Not Heeding the Prophets Brings Captivity

Another instance of prophetic communication of great import to the nation occurred in the later years of the kingdom. The national apostasy had progressed so far that retribution seemed imminent. Manasseh, the king, had put to death many of the people of God, and had attempted to establish idolatry firmly in the land. He made his own son to pass through the fire. He seduced the people “to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.” 2 Kings 21:9.AGP 131.5

“The Lord spake by His servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, … I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. And I will forsake the remnant of Mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.” 2 Kings 21:10-14.AGP 131.6

The direct relation of the captivity to the rejection of the Lord’s messages, as delivered by His prophets, is clearly indicated in the following statement:AGP 132.1

“The Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken. Wherefore [for this reason] the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.” 2 Chronicles 33:10, 11.

As has happened to many others, affliction led him to seek the Lord. In Babylon as a captive he “humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto Him.” Verses 12, 13.AGP 132.2

The Lord heard his prayer, and restored him to his land and his kingdom. He sought—in vain, however—to stem the current of evil that he had started in the earlier part of his reign.AGP 132.3

After Manasseh died, his son Amon ruled wickedly for two years, and was followed by the youthful Josiah. He had been brought up by a godly mother, who feared the Lord. In the eighteenth year of his reign he appointed workmen to repair and clean out the temple, which had fallen into decay through disuse. Here was found by Hilkiah, the priest, a dusty, aged parchment, which proved to be the scroll of the book of the law as given to Moses, and which had long been unused.AGP 132.4