REPENTED, BUT
Posted by: spiritualdigest <spiritualdigest@...>
REPENTED, BUT
"In [Manasseh's] distress he sought the favor of the
LORD his God and humbled himself greatly before the God
of his fathers. And when he prayed to him, the LORD was
moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he
brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then
Manasseh knew that the LORD is God" (2 Chronicles
33:12-13, NIV).
"I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the
earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of
Judah did in Jerusalem" (Jeremiah 15:4, NIV).
Our God is compassionate and forgiving (Daniel 9:9).
Yet one has to be very careful in relating with Him
especially in keeping His commandments. The reason is
that if one sins against Him and later on repents, one
would still face the consequence of one's sins
(Proverbs 11:21; 16:5).
The story of Manasseh attests to this. Manasseh was one
of the worst kings in Israel. He was the direct
opposite of his godly father, Hezekiah. He did many
detestable things to provoke the Lord. Tradition has it
that he was the one that killed prophet Isaiah. After
God had warned him and his people, and they did not
heed to God's warning, God made him a prisoner in the
court of another powerful king. However, in his
distress, he repented and asked for God's forgiveness.
The compassionate and forgiving God heard his prayers
and restored him back to his kingdom. He later spent
his life doing good things (see 2 Chronicles 33).
Nevertheless, his people faced the consequence of his
atrocities (see Jeremiah 15). The Lord promised to make
them suffer because of what he did.
One should not view this as injustice on the part of
God. The people also had their own share of the blame,
but that is not the emphasis here. The emphasis is a
particular repented and forgiven person was made as a
reference point for the impending judgment. This
indicates that though God forgave Manasseh, the
punishment of his sins were still there.
The punishment of Manasseh's sins might not be directly
on him, but the cases of David and Paul were different.
David committed the sins of adultery and murder. When
confronted by prophet Nathan, he repented and said the
prayer found in Psalm 51. Undoubtedly, his sins were
forgiven, but he paid dearly for them (2 Samuel
12:13-14; 13-21). Paul (formerly Saul) persecuted the
disciples of Jesus Christ. When he had an encounter
with God, God promised, "I will show him how much he
must suffer for my name" (Acts 9:16, NIV). He did
suffer.
What are you doing now? Is it good or bad? You may be
thinking of later repentance. However, hear the words
of Solomon: "Now all has been heard; here is the
conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For
God will bring every deed into judgment, including
every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil"
(Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, NIV).
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
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