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In the story of Esau (found in
Genesis chapter 25) and that of
Manasseh son of Hezekiah (found in
2 Chronicles chapter 33) we
have two men who sinned, who realized the consequences of their sins, and who entreated God earnestly
to bring about changes in their circumstances.
Why was one forgiven, and one not?
In the case of Esau, we have what might seem like a slight sin: not murder or deception (like his
brother Jacob), and not that of idol worship nor child sacrifice (the sins of Manasseh.). Esau simply
disparaged and took lightly what must have seemed to him at the time to be merely words: the future
blessing of his father. Esau, faced with what he saw as human exigency, made a decision that he not only
took lightly but perhaps even thought could be reversed as easily as it was made. He chose food and the
needs of his body over a promise.
Manasseh's sin would seem by contrast to be an infinitely more heinous one. Not only did he undo
all the good his father Hezekiah had done, he went so far as to take a carved image, one he himself had
made, into the very temple of God. He practiced sorcery, divination, and even sacrificed his own children
in the fire to false gods. His sins were individual and corporate: he led an entire nation into idolatry and
provoked God to great anger.
And yet--what was the end of each of these two men? Each came to a moment in which he realized
the profundity of his own sin. Esau,
Hebrews 12 tells us, wanted to
regain that blessing so urgently that he sought it, with tears. Manasseh, likewise, found himself
humiliated with a hook in his nose, led in disgrace in chains to Babylon. He, too, sought a change from
the Lord.
Esau found "no place for repentance." I had always believed that
Hebrews 12:16-17 showed
the urgent, tearful pleas of a man who went up against an implacable God who refused to forgive
him--but that's not what it says. The Holy Spirit says that Esau was a godless man who consciously
exchanged something of spiritual value for that of something of only earthly and passing value. We never
can conclude that he was anything other than godless--and that is seen in the fact that in spite of his tears
and sorrow, he never found a place for metanoia--the changing or metamorphosis of his
mind.
Manasseh, however, sought the favor of the Lord. He humbled himself greatly before the Lord
(these from 2 Chronicles
33:12.) And when he prayed, the God of the universe was moved by his entreaty and listened to
his plea and exerted geopolitical power to bring that man back to Jerusalem--and to his kingdom.
Forever in his now-transformed mind the matter was settled: the Lord is God.
Each person comes in his or her life to what the Spanish call the "punto cumbre" or climax of
decision. It was that in Acts 2:38 in
the pricking of the hearts of the listeners at Pentecost. It was there for Paul on the road to Damascus. It
may come as something as seemingly slight as disparaging the promise of God, or as great as the
multiplied thousands of sins against God and humanity.
God's decisions to forgive are not based on a reckoning of the severity of sin or sins, but the
moment-by-moment decisions we make: because God's mercies are new every morning, each day is
the acceptable day of salvation.
Rejoice, oh Christian! We do not live under accumulated mountains of sins, but under only one
yoke: that of acknowledging the God of the universe, and maintaining moment by moment a relationship
with Him.
 Latayne C. Scott |
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