Reading: 2 Chronicles 32-34, Psalm 79
I’m not the biggest fan of roller coasters. I mean, I can enjoy a good thrill, but I always wondered what makes it necessary to feel one is going to explode, implode, and throw up in order to have a good time. That being said, there have been a few times that I was willing to give the experience a try. My experience pretty much bears out my earlier definition- implode, explode, throw up. What fun! Not that roller coasters are the only amusement park rides that are subject to this. Rides with names like Jackhammer or Super Spinner promise immense joy and gastrointestinal confusion. Add to this the prevalence of cotton candies, ice cream, and deep friend foods of all kinds, and a picture emerges of the maintenance and janitorial staff of such establishments as the greatest heroes in the history of humankind.
Okay, enough about the theoretically “fun” places called amusement parks. Today’s reading covers the end of the reign of good king Hezekiah, horrendous kings Manasseh and Amon, and the beginning of the reign of good king Josiah. We will remember from the books of Kings and Isaiah that Hezekiah was in many ways the great hope of the people of Judah. In today’s reading we see God destroy the army of Assyria and bring about the death of their king. Hezekiah has already restored correct worship and Temple practices. This guy was the real deal. Until he wasn’t. At the end of his reign he turns to pride in his own accomplishments, and it is a gut wrenching turn for the people of Judah.
How gut wrenching? Let’s look at the reign of his son Manasseh. This guy is as bad as it gets. Child sacrifice, foreign gods, witchcraft and sorcery- we will remember from the book of Kings that he put so many people to death the streets of Jerusalem were said to run with the blood of the innocent. I’d say this is the low point of Judah’s entire history. Manasseh undoes all the good of his father, and apparently abolishes the festivals and hides the books of Moses, or at least part of them. It would be like one of our national leaders abolishing all our major holidays and hiding the evidence of how we should celebrate them. Manasseh is captured by Assyria and is literally carried away with a hook in his nose.
But then we get another turn. We learn something from the Chronicler that we didn’t know from Kings and Hezekiah. Manasseh, the worst king of all, learns his lesson and repents of his actions. Imagine if you were raised on the story of Manasseh as the most villainous of all villains- then you learn that he changed. I think this is every bit as much a gut check as the beginning of his reign. What does a nation do with a character like this?
No matter the answer, it doesn’t last. Manasseh dies and his son Amon is more a product of the beginning of his reign than the end. He is the continuation of his father’s policies, but his reign is short. After only two years, he dies in a rebellion by his own servants. Then they are put to death by the people of Jerusalem. Abortive violent revolution. I’d call that another turn in the roller coaster.
Finally we arrive at the reign of Josiah, who comes to the throne at the age of 8 after the assassination of his father. It appears he is the student of his grandfather’s later years, as he is far and away the best king Judah ever has. He does everything Hezekiah does and more. When the priests find the books of Moses hidden in the Temple, he declares national repentance, mourning the way his people have misused their position as the chosen people of God. He asks for a prophetess named Huldah to ask God what to do. Here we get another gut wrenching turn in the story, as Huldah effectively says, too late. The people of God have gone too far in their apostasy and judgment is coming. But Josiah is not deterred by this bad news- he proceeds in his plan to repent, restore the festival practices, and follow God’s design for his people in the books of Moses.
The roller coaster of the last few kings of Judah is reaching it’s last peak with the reign of Josiah. It’s all downhill from here. The Chronicler is using the ups and downs of the kingdom to showcase two things: the repentance of the evil king Manasseh, and the insistent righteousness of Josiah. Even in the midst of the roller coaster, there are unexpected moments of humans making declarations of dependence and putting themselves in the middle of God’s design for humanity. As we come to the end of the Chronicle, we are reminded that despite the events that follow, the Story isn’t over yet, and may not end the way anyone expects.