Manasseh. Please take a moment and revisit part one of "Three Kings" and review this fellow's career description. I'll wait here... ...Well, how would you like to stand before a holy and righteous God with that resume? Is there any evil this guy didn't do? Manasseh committed one atrocity after another. As pointed out previously, the consequences for the Jews (God's witnesses to all the nations) were terrible and went on for generations, even long past Manasseh's lifetime.
One big question is why did God allow this monster to reign longer than any other king? A smaller question is why is this man one of my favorite Biblical characters? I think the answers to those two questions run on the same track. In the 33rd chapter of II Chronicles we'll find the answers. Here is what happened: "The Lord spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they would not listen. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh with hooks, bound him with bronze fetters, and carried him off to Babylon. Now when he was in affliction, he implored the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed to Him; and He received his entreaty, heard his supplication, and brought him back to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God." (Vs. 10-13)
When Manasseh arrived back in Judah, "He took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the Lord, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem; and he cast them out of the city. He also repaired the altar of the Lord, sacrificed peace offerings and thank offerings on it, and commanded Judah to serve the Lord God of Israel." (Vs. 15-16) There was much written down about the conversion experience of King Manasseh and his life afterwards according to verses 18 through 20. The last mention of him in Scripture is in the gospel of Matthew amongst the genealogy of Jesus Christ. (Matt 1:10)
In Manasseh we see once again, the worst in man, and once again, the best in God. The Lord our God's patience and grace are certainly on display here. Literally the last person on earth you would ever imagine would become a child and man of God - wicked Manasseh - did just that. Yes, the consequences of his sinful sowing still had to be reaped, even by many innocent people, but his life is a picture of hope to all of us sin sowers, including those "last persons on earth" that we all know and in many cases love.
Three kings: Manasseh speaks of man's repentance and God's redemption. Josiah speaks of man's revival and God's reward. Hezekiah speaks of man's reliance and God's reliability. And they all speak of God's infinite goodness and amazing grace.