Let the children play with these and then talk about different ways rings are used. How do you wear this? Why do people give rings as gifts? What does it mean if someone has a ring?
Manasseh was a very bad king. He was mean, and he hurt people, even his own family. He turned God’s temples into places where idols were worshiped. It’s hard to find a man as bad as Manasseh was! He was definitely the worst king Judah ever had!
10 The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. 11 Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. 12 And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 13 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.
God loved even terrible, awful Manasseh, and he would not stop trying to help him change. When God couldn’t get Manasseh’s attention any other way, he had him arrested and taken to jail. They even put a hook or a ring through his nose like a cow to lead him there! Have you ever seen a cow with a ring in its nose? Rings can mean a lot of things, but they almost always mean love and protection. Cows have rings in their noses to help their owners guide them where they should go, and it looks like God did the same for Manasseh.
Manasseh finally got the message that he needed God as a guide, and he asked God for forgiveness. God listened and forgave Manasseh even though he’d been doing so many bad things for so long. God never stopped trying to guide even the worst king ever.
Manasseh went on to be good and kind to his people after God forgave him. He built a wall around the city to protect them and encouraged them to worship God with him. He loved his family better and went on to have many descendants, one of whom is JESUS!
Manasseh was the worst king Judah ever had, but God changed his heart! Is Manasseh someone you think God would put in Jesus’ family? Definitely not! God took what was evil and used it for good, and He does that for us too. Praise the Lord! Jesus is coming!
