HOMILETICS. Yers. 1-18.-The lesson of Manasseh's life, that it is far easier to do than to undo et•il. Manasseh, carried away by the impetuosity of youth, and under the advice of evil counsellors, threw himself into a movement the direct opposite of that instituted by bis father, and in a short time completely changed in all respects the whole religion of the kingdom. His idea, so far as we can trace it, seems to have been a. welcoming of heathen and idolatrous''.creeds and rites of all kinds and from all quarters, together with a stern repression of the religion of Jehovah. The bloody rites of Moloch, the licentions orgies of the Syrian goddess, the Phrenician Baal-worship, the Arabian astrol"gy, the magic and necromancy of Babylon, were all regarded as equally worthy of his patronage, all given a home in his capital; one single cult was disallowed, and its exercise punished with death-the worship of" the Holy One of Israel." In all these respects Manasseh found it easy enough to work his will; no one resisted him ; the awful child-sacrifices suit.ed well with one side of the national temperament, the wild sensualism of Syrian and Phrenician orgies harmonized with another, Manasseh easily "seduced" the mass of the people to do a.s he would have them; and, when be met with recalcitrants, had a "short and easy method" with them-the method of instant execution. All went smoothly and satisfactorily with him, probably for near thirty years of his reign, when by some act-we know not what-he displeased bis Assyrian suzerain, was carried captive to Babylon, and there, in the bitterness of confinement, brought to see the error of his ways. Restored to bis throne, he thought to undo his evil work a.s easily and completely as he had done it. .Again, outwardly no one resisted his wi!L The external changes were ma.de. "The strange gods" were "put away" (2 Chron. xxxiii. 15); the idols cleared out of the house of the Lord; the idolatrous altars banished ; the formal worship of Jehovah reintroduced; the brazen altar of Solomon "repaired" (2 Chron. xxxiii. 16) and used for sacrifice; Judah commanded to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel. But the spirit of true and pure religion could not be brought back. Thirty years of idolatry had debauched the heart of the nation. Jehovah's faithful followers ha.d been martyred. The rest of the people could only give to Jehovah a lip-service. .And thus no sooner was Manasseh dead than everything reverted into its former condition. The idols were restored-the altars to the host of heaven repla.ced in the temple courts-the flames of Tophet relighted-the filthy rites of the Dea Syria re-established. When Josiah came to the throne, the st.a.te of things was as bad as it had ever been, even in the worst years of Manasseh. Baal was the god chiefly worshipped in Jerusalem (Zeph. i. 4); altars to the host of heaven covered the housetops; men commonly swore by Moloch ; the whole nation ha.d •• turned back from Jehovah" (Zeph. i. 6), and the city was filled. with "violence and deceit" (Zeph. i. 9). Not even could all J osiah's efforts remedy the evil which Manasseh had brought about. The corruption was too deep-seated; and it was Manasseh's evil-doing, which he could not undo, tha.t caused the final destruction of the kingdom (eh. xx.iii 26, 27; xx:iv. 3, 4).
HOMILIES BY V .ARIOUS AUTHORS. Vcrs. 1-16.-Manasseh'B wicked reign. Two thoughts are brought before us by the reign of Manasseh. They are a striking contrast to one another. L THE POWER oF SIN. 1. We see how sin perpetuates itsdf. 'l'he deeds of Manasseh were just a repetition of the worst deeds of his predecessors. "He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, after the abominations of t~e heathen." He built up again the high places. He made altars for Baal He worshipped all the host of he~ven. He made his eon pass through the fire to Moloch. (What we have already said on these sins applies here.) 2. We see also the progressive power of sin. 'l'here is a progress in sin from bad to worse. Manasseh imitated the sine of hie predecessors, llut he went further than any of them. "He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord" (ver. 5). Worse than all, he set up a carved image, the idol that be had made, in the very temple of the living God. It is alao Otr, XXI, 1-26.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 427