I. ITS IMPELLING CAUSE.

1. The grace of God. That the regeneration and conversion of a soul is a work of Divine grace is taught hardly less clearly in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 30:6; 1 Kings 8:58; Psalm 110:3; Isaiah 26:12; Jeremiah 13:23; Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 11:19; Zechariah 12:10) than in the New (John 1:13; John 3:3; John 6:44, 63, 65; Ephesians 2:1-10; Ephesians 5:14; Philippians 1:6).

2. The judgments of Providence. "The Lord brought upon him and his people the captains of the host of the King of Assyria" (ver. 11).

(1) The King of Assyria here referred to was either Esarhaddon (B.C. 681-668), who succeeded Sennacherib, and therefore was contemporary with Manasseh during the first years of his reign (Sayce, 'Fresh Light,' etc., p. 152; Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' p. 25); or Esarhad-den's son and successor, Assur-bani-pal, B.C. 668 - the Sardanapalus of the Greeks (Schrader, 'Die Keilinschriften,' p. 367; Kleinert, in Riehm's 'Handworterbuch,' p. 948). An inscription of the former monarch mentions Manasseh King of Judah as one of his tributaries ('Records,' etc., 3:107), while a similar inscription of the latter sovereign introduces as one of his tributaries the same Manasseh King of Judah (Schrader, p. 355).

(2) The occasion of this expedition against Manasseh is not specified. If it happened under Esarhaddon, the monuments afford no information of any rising of the Palestinian states against Assyrian supremacy during his reign - Rawlinson ('Kings of Israel and Judah,' p. 207) conjectures that he may have "entered into negotiations with Tirhakah of Egypt;" if under Assur-bani-pal, Manasseh may have been suspected of sympathizing with Saulmugina of Babylon, Assur-bani-pal's rebellious brother, who about B.C. 648 (and therefore when Manasseh had been forty years upon the throne) endeavoured to assert his independence.

(3) The capture and deportation of Manasseh, whom the Assyrian king's generals "took in chains," or "with hooks," and "bound with fetters," accords exactly with the representations given by the monuments. "The practice of bringing prisoners of importance into the presence of a conquering monarch by means of a thong attached to a hook or ring passed through their upper or their under lip, or both, is illustrated by the sculptures both of Babylonia and Assyria. Sargon is seen in his palace at Khorsahad receiving prisoners whose lips are thus perforated; and one of the few Babylonian sculptures still extant shows us a vizier conducting into the presence of a monarch two captives held in durance in the same way. Cruel and barbarous as such treatment of a captured king seems to us, there is no doubt that it was an Assyrian usage. To put a hook in a man's mouth and a bridle in his jaws (2 Kings 19:28) was no mere metaphor expressive of defeat and capture, but a literal description of a practice that was common in the age and country - a practice from which their royal rank did not exempt even captured monarchs" (Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' p. 27). The 'Annals of Assur-bani-pal' speak of two Cimmerian chiefs whom Gyges King of Lydia, "in strong fetters of iron and bonds of iron, bound and with numerous presents caused to bring to his (Assur-bani-pal's) presence" ('Records,' etc., 1:70).

(4) The destination of Manasseh's deportation - Babylon instead of Nineveh, as one might have supposed - is explained by the circumstance that Esarhaddon and Assur-bani-pal both assumed to themselves the title of "King of Assyria and Babylon," and instead of governing Babylon by means of a viceroy, themselves resided there a part of the year in a palace built by the former (Sayce, 'Fresh Light,' p. 152; Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' p. 25; Smith, 'Assyrian Discoveries,' p. 316; Schrader, 'Keilinsehriften,' p. 368).

II. ITS ACCOMPANYING SIGNS.

1. Humility. "He humbled himself greatly before the Lord God of his fathers" (ver. 12). This grace, beautiful in all who come before God (Job 25:5, 6; Ecclesiastes 5:2), is absolutely indispensable to a penitent (Job 40:4; Isaiah 6:5; Romans 7:18), and is the certain highway to spiritual promotion (Proverbs 15:33; Isaiah 66:2; Luke 18:13, 14).

2. Prayer. "He besought the Lord his God" (ver. 12); "he prayed unto him" (ver. 13) - no doubt with the language and feeling of

(1) confession, acknowledging his trespasses (Job 7:20; Psalm 32:5; Psalm 51:3; Isaiah 59:12; Ezekiel 9:6; Daniel 9:5),

(2) submission, owning the just judgment of God upon himself and his people, without which no repentance can be sincere (Ezekiel 9:13; Psalm 51:4; Daniel 9:7);

(3) supplication, entreating Jehovah's favour and forgiveness, and in proof thereof restoration to his land and kingdom (compare Manasseh's prayer in the Apocrypha).

