Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome, friends, to
Preach it Girl podcast, where we
aren't just sitting aroundwaiting for Jesus to return or
Skinny Pop to make us skinny.
I mean, those things are boundto happen.
But while we wait, join me,auntie Lala, for a jaunt through
the scriptures so lively you'llthink they were written just
yesterday, not thousands ofyears ago.
Now put on your listening earsfor a somewhat sassy retelling
(00:26):
of stories from the Bible.
In our last episode, we talkedabout King Hezekiah, and his son
.
Manasseh is the one who cameafter him, and so we're going to
talk about how King Hezekiahstarted off on this really great
note and then ended in pride.
(00:47):
So King Manasseh oh you guys,this dude started off rough.
Manasseh became king when he wasjust 12 years old, so I can't
help but wonder, like who'sspeaking into his life?
Who was guiding him at the timethat he became king?
He was awfully young.
Whatever the case, scripturetells us he did what was evil in
(01:07):
the sight of the Lord.
So he rebuilt the pagan altarsthat Hezekiah had torn down.
He bowed to the powers ofheaven and worshiped them.
He practiced sorcery,witchcraft, divination, he
consulted mediums and psychicsand, worst of all, he sacrificed
his own sons in the fire toother gods and, worst of all, he
(01:30):
sacrificed his own sons in thefire to other gods.
This was despicable to the Lord.
And yes, that is sons with an S, y'all.
Manasseh had lost hisever-loving mind.
He had lost himself.
He led the chosen people astray.
So, just like I said before, aking would lead the people, so
(01:50):
they're either leading them toGod or they're leading them away
.
And Manasseh was setting up allthese pagan altars and shrines
and worshiping these other gods,and so were the people.
The people were doing the samething.
But here's the part that stopsme.
God, in his mercy, warnedManasseh over and over again.
He always sends his prophets towarn his people.
(02:14):
Turn from this wicked evilstuff back to God, and I won't
let what can happen happen.
But if you choose to come outfrom under the umbrella of
safety that is the mercy of theLord, then you're not protected
anymore.
It is God's mighty hand thatholds back the forces of evil in
(02:34):
this world, and not only that,he can also hold back natural
events.
Of course, bad things happen togood people.
We live in a broken world.
All kinds of things can happenthat God does not intervene in
the moment and prevent them allfrom happening.
But if you stay connected toJesus, he says I'll never leave
(02:55):
you or forsake you and I'll bewith you in those terrible times
and I will bring something outof it that is good and I will
use it for your good and for hisglory.
I know it's hard.
It is hard when bad thingshappen, especially to children,
but I believe God 100%.
You have to have a no matterwhat faith and that will get you
(03:17):
through this world and into thenext and y'all this is it says
it's just like a breath, thisworld.
Maybe you get to live 75, 85,95 years, maybe 105.
You know we're getting somegood AI stuff coming in down the
medical pipe, hopefully, andwe'll live longer and better,
more healthy years.
But that compared to a thousandyears in heaven, unlimited,
(03:42):
unending, forever, where thereis no pain and suffering and we
live in a new earth and it'sfull of joy and goodness and all
the evil's been taken care of.
That's when we're going to beliving this life.
It's a test, but it's a test toshow us approved.
It's a test that the Lordpromises to walk us through and
(04:02):
to help us overcome.
But see, we don't overcome ifwe don't have any suffering.
We don't learn lessons unlessthere's some tests and some hard
things.
We have to have those hardthings.
But let's get back to Manasseh.
Manasseh was out of hisever-loving mind, doing some
crazy stuff, and he's followingthis king that brought the
people back to God.
(04:23):
So it's a pretty big change forthe people.
But okay, evil had such a gripon him he couldn't think
straight.
And sure enough, that day camethat God warned him would come.
So let me read you a little bitabout Manasseh.
Okay, let's read it from theword from the New Living
Translation.
I like it because it's easy tounderstand.
(04:43):
He did so much that was evil inthe Lord's sight and aroused
God's anger.
Oh, I don't want God's anger.
Then the Lord said, through hisservants, the prophets King
Manasseh of Judah has done manydetestable things.
