The Progressive West Virginian. [volume] (Williamson, W. Va.) 1911-1913, 1911-07-13
~
Manasseh's Wickedness
and Penitence
Sunday School Lessoa for July ls. 1911
Specially Arranged for ThisPaper
LESSON TExr-II chronicles aa:1-2o.

MEMORY VERsEs--1z, Is.
GOLDEN TExT-"Cease to do evil
learn TO do well,'--Isa 1:l6-17
4 TlME-M anasseh reigned 50 years, from
B. G. 694-640 He began In the 2Seth yeaI
| OF the kingdom OF judah.
PLACE-Judah and Jerusalem Its capi
/ tai. Manasseh was carried captive t.
Babylon for a time
The Kingdom of Israel had been de.
stroyedf quarter OF century before
Manasseh began to reign.
The teacher Of boys or girls may be
gin by asking what lighthouse is for
or foghorn, or bell buoy in the har
Dor Is 1t to tell the sailors whereetc
go? No, it is to tell them where not
to go. Why are stories of bad men
told In the Bible. such as the one In
this lesson? They are a warning
They are pictures OF character that
repels us, that urges US not to enter
any path that leads to that end.
| During the long reign Of Manasseh
Jerusalem was at peace while the
neighboring lands were harried by As.
syrian armies, so that Jerusalem had
large share OF the trade OF Palestine
The king and his subjects benefited
in many ways from the immense in
crease OF traffic caused by the inclu.
sion Of Egypt and western Asia under
one empire. The political rank OF
Jerusalem secured to her the chief
markets of the internal commerce of
Judah, as well as the gifts which 1t
was customary for foreign traders to
leave with the lords Of the territories
they visited; and thus in spite Of the
disadvantages Of its site, the city
| must have become considerable en-
porium.
Manasseh was the son and heir Of
Hezekiah, a great, and, on the whole,
good king. His mothers name was
Hepzibah, the delight OF her husband.
He was only twelve years old when he
began to reign In form. But in Judah
king was not supposed to be Of age
| until he was eighteen. For six years
Manasseh must have been to great
extent under the influence Of his re.
gents and counselors. He was the six.
teenth king OF Judah. He reigned
| fifty and five years. The longest reign
In the history Of Judah and Israel.
And he did that which was evil In the
sight of the Lord. Manasseh was
king Of the Lords people, and his
business was to carry out Gods plan
of peculiar people who should teach
the nations righteousness, and the
true way Of living.
He was mere boy, unable at first
| to assert himself as ruler. He doubt
less was waited on, petted, fattered,
| courted, treated as superior being,
/ whose will should never be checked,
| nor fancy thwarted; wits no regular
business, no hard tasks. What Manas-
sch did was popular and fashionable;
| following the ways of the greatest,
most cultured, most influential nation
in the world, then the master Of Judah.
The people were doing business with
! the Assyrians. Trade demanded con-
formity. Society was dominated by
4 Assyrian Influences. Moreover, many
doubtless used the same argument
Rabshakeh used to Hezekiah that the
1 prosperity under heather gods, and
! their conquering power proved that
these gods were mightier than Jeho-
yah the God of the little Province of
Judah. (And yet the Assyrians were
really near to destruction since their
capital Nineveh was swept out Of ex-
4 istence in 606 B. CO.
Mannasseh degraded true religion
that was meant for the comfort and
elevation Of man, by leading his peo-
pie away from the one true God, the
only source of help, into all manner Of
/ useless, irrational, degrading enchant-
ments by which the people sought for
/ guidance and help. Thus these prac-
tices were treason and disloyalty.
The Lord spake to Manasseh, by
means Of the prophets, Of whom Ma
hun may have been one: by means
Of his conscience. by the ex-
ample of his father, BY means of his
conscience, by the written word, by
providence. It Is not known Just when
Manasseh was made to pay the pen
atty Of his sins, but It must have been
after many years OF idolatry.
Wherefore the Lord brought upon
them the captains of the host Of the
king of Assyria and Manasseh was
made captive. The records OF Assur-
banipal record q review Of the %
kings Of whom Manasseh was one ap-
i parently at Nineveh. Which took
Manasseh among the thorns, in
chains" margin, with hooks" AS.
syrian kings sometimes thrust hook
into the nostrils Of their eaptives. and
so led them about.
/ He had been sailing down the
Niagara rapids carelessly, and now he
feels the tossing of the waves, the
current swiftly flowing by the rocks,
he sees spray over the cataract, and
hears its roar. Why? In order that
he may stop ere It is too late. The
bitter fruits Of his wrong doing
wrought the desired effect. The prod.
ligal came to himself. He besought
/ the Lord. Jehovah, not the heather
gods he had been worshiping, who
failed him In his trouble.
DR.. John Todd once represented the
Judgment day as our coming into a
great hall whose walls were hung with
pictures on which were painted all the
sins that we have ever committed. On
one picture are painted all the bad
words that we have ever spoken; on
another all the jealousies we have
ever felt; on another all the coverings
of our hearts, all the wrong bargains
we have ever made, all the unkindness
to nnr yarnvfa and friauda of which