Manasseh
The most wicked king of Judah who filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, practiced every kind of abomination — and who, after being taken captive to Babylon in chains, repented, was restored, and removed the foreign altars.
The Redeemed Villain
Scripture: 2 Kings 21; 2 Chronicles 33
The Biblical Record
Manasseh reigned fifty-five years — the longest reign in Judah's history — and spent them in comprehensive wickedness. He rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed, erected altars to Baal, worshipped the starry hosts, practiced divination and sorcery, consulted mediums and spiritists, and shed very much innocent blood until Jerusalem was filled from one end to the other. And then YHWH brought the Assyrian commanders who took him captive to Babylon in chains. In his distress he sought the favor of YHWH his God and humbled himself greatly. YHWH brought him back to Jerusalem. Manasseh knew that YHWH is God.
Manasseh in the Sanctum
Manasseh is the most uncomfortable figure in the kings narrative — the one whose restoration proves that no degree of wickedness places anyone beyond the reach of YHWH's mercy when genuine repentance comes. The Sanctum holds his story without minimizing either the evil or the grace.
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