2 Chronicles 33 (by bits and pieces) Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger; Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err; And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people: but they would not hearken.

Reading this as it is written I would want to say, “Manasseh, boy, you are in for it now!” It is one thing to sin, but to be in a position of authority and to lead others into your wickedness is so much worse. God has in their past opened up the earth and swallowed men for less. This king is in for it, he desereves what he gets for what he has done.

So let us continue this telling.

Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh; when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly; was intreated of him (God); brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

Well that wasn’t what I expected. Since Manasseh would not listen to God, God used the things of the world to bring Manasseh back into submission. Praise God and this king went about undoing all that he had done. Or did he?

17a The people continued to sacrifice at the illegal places of worship, (God’s Word Version)

Other versions of this passage refer to “the high places” which were set up for sacrifices to other gods and not the Lord Jehovah. They sacrifice to the one true God but not in the right place. Manasseh’s damage had been done and the undoing of it was not in accordance with God’s design.

You shall worship the Lord thy God with all your heart….. that’s the right place.

Psalms 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

I love the Word, I love the law of love, which is the New Testament law. I am not old school. But I have to tell you that nothing takes me back to school like being offended. I am not offended, my sensibilities are offended. That only means I am sensitive and that sensitivity will and does affect my peace.

When I see people who are intentionally offensive, because they have the right to be themselves, I ask myself, “What went wrong in this child’s life?” They were not born this way. Something happened in their lives to cause them to act out in this manner. Children do not act, they re-act.

Being offensive is not an act, it is a reaction. Just as a child cries out in pain, the child in these adults cries out in pain. You don’t love me, so I will give you a reason not to love me. The offended becomes the offender.

Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

That’s old school and somewhere this cycle has to be broken. Sadly when you see it, the damage has already been inflicted. The state cannot fix it. All they can do is break it even more. That is true because the law does not fix and repair, it only punishes.

Luke 5:30-31 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

Love must dwell with the offender and that will not happen if we cast them out of our lives.