Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1911-07-13
Manasseh's Wickedness
and Penitence
Sunday School Lesson for July 16, 1911
Specially Arranged for This Paper

LESSON TExT-n Chronicles slim
MEMORY vERSES-2, Is.
GOLDEN TEXT-"Cease to do eyI5
learn to do ~well."-Isa. 1:16-f7.
TIME-Manasseh reigned IS years., frum3
B. c.. 694-64O. He began in the 2&9th year
Of the kingdom Of Judah.
PLACE-Judah and Jerusalem its capa4
tai. Manasseh was carried captive to
Babylon for a time.
The Kingdom Of Israel had been del
a quarter Of q century be6orG
Manasseh began to reign.
The teacher Of boys or girls may be-
gin by asking what a lighthouse is for;
a foghorn, or bell buoy in the har.:
Dor. Is it to tell the sailors where ia
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 r q 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 1nclu-
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 tho
disadvantages Of it's site, the city
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 was 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 c~ounselors. 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, fiattered,
courted, treated as a superior being,
whose will should never be checked,
nor fancy thwarted: with no regular
business, no hard tasks. What Manas.
sch did was popular and fashionable:l
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
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
these 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 away from the one true God. the
only ource of help, into all manner ct
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
lei of the prophets, of whom Ma
hum 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 a review Of the %
kings Of whom Manasseh was one ap.
parently at Nineveh. Which took
Manasseh among the thorns, Sin
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 its roar. Why? In order that
he may stop ere 1t is too late. The
bitter fruits Of his wrong doing
wrought the desired effect. The prod
iga1 came to himself. He besoughi
the Lord, Jehovah, not the heather