He is even more wicked than theAmorites, the people that had
(05:04):
lived in the land that the Lordhelped the Israelites overtake
the land.
Manasseh was more evil thanthey were.
He has caused the people ofJudah to sin with his idols.
So this is what the Lord, theGod of Israel, says I will bring
such disaster on Jerusalem andJudah that the ears of those who
(05:26):
hear about it will tingle withhorror.
Oh God, no, I don't want noneof that.
I'm so glad we've come on theother side so that we got
Jesus's blood covering all oursins.
But you know, if you don't haveJesus, then you're held
responsible for everything,because God is merciful and
(05:50):
loving.
Kindness that chases us down,but we can choose not to have
his kindness and not to have hisforgiveness and not to accept
his sacrifice for our sins.
Okay, tingle with horror.
That one gets me.
I will judge Jerusalem by thesame standard I use for Samaria
and the same measure I use forthe family of Ahab.
(06:12):
Ahab was an evil king.
Ahab and Jezebel.
I will wipe away the people ofJerusalem.
As one wipes a dish and turnsit upside down.
All you hand washing dishwasherpeople, you know.
You turn that dish upside downso it dries.
It's done Complete.
Manasseh also murdered manyinnocent people, until Jerusalem
(06:35):
was filled from one end to theother with innocent blood.
This was in addition to the sinthat he calls the people of
Judah to commit, leading them todo evil in the Lord's sight.
Y'all.
What was driving him?
An evil spirit, probably.
I guess he was convinced thatGod wasn't real.
I don't know, but let's listento what happened to him, because
(06:56):
this is a crazy story.
Here it comes.
The Lord spoke to Manasseh andhis people, but they ignored all
his warnings.
So the Lord sent the commandersof the Assyrian armies and they
took Manasseh prisoner.
So that same army the Lorddefeated for Hezekiah.
The Lord allowed to takeManasseh as a prisoner.
(07:18):
They put a ring through hisnose, bound him in bronze chains
and led him away to Babylon,just as had been predicted by
Isaiah to Hezekiah.
But while in deep distress Imean, can you imagine?
He was a king.
He did whatever he wanted to do, fulfilled every desire.
Then he was a prisoner in thedid whatever he wanted to do,
fulfilled every desire.
Then he was a prisoner in theBabylonian palace, in chains.
(07:41):
But while in deep distress,manasseh sought the Lord, his
God, and sincerely humbledhimself before the God of his
ancestors.
And when he prayed, the Lordlistened to him and was moved by
his request.
What, after all that innocentblood he shed after worshiping
these other idols, aftersacrificing his sons in a fire
(08:05):
to a false God, the Lord heardhis humble prayer.
As soon as he was in chains hewas like I've heard of the real
God.
There is a real God, and I'mgoing to pray to him and I'm
going to confess my wrongdoings.
And when he prayed, the Lordlistened to him and was moved by
his request.
(08:25):
The Lord brought Manasseh backto Jerusalem and to his kingdom.
Then Manasseh finally realizedthat the Lord alone is God.
He ended up ruling for 55 yearsand he tore down the same
altars he built to these othergods and then he led the people
(08:47):
back to the Lord.
I mean most of us, I think,would have thought that that
dude's too far gone.
He ain't coming back, and hedid, and I think that's probably
why sometimes God allows reallyterrible things to happen to us
when we are out there doingdumb stuff, so that we'll go oh
(09:07):
yeah, wait a minute.
I don't want to live like this.
I don't want to live like this.
I want to know God again.
I want God to help me and giveme another chance.
This was before Jesus.
God's always been merciful andit's always been his plan that
Jesus would come for us, andthat's part of why Judah
continued to have a king.
(09:27):
God said there would be a kingforever on the throne, and Jesus
is that king that is from thelineage of Judah.
Wow, manasseh got restored fromall that he had done and ended
his kingdom, ended his kinglyreign as a good king, as a
benevolent king, as a king thatworshiped the one true God.
(09:50):
The people must have been like,oh, he really did turn over a
new leaf.
So from that point on,manasseh's leadership looked
entirely different.
