2 Chronicles 33:1-20
“Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king,……… He did evil in the sight of the LORD according to all the abominations of the nations whom the LORD dispossessed before the sons of Israel.” (1-2) Hezekiah’s restoration of the temple was reversed by Manasseh his son born to him after God gave him fifteen more years to live. Manasseh did not witness the restoration, but he did see his father’s failures at the end of his reign. This time of failure impacted not only his son, but the entire nation. He practiced such evil during his reign that he destroyed the good influence of his father’s restoration. He even put an idol in God’s house in violation of God’s word undermining the promises of God that were conditioned on obedience to His Word. Because of his evil choices, evil spread over Judah worse than the nations God destroyed for their benefit. Not until the commanders of Assyria captured him, did Manasseh humble himself and turn to God. As a result, he was restored to Jerusalem but he was not able to restore Judah to God. We must be careful lest our poor choices have an irreversible impact blinding others to the good influence we would otherwise have. I am reminded of a time while riding snowmobiles that I had to stop because of the cloud of snow dust prevented me from seeing who I was following. It took quite a while for the dust to settle so I could see properly again.