King Hezekiah’s father Ahaz was just evil.  He worshiped the gods, sacrificed his own children in the fire and did all sorts of dastardly deeds.  But his grandfather, Hezekiah, was a priest and a good man.  He was key in influencing Hezekiah to lead the nation into extraordinary social reform.

Hezekiah’s son Manasseh became king when Hezekiah died.  And now he was following after his grandfather Ahaz.  He too did great evil in the land.  He undid all of his father’s righteous reforms.

But thankfully Manasseh still had the example and model of his father.  The Lord sent Babylon against Manasseh and the people of Judah and they went as captives to Babylon.  In his suffering, Manasseh humbled himself before the Lord and repented of his son.  When he returned to Jerusalem, he undid the evil works he had done and removed the pagan gods.  Then he called all the people to repent and turn to Yahweh.

The only thing was it was too late for some.  He had led many into evil and now they didn’t want to return fully to the Lord.  “The people still sacrificed at high places, but only to Yahweh their God” (2 Chr 33:17).  It was partial obedience and was not coming to the Lord.

What we can glean from this is

1. Grandparents have great influence upon their grandchildren.  It’s not just enough for a grandparent to “spoil” their grandchildren in good and fun ways, but also for grandparents to invest in their spiritual development.  It can affect nations.
2. Manasseh bore fruit in his repentance.  He went back and destroyed the altars and pagan shrines he had once erected.  This is what repentance looks like.  It has visible action to it.
3. Here’s a somber warning:  When we go down the path of sin like it or not we have great influence on others.  And even if we repent, it doesn’t meant that they will do so.  What we do matters.  That’s scary and disturbing.  When we sin, we feel like it’s our own thing.  It’s not.

Manasseh did repent.  Thankfully the faith of his father helped him return.  But this story always disturbs.  Because his sin influenced so many others that did not return, even when he did.