Human Response 563: Do Great Evil and Lead to Sin

2 Chronicles 33:2, 9 But did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel….So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.

Manasseh was one of the most wicked of all the kings of Judah. And his evil response to God’s goodness and salvation was compounded by the additional fact that made others to err and sin. It is one thing to sin and do evil, but quite another to lead other people into sin. “It would be better for a millstone to be tied around his neck and be drowned than to cause one of these little ones to sin.” By action and example and misused leadership Manasseh led the people of Judah into great sin, unbelief, and idolatry.

The sin was “like the abominations of the heathen,” which means he followed the ways of the world around him. Then Chronicles gives a long list of the abominations and atrocities of Manasseh, which he committed and tempted the people into. By the way, one does wonder how such an evil person could be raised by such a godly father as Hezekiah. But it happens.

His example can be a warning to us to be aware of the temptation to be “like unto the abominations of the heathen,” the world around us and in us. We may not be as blatant and obvious in our sin and idolatry, but the subtle attractions of the world can pull us into unbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice. We need to be aware of the ever present dangers of being like the world, and the even greater danger of pulling others to be “like the heathen.” The world has the sentence of death upon it, and so we love not the world.”