Manasseh
was a king of Judah who did a lot of bad things.
He
encouraged the building of worship stations to other gods all over the kingdom
of Judah. He put idols to false gods in
the temple of God. He sacrificed his
children in fire and practiced every possible anti-God worship available. The Bible said he did more evil than all the
nations around him.
Then God
allowed Assyria to invade and take Manasseh prisoner. Finally God got Manasseh’s attention.
In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself
greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him,
the Lord was moved
by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem
and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God. 2 Chronicles 33:12-13
Manasseh
returned home and undid all the bad he did.
He restored God to his kingdom.
He couldn’t change the evil hearts he encouraged in the people, but
Manasseh truly changed his ways and God restored him.
David and
Moses were murderers and God forgave them and used them. As long as you repent sincerely (and prove
that sincerity by making the right changes), you can be forgiven by God.