Assyrians slaying 185,000 following Hezekiah’s prayer.
2. David, after his sin in numbering Israel, thought it better to fall into the hands of a merciful God than to fall into the hands of his enemies.
3. 2 Chron. 33:11 gives the details: “The Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against them, and they captured Manasseh with hooks (thongs put through the nose), bound him with bronze chains and took him to Babylon.”
III. The book of 2 Kings describes how Manasseh shed much innocent blood and closes his life with his burial in the garden of Uzza, but 2 Chron. 33:12ff reminds us of the mercy of God.A. When Manasseh was in distress he humbled himself and prayed to God.
B. God was moved. God heard his supplication and brought him back to Jerusalem.
1. He fortified the city of Jerusalem.
2. He fortified the cities of Judah.
3. He removed the foreign gods, and the idol from the house of God, and the altars on the mountain of the house of the Lord. “He set up the altar of the Lord and sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it; and he ordered Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel.” Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed on the high places, but they did so to the Lord God and not to the idols as formerly.
IV. Almost as a footnote, both accounts add that Amon became king after him.A. He reigned only two years.
B. He did evil. He sacrificed to carved images like Manasseh had done, but he did not humble himself.
C. His servants conspired against him and killed him.
V. Lessons to be learned.A. No lesson is greater than that God is merciful.
1. Even those who are known for their evil, even though God speaks to them extensively through His prophets, even though they refuse to listen, and even though they misled others…
2. If they will humble themselves before the Lord He is merciful.
3. I take great comfort in that! Not that I should revel in sin and make God’s mercy cheap, but that any forgiveness that I may receive comes as a result of His great compassion.
B. Listen when God speaks.
1. He is speaking so that you may be saved from calamity.
2. Listen to His warning. Do not stop your ears. Hear His calling. Humble yourself.
C. Do not allow yourself to be seduced (misled) to do evil.
1. Do not wait until you are led away into captivity by a ring in your nose before you repent.
2. God is like a loving father who will do most anything to bring about the salvation of his child. And some of us have scars in our noses to prove it.
Conclusion:
1. Will you accept the mercy of God? 2. Will you hear and repent before your ears tingle and your plate is wiped clean. 3. If your ears are already tingling and your plate has already been wiped clean, repent even now!
