Context No. 4008 of 4322 · 2 Kings

2 Kings 21:16-26: in context

16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the LORD’s sight. 17Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his place. 19Amon was twenty-two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Meshullemeth the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. 20He did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, as Manasseh his father did. 21He walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them; 22and he abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and didn’t walk in the way of the LORD. 23The servants of Amon conspired against him, and put the king to death in his own house. 24But the people of the land killed all those who had conspired against King Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his place. 25Now the rest of the acts of Amon which he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 26He was buried in his tomb in the garden of Uzza, and Josiah his son reigned in his place.

After the long, wicked reign of Manasseh, his son Amon comes to the throne, and the record is bleak: he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as Manasseh his father had done; he walked in all the ways his father walked in, served the idols his father served, and abandoned the LORD.

Amon simply repeated his father's sins. He inherited a bad example and chose to follow it. There is a sobering contrast to hold in mind here. Scripture also tells of sons who saw their fathers' evil and turned from it, who broke the cycle by choosing a different way. Amon did not; he took up his father's idolatry as his own and abandoned the God of his fathers. Each generation faces the choice of whether to repeat the sins it inherits or to turn from them, and Amon chose to repeat. There is a warning and a challenge here for anyone who has inherited a flawed or ungodly example. We are not doomed to repeat the sins of those who went before us, but neither are we guaranteed to escape them; it is a choice.

Have I inherited flawed or ungodly patterns from those before me, and will I, unlike Amon, choose by God's grace to break the cycle rather than simply repeating the sins I was shown?

Sources

2 Kings 21:20: "He did that which was evil in the LORD's sight, as Manasseh his father did."
2 Kings 21:21: "He walked in all the ways that his father walked in, and served the idols that his father served, and worshiped them."
2 Kings 21:22: "He abandoned the LORD, the God of his fathers, and didn't walk in the way of the LORD."