2 Crônicas 33

2 Crônicas 33

Constable: Amon represented the other alternative that the returned exiles could choose: no repentance. His fate would have been, and is, a warning to seek the LORD. Martin Selman: Although the cloud of exile hangs over chapters 28-36, Manasseh and Amon in their contrasting ways show that a fatalistic attitude in the face of God’s judgment is quite unjustified. J. Barton Payne: Amon was the unhappy product of his father’s pagan life, not of his pious death. This brief summary of his reign closely parallels II Kgs 21:19-26 and notes the immediate relapse of Judah to the pre-conversion religion of Manasseh. A.C. Gaebelein: The utter corruption of human nature is seen in the case of his son Amon. With the awful experience of his father before him, and no doubt exhorted by Manasseh to serve the LORD and be true to Him, he followed deliberately the bad example of his father’s idolatry. He trespassed more and more and did not repent like his father Manasseh, but died in his sins. Under his reign the wickedness reached a higher mark than under any previous king. Matthew Henry Notes: 2Ch 33:21-25 We have little recorded concerning Amon, but enough unless it were better. Here is, I. His great wickedness. He did as Manasseh had done in the days of his apostasy, 2Ch 33:22. Those who think this an evidence that Manasseh did not truly repent forget how many good kings had wicked sons. Only it should seem that Manasseh was in this defective, that, when he cast out the images, he did not utterly deface and destroy them, according to the law which required Israel to burn the images with fire, Deu. 7:2. How necessary that law was this instance shows; for the carved images being only thrown by, and not burnt, Amon knew where to find them, soon set them up, and sacrificed to them. It is added, to represent him exceedingly sinful and to justify God in cutting him off so soon, 1. That he out-did his father in sinning: He trespassed more and more, 2Ch 33:23. His father did ill, but he did worse. Those that were joined to idols grew more and more mad upon them. 2. That he came short of his father in repenting: He humbled not himself before the Lord, as his father had humbled himself. He fell like him, but did not get up again like him. It is not so much sin as impenitence in sin that ruins men, not so much that they offend as that they do not humble themselves for their offences, not the disease, but the neglect of the remedy. II. His speedy destruction. He reigned but two years and then his servants conspired against him and slew him, 2Ch 33:24. Perhaps when Amon sinned as his father did in the beginning of his days he promised himself that he should repent as his father did in the latter end of his days. But his case shows what a madness it is to presume upon that. If he hoped to repent when he was old, he was wretchedly disappointed; for he was cut off when he was young. He rebelled against God, and his own servants rebelled against him. Herein God was righteous, but they were wicked, and justly did the people of the land put them to death as traitors. The lives of kings are particularly under the protection of Providence and the laws both of God and man. 2 Chronicles 33:22 He did evil in the sight of the LORD as Manasseh his father had done, and Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. as did Manasseh: 2Ch 33:1-10 2Ki 21:1-11,20 Eze 20:18 for Amon sacrificed: Isa 44:13-20 LIKE FATHER LIKE SON! He did evil in the sight of the LORD as Manasseh his father had done, Unfortunately Amon did not relent from the evil of his father, despite the fact that his father repented of his evil. Amon's trajectory toward evil had been set by Manesseh's evil years. Since Amon was already 22 years old when Manasseh died, he must have been born well before Manasseh’s later repentance. Manasseh’s repentance occurs late in his reign, after his capture by Assyria (2Ch 33:11-13). After this repentance did Manasseh attempt reforms (2Ch 33:15–16), but was unable to "reform" his own son Amon. And Amon sacrificed to all the carved images which his father Manasseh had made, and he served them. One has to ask why were these carved images Manasseh had made still in existence? J. Barton Payne writes that "Either their removal had not involved their destruction (2Ch 33:15), or the concentration of Manasseh’s reformation in Jerusalem had left available his more scattered idolatries (cf. 2Ch 33:17)." THOUGHT - Is there something that tempts you to do evil? If it is not a human being, then you need to destroy it, lest it destroy you and/or your offspring! J.A. Thompson: Just as Manasseh could not go back and undo the damage he had done to his nation, even so he could not back and change the son he had raised to be a pagan. Amon followed in his father’s footsteps, but not the steps that Manasseh would have like him to follow. QUESTION - Why was the worship of Baal and Asherah a constant struggle for the Israelites? ANSWER - Throughout the Old Testament, we read accounts of idol worship among the Israelites, especially the worship of Baal and Asherah, or sometimes Baal and Ashtoreth. The paganism that surrounded God’s people crept in, gained a foothold, and led to much misery. It was a constant struggle to stay true to the Lord their God. God had commanded Israel not to worship idols (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7)—indeed, they were to avoid even mentioning a false god’s name (Exodus 23:13). To prevent compromise, they were warned not to intermarry with the pagan nations and to shun practices that might be construed as pagan worship rites (Leviticus 20:23; 2 Kings 17:15; Ezekiel 11:12). Israel was the nation chosen by God to one day give rise to the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. Yet, even with their heritage and so much riding on their future, Israel was continually drawn into dalliances with Baal and Asherah. Baal was the supreme god in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia. As