Verily, at the commandment of Jehovah it came to pass against Judah, that they should be removed out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done;
On the surface, Judah's collapse under Jehoiakim looks like ordinary politics — raiding bands, a rebel king, a rising Babylon. Verse 3 looks behind all of that. It traces the fall to a decision of the Lord, and it names a king who had been dead for decades as the reason.
Verse 2 lists raiding parties from four surrounding nations. One writer points to God as the one who sent them, and to sins older than Jehoiakim's own:
God's judgment on the godless Jehoiakim was not carried out by the king of Babylon alone. Scripture says that "the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldeans and bands of the Syrians and bands of the Moabites and bands of the Ammonites" (2 Kings 24:2). This divine judgment was not only for the sins of Jehoiakim, but for the sins of earlier generations. Josiah's godliness had delayed this judgment (2 Kings 22:15–20), but the ungodliness of his sons brought it on quickly.
Verses 3 and 4 together give two grounds: what Manasseh did, and the innocent blood he shed. One commentator names both causes. He also shows that the sentence had been put on hold, and could have stayed that way:
From the time of Manasseh this decree had gone out from the Lord, and it could not be reversed. During Josiah's reign it was put on hold. It would have stayed on hold under the kings who followed him, if they had been willing to listen (Jer. 25:1–11). Two things caused this final judgment: idolatry, and innocent blood. Jehoiakim, like Manasseh, shed all the innocent blood he could in Jerusalem — the city that has killed the prophets and stoned those who were sent to it.
Manasseh humbled himself, and God heard him. Yet the judgment still fell. Writers answer this by separating personal forgiveness from God's government:
God heard and answered Manasseh's prayer when he humbled himself. Yet the righteous government of God fell upon the guilty nation he had led astray.
Another writer shows how far this reached. Judah shared in the provocation, so Judah shared in the consequences:
Repentance, and a humble walk with God afterwards, will not always turn aside the governmental consequences of a person's wrongdoing. God's Word states plainly, to His glory, that king David deeply repented of his sin in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. Yet David still had to suffer in his own family for that cruel use of absolute power. Manasseh may have found mercy and forgiveness for his wickedness. But Judah shared in his provocations, so Judah must suffer the consequences from the hand of God.
Judah's removal from God's sight sounds like one nation's misfortune. One writer weighs it as far more — Judah went the way Israel had already gone, and what was lost reached far past Jerusalem:
God had placed the family of David on His own throne at Jerusalem and made them responsible there. That family was unfaithful, and the sin of Manasseh made their rule unbearable to the Lord. Judah was removed out of His sight, as Israel had been. So what was left of the place where God ruled directly by a law He had given? Nothing. His glory left Jerusalem and the earth, for it had filled the temple of Jerusalem. So this judgment was far weightier and far more important. It removed the government of God from the earth, and entrusted power to the head of the Gentiles.
Manasseh's name still stands over a judgment that fell long after he died. His story leaves a warning:
Manasseh forsook his wicked way, he did indeed "return to the LORD," and the Lord had mercy upon him. Then Manasseh served the Lord; but sadly, he could not undo all the evil he had done (see 2 Kings 24:3–4). How sorry he must have been as he thought of his past life. Dear reader, I urge you, take warning. If Manasseh had sought the Lord when he was a boy, how much good he might have done before he became a man. We can never make up for lost time.
- Spoken — God passed sentence on Judah back in Manasseh's day. Verse 3 shows that sentence carried out, not started.
- Delayed — Josiah's faithfulness held it back. It would have stayed on hold if his sons had listened.
- Doubled — Two causes are named: idolatry, and innocent blood filling Jerusalem. Jehoiakim added his own share of the blood.
- Forgiven — God forgave Manasseh himself. The nation he led astray still met God's government. As with David, pardon and consequence are not the same thing.
- Costly — More than a city fell. God's government left the earth, and power passed to the Gentiles. One life's sin leaves a trail it cannot later undo.
and also [because of] the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and Jehovah would not pardon.
