2ND BROKEN COMMANDMENT (3)
(Message by Tanny Keng)
0. Introduction
a) The 10 Commandments were God's standard for right living. To obey them was to obey God. Yet throughout the Old Testament, we can see how each commandment was broken.
b) As you read the stories, notice the tragic consequences that occurred as a result of violating God's law.
1. 2nd Commandment
a) The 10 Commandments said ...
i) 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20:4 NKJV)
b) Notable Violations
ii) Manasseh reigns in Judah
(Text: 2 Kings 21:1-17)
@1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”
16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. (2 Kings 21:1-17 NKJV)
2. What is the text all about?
a) Manasseh followed the example of his grandfather Ahaz more than that of his father. He adopted the wicked practices of the Babylonians and Canaanites including sacrificing his own son. He did not listen to the words of God's prophets, but willfully led his people into sin.
b) Manasseh was an evil king, and he angered God with his sin. Listed among his sins are occult practices - soothsaying and witchcraft, and consulting spiritists and mediums. These acts were strictly forbidden by God because they demonstrate a lack of faith in him, involve sinful actions, and open the door to demonic influences. Today, many books, television shows, and games emphasize fortune-telling, seances, and other occult practices. Don't let desire to know the future or the belief that superstition is harmless lead you into condoning occult practices. They are counterfeits of God's power and have at their root a system of beliefs totally opposed to God.
c) Asherah was a Canaanite mother-goddess, a mistress of Baal. Her images were made of wood in Exodus 34:13 and Deuteronomy 12:3, the Israelites were expressly forbidden to associate with Asherah practices in any way.
@1. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images. (Exodus 34:13 NKJV)
@2. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. (Deuteronomy 12:3 NKJV)
d) The measuring line and the plummet (plumbline) symbolize the judgment process. These measuring instruments used in construction measured Jerusalem, and the city was found lacking. God was saying that he would destroy Jerusalem as he did Samaria and the house of Ahab.
e) Tradition says that during Manasseh's massive slaughter, Isaiah was sawed into two when trying to hide in a hollow log (see Hebrew 11:37-38). Other prophets may also have been killed at this time.
@1. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:37-38 NKJV)
The End ...
0. Introductiona) The 10 Commandments were God's standard for right living. To obey them was to obey God. Yet throughout the Old Testament, we can see how each commandment was broken.
b) As you read the stories, notice the tragic consequences that occurred as a result of violating God's law.
1. 2nd Commandment
a) The 10 Commandments said ...
i) 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." (Exodus 20:4 NKJV)
b) Notable Violations
ii) Manasseh reigns in Judah
(Text: 2 Kings 21:1-17)
@1. Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord had said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers—only if they are careful to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. 10 And the Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations (he has acted more wickedly than all the Amorites who were before him, and has also made Judah sin with his idols), 12 therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both his ears will tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 So I will forsake the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.’”
16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh—all that he did, and the sin that he committed—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 So Manasseh rested with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza. Then his son Amon reigned in his place. (2 Kings 21:1-17 NKJV)
2. What is the text all about?
a) Manasseh followed the example of his grandfather Ahaz more than that of his father. He adopted the wicked practices of the Babylonians and Canaanites including sacrificing his own son. He did not listen to the words of God's prophets, but willfully led his people into sin.
b) Manasseh was an evil king, and he angered God with his sin. Listed among his sins are occult practices - soothsaying and witchcraft, and consulting spiritists and mediums. These acts were strictly forbidden by God because they demonstrate a lack of faith in him, involve sinful actions, and open the door to demonic influences. Today, many books, television shows, and games emphasize fortune-telling, seances, and other occult practices. Don't let desire to know the future or the belief that superstition is harmless lead you into condoning occult practices. They are counterfeits of God's power and have at their root a system of beliefs totally opposed to God.
c) Asherah was a Canaanite mother-goddess, a mistress of Baal. Her images were made of wood in Exodus 34:13 and Deuteronomy 12:3, the Israelites were expressly forbidden to associate with Asherah practices in any way.
@1. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images. (Exodus 34:13 NKJV)
@2. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. (Deuteronomy 12:3 NKJV)
d) The measuring line and the plummet (plumbline) symbolize the judgment process. These measuring instruments used in construction measured Jerusalem, and the city was found lacking. God was saying that he would destroy Jerusalem as he did Samaria and the house of Ahab.
e) Tradition says that during Manasseh's massive slaughter, Isaiah was sawed into two when trying to hide in a hollow log (see Hebrew 11:37-38). Other prophets may also have been killed at this time.
@1. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:37-38 NKJV)
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