A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

tree with a saw, cutting the prophet in half. Some commentators think Isaiah may be referred to
in Hebrews 11:37 as an example of a man of faith who was “sawn in two.”
But despite all the evil associated with the life of Manasseh, God never stopped loving
him. “Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself
greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his
supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the
Lord was God” (2 Chron. 33:12-13).
Manasseh had done much to destroy what his father had accomplished spiritually in the
land, and in the final years of his reign, he did what he could to correct the error of his youth. He
built up the defense of Jerusalem and other important cities in Judah and reorganized the national
defense by appointing captains over specific cities. Then he began to purge the land of the many
foreign gods he had earlier introduced to it. He repaired the altar of the Lord and decreed that
only the Lord should be worshiped in the land. He was unsuccessful in closing all the high
places, but those who worshiped there worshiped the Lord rather than idols.
Because of the evil Manasseh had introduced into Judah, God raised up an enemy to
discipline His people. Assyrian leaders fought against Manasseh and took him captive “with
hooks” to Babylon. It was customary for the Assyrians to chain their prisoners together by
placing rings or hooks through the jaw or nose of the prisoner. This appears to have been the fate
of Manasseh.
JOSIAH
(2 Kings 22:1-23:30; 2 Chron. 34-35)
(640-609 B.C.)
Josiah is remembered as the last righteous king of Judah. After the two-year reign of
Amon (642-640 B. C.), for thirty-one years Josiah sat on the throne of David and led the people
back to God. There were two significant events during his reign which led to the last great
revival in Judah before the Captivity. The first of these occurred just eight years into his reign
when he was sixteen years old.
“For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of
his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high
places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images” (2 Chron. 34:3). Little is
known about the factors that led to the conversion of the teenage King Josiah, but several ideas
have been suggested by various writers. He was no doubt aware of the consequence in the nation
of the sins of his father and grandfather. He may have read of the conversion of his grandfather
in the writings of Hozai (33:19) or been told of it by some member of the royal court who had
been present at the time. Also, there is some indication Josiah may have been influenced
spiritually by the Prophetess Huldah (34:26-28) and the Prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 22:16). As he
began to realize the unique relationship his nation was to have with God, Josiah as king first
made a personal commitment to God. Then, within four years of his own conversion, he began to
exercise his responsibilities as king to cause his people to worship the Lord.
It was actually as an indirect result of this initial renewal in Judah that the second key
event promoting spiritual renewal in the land occurred. When the land had been purged of
paganism, Josiah embarked on a second phase of reform, the restoration of the temple. It was
while the temple was being repaired that “Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the
Lord given by Moses” (2 Chron. 34:14). It is generally agreed this book was a copy of the Book
of Deuteronomy, though some argue the book included the entire Pentateuch. Some think this