King Manasseh and King Amon are Underwhelming
- Once Hezekiah is dead, his 12-year-old son Manasseh takes the reigns.
- But putting a pre-teen in charge might not have been the smartest move. He gets into trouble right off the bat.
- He rebuilds all the idols that his father went through so much trouble to get rid of. He also burns his sons for sacrifices, consults oracles and ghosts, and influences everyone in town to do the same.
- Gee, we wonder what's going to happen to him.
- Well, God sends the Assyrian army to knock some sense into him. They capture King Manasseh and bring him in chains to Babylon.
- Manasseh finally gets it. He asks God for forgiveness and he gets it. Manasseh gets to go back to Jerusalem and rule. Lesson learned.
- After that, King Manasseh does not want to offend Yahweh again. He restores the Temple to its former glory and, just to be on the safe side, builds up defensive cities and invests heavily in the army.
- When Manasseh dies after ruling for 55 years, his son Amon is next in line.
- This guy is not too swift, though, because he makes all the same mistakes his father did but without any of the repentance.
- He's so terrible that his own servants end up killing him. No one really cares.