III. ITS CONSEQUENT FRUITS.

1. Acceptance. Jehovah "was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom" (ver. 13). So God still listens to the cries of sincere penitents when they call upon him for forgiveness and salvation, for emancipation from the condemnation of the Law and the enslaving yoke of sin (Job 33:27, 28; Isaiah Iv. 6, 7; 57:15; Jeremiah 3:12-14; Luke 18:14; James 4:8). That Manasseh should have been restored to his throne and kingdom harmonized well with the mild character of Esarhaddon, who appears from the monuments to have accorded similar treatment to a son of Meredach-Baladan, and to an Aramaean chief of the Gambalu, both of whom on submitting to his authority were forgiven and reinstated in their former positions (Rawlinson, 'Egypt and Babylon,' pp. 27, 28). Like clemency was extended by Assur-bani-pal to the King of Arvad's Vakinlu's sons, who, on kissing the great king's feet after their father's death, were favourably received - Azibahal the eldest being appointed to the kingdom of Arvad, and the others presented with clothing of linen and bracelets of gold ('Records,' etc., 1:69). Tammaritu King of Elam likewise experienced the great king's favour on making humble submission and acknowledgment of his offence (ibid., p. 78).

2. Illumination. "Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God" (ver. 13).

(1) The discovery Manasseh made was true even before he made it, at the very time when he thought it to be false. That Jehovah alone was God had been distinctly claimed by Jehovah himself (Exodus 9:14; Exodus 20:3), by Moses (Deuteronomy 4:35), by Hannah (1 Samuel 2:2), by David (2 Samuel 7:22), by Solomon (1 Kings 8:23, 60), and by Isaiah (Isaiah 44:5, 6, 21). So the fact that men may sometimes say or think there is no God (Psalm 14:1) does not prove that there is none.

(2) The ignorance of this sublime truth of the unity and soleity of Jehovah lay at the basis of Manasseh's devotion to idolatry. So the" Gentiles walk in the vanity of their minds... through the ignorance that is in them" (Ephesians 4:17, 18).

(3) Manasseh's apprehension of this truth was rather the result than the cause of his repentance. Manasseh turned to God when in distress out of a sense of sin, with an earnest desire after mercy, and (it may be assumed) with a sincere resolution after new obedience. It is not certain that at that stage he realized the theological fact that Jehovah alone was God. This dawned on him first, it would seem, in all its clearness when, in answer to his prayer, he became a conscious recipient of the Divine mercy. His experience in dealing with Jehovah - so different from that he had been acquainted with in serving idols - convinced him that these were nothing, and that Jehovah alone was God; and the discovery of this truth rendered his relapse into idolatry impossible. So men never clearly know God till they become participants of his mercy.

3. Reformation. "He took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord (ver. 7), and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of the Lord,... and cast them out of the city" (ver. 15). Compare the earlier reformations of Joash (2 Chronicles 23:17), and Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:1), and the later of Josiah (2 Chronicles 34:3, 4). So in every case of true conversion there must be a putting away of known sin (Isaiah 1:16; Isaiah 55:7; Matthew 3:8).

4. Separation. The people continued to sacrifice on the high places, though only unto the Lord their God (ver. 17). On their part it was a compromise. Willing to advance half-way on the path of reformation, they would not make a clean severance between themselves and idolatry. Manasseh did not so.

5. Consecration. "He repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon peace offerings and thank offerings" (ver. 16). So far as he himself was concerned, he was done with the high places; and his regal authority, backed up by his personal example, he faithfully employed to induce his subjects to have done with them also.

LESSONS.

1. The benefits and design of affliction.

2. The value and use of prayer.

3. The graciousness of God towards penitents.

4. The marvellous illumination that comes with the new life.

5. The certainty that holiness will flow from a personal experience of mercy.

6. The intermixture of imperfection with the best services of saints. - W.

I. THE LORD OFTEN ALLOWS TEMPORAL TRIALS TO TAKE MEN CAPTIVE.

1. Business disasters.

2. Want of employment.

3. Extraordinary troubles.

4. Bodily affliction.

5. The loss of dear friends.

II. THE LORD SOMETIMES ALLOWS MEN TO BE BOUND BY MENTAL TRIALS; " bound with fetters." Such as —

1. When sin ceases to afford pleasure. The very things that once made him all aglow with delight do not affect him now, nor cast a single ray of light on his path.

2. The daily avocation becomes distasteful.

3. There is great inability in prayer.

4. Your old sins come out of their hiding-places.

5. A great want of power to grasp the promises.

6. A fear of death and dread of judgment.Conclusion: In order to your comfort and peace —

1. Know that the Lord is God.

2. Humble yourself before Him.

3. Begin to pray.

4. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)