Judah's last kings ruled under a sentence already passed. This verse gives the reason: Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon it. So how could God forgive Manasseh himself, and still refuse to forgive his crime?
Two charges lie behind the fall of Judah, and the sentence goes back to Manasseh's reign:
From the time of Manasseh this irrevocable decree had gone out from the Lord. It was suspended during Josiah's reign. It would have stayed suspended under his successors too, if they had been willing to listen. There were two causes for this final judgment: idolatry, and innocent blood. And Jehoiakim, like Manasseh, had shed innocent blood in Jerusalem as far as his power allowed. This is the city that has killed the prophets and stoned those who were sent to it.
Manasseh's guilt was not idolatry alone. One writer draws a rule from it:
Added to Manasseh's guilt was his cruelty in shedding much innocent blood. So violence went along with his corruption. Usually, when someone becomes corrupt in his attitude toward God, he becomes violent toward others.
Jehoiakim carried the same guilt. One writer follows Jeremiah's words against him:
"But your eyes and your heart are set only on your own greed, and on shedding innocent blood, and on oppression, and on violence, to do it. Therefore this is what the Lord says about Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah: They shall not mourn for him... He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and thrown out beyond the gates of Jerusalem." For the innocent blood he shed, the Lord would not pardon.
One writer compares Manasseh's case to David's. God pardoned the sin, yet His government still took its course:
Although God was so merciful, the evil of Manasseh brought the government of God upon the nation... When king David sinned, the Lord pardoned his sin, but the government of God on his house took its course. So it was with Manasseh. God heard and answered his prayer when he humbled himself. Even so, the righteous government of God fell upon the guilty nation he had led astray.
At the personal level the door stays open, even for the worst sinner:
In one sense his sin could not be pardoned, and Jerusalem was destroyed because of it. Yet personally, even a sinner like Manasseh may receive a free and full pardon from the God of Israel. Manasseh prayed for pardon in the prison in Babylon. God valued that prayer so highly that He had it recorded. It encourages other repentant sinners to come back to the same God, who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and of great kindness.
Manasseh was long dead when the judgment fell, yet Scripture still names his sins as the reason. One writer explains the principle behind that:
God, in His goodness, has always renewed His testimony. In His patience He sent His prophets, rising up early, as it says, to send them until there was no remedy... So all the righteous blood, from Abel to Zechariah, came upon that generation. They filled up the measure of their fathers' sin by rejecting God's last witness. Here we see sin inherited, and the people held responsible, as to the government of God, for the sins of their fathers. Morally, their sins were all the earlier sins piled together. God had borne with those sins patiently. They despised His patience and used it as an excuse to plunge deeper into evil.
An older law stands behind this: blood defiles the land, and only blood can clear it. One writer applies it to Israel's guilt:
Deuteronomy 21 gives another rule to keep blood from defiling the land. It declares, as elsewhere, that life belongs to God. When someone violates His rights, He will not overlook it. We cannot fail to see that the blood of Christ is, above all, what Israel is guilty of here. The blood of Jesus is the only atonement for the sin that shed it... There is nothing but the blood of the heifer that never bore the yoke that can wipe away sin. That is how the guilt of innocent blood will be taken away from the people.
- Two charges. Idolatry alone did not end Judah. Innocent blood was added, and together the two made the sentence final.
- Blood follows idols. Corruption toward God turns into violence toward people. Manasseh shed innocent blood, and Jehoiakim did the same as far as his power reached.
- Patience despised. God sent prophet after prophet until there was no remedy. The long delay was mercy. Treating it as permission only filled up the measure of sin.
- Pardon and government. God forgave Manasseh when he humbled himself. Yet the nation he led astray still bore the judgment. As with David, God pardons the sinner while His government runs its course.
- One blood that cleanses. Land stained by blood is cleared only by blood. The blood of Christ is the one atonement for the innocent blood shed.