The Tupelo journal., 1911-07-14
Mahasseh's Wickedness
and Penitence
Sunday School Lesson for July l6. 1911
Specially Arranged for This Paper
.EssoN TExT-H Chronicles ss:1-2o.

MEMORY VERSES-l2, Ii.
GOLDEN TExT-"Cease to do evil;
learn to do well."-Isa. 1:16-17.
TIME-Manasseh reigned SO years. from
B. c.. 69i-640. He began in the 2S9th year
OF the kingdom of Judah.
PLACE-Judah and Jerusalem Its capt-
tai. Manasseh was carried captive to
Babylon for a time.
The Kingdoms Of Israel had been de-
stroyed a quarter Of a century before
Manasseh began to reign.
The teacher Of boys or girls may be-
gin by asking what a lighthouse is for,
or a foghorn, or bell buoy in the har-
Dor. Is it to tell the sailors where to
go? No, it is to tell them where not
to go. Why are stories of bad men
told in the Bible. such as the n in
this lesson? They are a warning.
They are pictures Of a 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
a 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
n empire. The political rank OF
Jerusalem secured to her the chief
markets of the internal commerce of
Judah, as well as the gifts which it
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
J must have become a 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
a king vas not supposed to be of age
until he was eighteen. For six years
Manasseh must have been to a 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 a peculiar people who should teach
the nations righteousness, and the
true way of living.
He was a mere boy, unable at first
to assert himself as a ruler. He doubt
less was waited on, petted, fattered,
courted, treated as a superior being,
whose will should never be checked,
nor fancy thwafted; with 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 o n
formity. Society was dominated by
Assyrian influences. Moreover, many
doubtless used the same argument
Rabshakeh used to Hezekiah that the
| prosperity under heather gods, and
their conquering power proved that
theses gods were mightier than Jeho-
yah the God Of the little Province of
Judah.
Mannasseh degraded true religion
elevation of man, by leading his peo-
pie way 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-
tees were treason and ~disloyalty.
The Lord spake to Manasseh, by
means of the prophets, Of whom Ma
hum may have been one; by
of his conscience, by the ex-
ample of his father, by mean of his
conscience, by the written word, by
providence. 1t 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
ludO0 C0ptAvO. OSOAao vi 1Aoo0A
banipal record a review Of the %
kings of whom Manasseh was n ap-
parently at Nineveh. Which took
Manasseh among the thorns, "n
chains" margin, with hooks" "As-
syrian kings sometimes thrust a hook
into the nostrils of their captives, 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 it's 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
igal came to himself. He besought
the Lord, Jehovah, not the heather
gods he had been worshiping. who
failed him In his trouble.
God showed Manasseh clearly that
he forgave him. by the fact that he