the storm god, he was usually depicted holding a raised lightning bolt. His consort, Asherah, was the chief female deity and was represented by a carved pole or limbless tree trunk planted in the ground. Baal and Asherah are often mentioned together in Scripture. Sometimes Baal is mentioned with the goddess Ashtoreth who, in Canaanite mythology, was closely related to Asherah and may have been for a time considered the same goddess. All of them were fertility gods, and their worship rites involved sexual perversion. After the death of Joshua, the worship of Baal and Asherah became a plaguing and perennial problem for Israel. It didn’t take long: in the very next generation after Joshua, “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs” (Judges 3:7). Later, God told the judge Gideon to clean house: “Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it” (Judges 6:25). Again, in the days of Jephthah, “the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths” (Judges 10:6). During the monarchy, the kings got involved, forsaking the Lord and bringing the worship of Baal and Asherah into Israel. Under King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, Israel was a state sponsor of a Phoenician form of idol worship, and the prophet Elijah had to confront “four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and . . . four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings 18:19). The evil King Manasseh of Judah undid all the reforms of his father Hezekiah and “erected altars to Baal and made an Asherah pole” (2 Kings 21:3). In His indictment of Israel before sending them into exile, God said, “They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal” (2 Kings 17:16). There are several reasons why the worship of Baal and Asherah was such a problem for Israel. First, the worship of Baal and Asherah held the allure of illicit sex, since the religion involved ritual prostitution. This is exactly what we see in the incident of Baal of Peor, as “the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods” (Numbers 25:1–2). During this episode an Israelite named Zimri brazenly brought a Midianite woman into the camp and went straight to his tent, where the two began having sex (verses 6–8, 14–15). Another reason that the worship of Baal and Asherah was a perennial problem for Israel is what we could call international peer pressure. Israel wanted to be like the other nations (see 1 Samuel 8:5, 20). The other nations worshiped Baal and Asherah, and so many Israelites felt a pull to do the same. And, most basically, Israel worshiped Baal and Asherah because of Satan’s temptations coupled with mankind’s sinfulness. The enemy of our souls tempted Israel to worship idols; the sacrifices made to Baal and Asherah were really sacrifices to demons (1 Corinthians 10:20). The stubborn willfulness of humanity works in tandem with Satan’s seductions, and the result is rebellion against God. Israel repeatedly forsook their covenant with God, lost God’s blessings, and chased after the Baals and Asherahs to their own destruction. The book of Hosea aptly uses adultery as a metaphor to describe Israel’s idol worship. Forsaking the God of their covenant and chasing after false gods such as Baal and Asherah was akin to spiritual adultery. But God promised to restore His unfaithful people and love them forever: In that day,” declares the Lord, . . . “I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips; no longer will their names be invoked. . . . I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion. I will betroth you in faithfulness and you will acknowledge the Lord.” (Hosea 2:16–17, 19–20) The problem of Baal and Asherah worship was finally solved after God removed Israel from the Promised Land. Due to the Israelites’ idolatry and disregard of the law, God brought the nations of Assyria and Babylon against them in an act of judgment. After the exile, Israel was restored to the land, and the people did not dally again with idols. Christians today may be quick to judge the Israelites for their idolatry, but we should remember that idols take many forms. Idolatrous sins still tempt the modern-day believer (Romans 3:23; 1 John 1:8–10). Instead of bowing down to the ancient forms of Baal and Asherah, we today sometimes honor possessions, success, and physical pleasure to the dishonoring of God. Just as God disciplined the Israelites for their idolatry and forgave them when they repented, He graciously disciplines us and extends the offer of forgiveness in Christ (Hebrews 12:7–11; 1 John 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9). GotQuestions.org 2 Chronicles 33:23 Moreover, he did not humble himself before the LORD as his father Manasseh had done, but Amon multiplied guilt. humble: 2Ch 33:1,12,19 Jer 8:12 trespassed more and more: Heb. multiplied trespass, 2Ch 28:22 Jer 7:26 2Ti 3:13 NOT LIKE FATHER LIKE SON Moreover, he did not humble himself before the LORD The verb “humble himself” (Hebrew כָּנַע – kanaʿ) carries the idea of bowing down, submitting, bringing oneself low under God’s hand. It implies more than regret—it means yielding to divine authority. Manasseh, after being taken captive by Assyria, “humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers” (2 Chron 33:12). Amon, however, refused this posture. Pride, not submission, defined his reign. Where his father bowed, Amon stiffened his neck. as his father Manasseh had done This is striking because Manasseh had been one of Judah’s most wicked kings (2 Kings 21:1–9). Yet Scripture remembers him here not first for his evil, but for his humbling. The Chronicler emphasizes repentance as the defining moment of Manasseh’s life. His humiliation became his legacy of grace. Amon had a living example of repentance in his own father—but he rejected it. This intensifies Amon’s guilt. He sinned with historical warning, with personal testimony before him, and with knowledge of God’s discipline and mercy. Warren