The kingdom of Judah, prosperous throughout the times
of Hezekiah, was once more brought low during the
long years of Manasseh's wicked reign, when paganism was
revived, and many of the people were led into idolatry.
"Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to
err, and to do worse than the heathen." 2 Chronicles 33:9.
The glorious light of former generations was followed by
the darkness of superstition and error. Gross evils sprang up
and flourished--tyranny, oppression, hatred of all that is
good. Justice was perverted; violence prevailed.
Yet those evil times were not without witnesses for God
and the right. The trying experiences through which Judah
had safely passed during Hezekiah's reign had developed,
in the hearts of many, a sturdiness of character that now
served as a bulwark against the prevailing iniquity. Their
testimony in behalf of truth and righteousness aroused the
anger of Manasseh and his associates in authority, who
endeavored to establish themselves in evil-doing by silencing
every voice of disapproval. "Manasseh shed innocent blood
very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to
another." 2 Kings 21:16.
One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a
century had stood Judah as the appointed messenger
of Jehovah. "Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were
stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain
with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and
goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom
the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and
in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth." Hebrews
11:36-38.
Some of those who suffered persecution during Manasseh's
reign were commissioned to bear special messages of
reproof and of judgment. The king of Judah, the prophets
declared, "hath done wickedly above all . . . which were
before him." Because of this wickedness, his kingdom was
nearing a crisis; soon the inhabitants of the land were to
be carried captive to Babylon, there to become "a prey and
a spoil to all their enemies." 2 Kings 21:11,14. But the
Lord would not utterly forsake those who in a strange land
should acknowledge Him as their Ruler; they might suffer
great tribulation, yet He would bring deliverance to them
in His appointed time and way. Those who should put
their trust wholly in Him would find a sure refuge.
Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and
their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and
to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding
Judah would not heed. As an earnest of what would befall
the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord
permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian
soldiers, who "bound him with fetters, and carried him to
Babylon," their temporary capital. This affliction brought
the king to his senses; "he besought the Lord his God, and
humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and
prayed unto Him: and He was entreated of him, and heard
his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into
his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord He was
God." 2 Chronicles 33:11-13. But this repentance, remarkable
though it was, came too late to save the kingdom from
the corrupting influence of years of idolatrous practices.
Many had stumbled and fallen, never again to rise.
Among those whose life experience had been shaped
beyond recall by the fatal apostasy of Manasseh, was his
own son, who came to the throne at the age of twenty-two.
Of King Amon it is written: "He walked in all the way that
his father walked in, and served the idols that his father
served, and worshiped them: and he forsook the Lord
God of his fathers" (2 Kings 21:21, 22); he "humbled not
himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had
humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more."
The wicked king was not permitted to reign long. In the
midst of his daring impiety, only two years from the time
he ascended the throne, he was slain in the palace by his
own servants; and "the people of the land made Josiah his
son king in his stead." 2 Chronicles 33:23, 25.
With the accession of Josiah to the throne, where he
was to rule for thirty-one years, those who had maintained
the purity of their faith began to hope that the downward
course of the kingdom was checked; for the new king,
though only eight years old, feared God, and from the very
beginning "he did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord, and walked in all the way of David his father, and
turned not aside to the right hand or to the left." 2 Kings
22:2. Born of a wicked king, beset with temptations to
follow in his father's steps, and with few counselors to
encourage him in the right way, Josiah nevertheless was
true to the God of Israel. Warned by the errors of past
generations, he chose to do right, instead of descending to
the low level of sin and degradation to which his father
and his grandfather had fallen. He "turned not aside to
the right hand or to the left." As one who was to occupy
a position of trust, he resolved to obey the instruction that
had been given for the guidance of Israel's rulers, and his
obedience made it possible for God to use him as a vessel
unto honor.
At the time Josiah began to rule, and for many years
before, the truehearted in Judah were questioning whether
God's promises to ancient Israel could ever be fulfilled.
From a human point of view the divine purpose for the
chosen nation seemed almost impossible of accomplishment.
The apostasy of former centuries had gathered strength with
the passing years; ten of the tribes had been scattered among
the heathen; only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin
remained, and even these now seemed on the verge of
moral and national ruin. The prophets had begun to foretell
the utter destruction of their fair city, where stood the
temple built by Solomon, and where all their earthly hopes
of national greatness had centered. Could it be that God
was about to turn aside from His avowed purpose of bringing
deliverance to those who should put their trust in Him?
In the face of the long-continued persecution of the righteous,
and of the apparent prosperity of the wicked, could
those who had remained true to God hope for better days?
These anxious questionings were voiced by the prophet
Habakkuk. Viewing the situation of the faithful in his
day, he expressed the burden of his heart in the inquiry:
"O Lord, how long shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear!
even cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save!
Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and cause me to behold
grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and
there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the
law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the
wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong
judgment proceedeth." Habakkuk 1:2-4.
God answered the cry of His loyal children. Through
His chosen mouthpiece He revealed His determination to
bring chastisement upon the nation that had turned from
Him to serve the gods of the heathen. Within the lifetime
of some who were even then making inquiry regarding
the future, He would miraculously shape the affairs of the
ruling nations of earth and bring the Babylonians into the
ascendancy. These Chaldeans, "terrible and dreadful,"
were to fall suddenly upon the land of Judah as a divinely
appointed scourge. Verse 7. The princes of Judah and the
fairest of the people were to be carried captive to Babylon;
the Judean cities and villages and the cultivated fields were
to be laid waste; nothing was to be spared.
Confident that even in this terrible judgment the purpose
of God for His people would in some way be fulfilled,
Habakkuk bowed in submission to the revealed will of
Jehovah. "Art Thou not from everlasting, O Lord my God,
mine Holy One?" he exclaimed. And then, his faith reaching
out beyond the forbidding prospect of the immediate
future, and laying fast hold on the precious promises that
reveal God's love for His trusting children, the prophet
added, "We shall not die." Verse 12. With this declaration
of faith he rested his case, and that of every believing Israelite,
in the hands of a compassionate God.
This was not Habakkuk's only experience in the exercise
of strong faith. On one occasion, when meditating
concerning the future, he said, "I will stand upon my watch,
and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He
will say unto me." Graciously the Lord answered him:
"Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he
may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed
time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it
tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not
tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in
him: but the just shall live by his faith." Habakkuk 2:1-4.
The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy
and the just in those days of deep trial was the same faith
that sustains God's people today. In the darkest hours, under
circumstances the most forbidding, the Christian believer
may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all light and
power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and
courage may be renewed. "The just shall live by his faith."
In the service of God there need be no despondency, no
wavering, no fear. The Lord will more than fulfill the
highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him.
He will give them the wisdom their varied necessities
demand.
Of the abundant provision made for every tempted soul,
the apostle Paul bears eloquent testimony. To him was
given the divine assurance, "My grace is sufficient for thee:
for My strength is made perfect in weakness." In gratitude
and confidence the tried servant of God responded: "Most
gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in
persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am
weak, them am I strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.
We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets
and apostles have testified--the faith that lays hold on
the promises of God and waits for deliverance in His
appointed time and way. The sure word of prophecy will
meet its final fulfillment in the glorious advent of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of
lords. The time of waiting may seem long, the soul may
be oppressed by discouraging circumstances, many in whom
confidence has been placed may fall by the way; but with
the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in a time
of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare, "The
Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence
before Him." Habakkuk 2:20. Let us ever hold in remembrance
the cheering message, "The vision is yet for an
appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it
will not tarry. . . . The just shall live by his faith."
Verses 3, 4.