Reverence for the one true Godmarked the second half of his
reign.
He led the people back to theLord, tore down idols and
restored proper worship in thetemple.
It's a beautiful picture ofExodus 34 6, where the Lord
(10:11):
reveals himself to Moses theLord, the compassionate and
gracious God, slow to anger,abounding in love and
faithfulness.
When I think about what God didfor Manasseh, I think of those
scriptures that talk about ourGod being merciful, slow to
anger, quick to forgive,abounding in love and
(10:33):
faithfulness.
When the Lord revealed himselfto Moses, the Lord showed
himself to him and said that heis a compassionate God who is
gracious and slow to anger.
Then the Psalms written by KingDavid.
There's three different Psalmsthat talk about but you, lord,
are a compassionate and graciousGod, slow to anger and
(10:56):
abounding in love andfaithfulness.
So we can count on him.
We don't have to be too scaredor think we're too far gone,
because y'all, manasseh wasn'ttoo far gone and he did it all.
He did all kinds of stuff,terrible stuff.
So we all got a shot, we allhave an open door to the Lord.
We can turn.
(11:16):
You know, it doesn't costanything.
Isn't that something that inthis world, like all these good
things that are so expensive andmany of us will never afford
this thing, the most valuablething in our lives that we could
ever hope for is a relationshipwith the one true God, who has
angel armies that will protectus, who can provide us with
(11:38):
whatever we need, heal ourbodies, and it's free.
It's free and all we have to dois turn to him and ask for his
help and say I believe in you,you are real and have faith and
that pleases God.
God is so merciful and graciousand full of love and kindness
and slow to anger that he willturn things around for you and
(12:02):
me.
So when I compare these twokings, a father and a son, I
find myself wondering is itbetter to start off well and
then end poorly, or to startpoorly and end well with God?
And at first I kind of thought,you know, like the prodigal son
that one goes out.
He does dumb stuff, but then herealizes how dumb he's been, so
(12:23):
he runs back home to anopen-armed father.
Meanwhile the older son, whonever left, ends up on the
outside of the party, just kindof bitter and really not in a
good relationship with thefather, which is a picture of
our heavenly father how hewelcomes us home no matter what,
and I don't know.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized both paths
(12:45):
are awful.
Don't do either of those paths.
Now I've been a prodigal childand I came back.
But I mean, if you don't everhave to walk away, don't do it
so much better to be in thehands of the Lord than in the
hands of the world that isfickle.
Drop you like a bad habit quick, as look at you and the devil
hates you.
He hates you, it says.
(13:11):
The enemy comes to steal, killand destroy, and he loves to
seduce people away from the Lord.
So here's the invitation for uslet's honestly assess our own
lives.
Let's come before Jesus with ahumble heart, asking him search
us, pull out anything thatdispleases you, cleanse us.
Let's ask him to cleanse us,forgive us and give us a new
heart, a new heart that longs toobey him.
Help me want to obey you thelonger we walk with him and the
(13:40):
more devoted to him we are.
He doesn't just control you oranything, but he does change
your heart so that you actuallywant things that are good
instead of wanting those thingsthat weren't good, and really
want things that are goodinstead of wanting those things
that weren't good and really thethings that we wanted that
weren't good just destroyed usMeanwhile.
God wants us to want the goodthings that are going to make
our lives feel full andrefreshing, like the good
shepherd leads us by clearwaters and lets us rest in those
(14:01):
green pastures.
That's our good shepherd,that's Jesus.
So, all right, where might yoube testing the Lord's patience?
Think about it, pray about it.
The Lord is good.
He sent those prophets to warnthe people over and over again.
He will speak to you if you'renot sure.
Okay, so ask him.
Am I testing your patience,lord?
Where have you experienced hisgracious, long-suffering mercy
(14:26):
in your life?
And thank him.
Be quick to cry out to God indistress, but be just as quick
to praise him for his kindnessand his mercy.
Yes, praise him for hiskindness and his mercy.
Okay, you guys, I love you.
Thank you for listening.
I can't wait for our next timetogether on Preach it Girl.