Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for fifty-five years…. Manasseh led the people of Judah to commit even greater sins than those committed by the nations whom the Lord had driven out of the land as his people advanced.
Justice requires a price to be paid (2 Chronicles 36:17-21).
…the Lord let the commanders of the Assyrian army invade Judah. They captured Manasseh, stuck hooks in him, put him in chains, and took him to Babylon.
Not a word of this in 2 Kings 21:1-18.
In his suffering he became humble, turned to the Lord his God, and begged him for help. God accepted Manasseh’s prayer and answered it by letting him go back to Jerusalem…
No doubt a prayer along the lines of what Jonah prayed a few generations prior (Jonah 2:1-11).
God accepted Manasseh’s prayer and answered it by letting him… rule again. This convinced Manasseh that the Lord was God.
Much like with Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:31-34). May we see this again, Lord!
After this, Manasseh increased the height of the outer wall on the east side of David’s City… He also stationed an army officer in command of a unit of troops in each of the fortified cities of Judah. He removed from the Temple the foreign gods and the image that he had placed there, and the pagan altars that were on the hill where the Temple stood and in other places in Jerusalem; he took all these things outside the city and threw them away. He also repaired the altar where the Lord was worshiped, and he sacrificed fellowship offerings and thanksgiving offerings on it. He commanded all the people of Judah to worship the Lord, the God of Israel.
All of the things he should have been doing since the beginning (Matthew 24:45-47). May I be that faithful and wise servant, Lord Jesus!