2 Kings 21:13, commentary and pictures

The declaration belongs with chapters 19-21, inside the sweep of 2 Kings 7-23 and John 1-4 covering nearly three hundred years from Joram of Israel through the dynasty of Jehu to Hoshea and the end of Israel by Shalmaneser and Sargon with scattering into captivity. In Judah that sweep runs from Ahaziah through Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah or Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah and Jehoahaz, with the sixty-year ministry of Elisha ending under Jehoash. The prophets in that time were Hosea, Jonah and Amos in Israel and Joel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, Zephaniah and Nahum in Judah. It illustrates Judah's spotted record in which the kingdom always prospered under righteous and faithful rulers and brought calamity on rulers and people when turning from God to gross idolatry.

The sentence stands in the reign of the wicked Manasseh and his wicked son Amon, between the good Hezekiah and the good Josiah, when Judah was following Israel's sad course of departure from God through idolatry until captivity came. Manasseh led Judah down into heathen idolatry at great speed and Amon kept the nation there, so that Josiah grew up in soil rank with abominations. In that setting Josiah became king at eight years old when his wicked father was murdered in the palace. His mother was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah of Boscath, and as queen mother she held the fountain of authority in the East and had charge of the boy, so that the light of his piety at sixteen came through her faithful instruction in divine things.

The sentence was pronounced because of all Manasseh's great evil in rebuilding the high places Hezekiah had destroyed, rearing altars for Baal, making a grove as Ahab did, and worshiping and serving all the host of heaven. He made his son pass through the fire, observed times, used enchantments, dealt with familiar spirits and wizards, seduced Judah to do more evil than the nations the Lord destroyed, and filled Jerusalem from one end to another with innocent blood. The measuring line of Samaria and plummet of the house of Ahab signify judgment patterned after the destruction and guilt associated with Samaria and Ahab's house. The wiping of a dish emptied and turned upside down pictures Jerusalem thoroughly emptied and brought to ruin by the complete removal of its inhabitants and possessions, a calamity so severe that whoever heard of it would have both ears tingle. The warning was spoken by God's prophets to Manasseh and to his people, they would not listen, and therefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh among the thorns, bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon.

The wiping also pictures the thorough and complete destruction that will come upon the wicked, like a dish rubbed clear and set face down so no dust can settle in it. It teaches that God is willing to remove sin and save the sinner, cleansing people and placing them where they will not fall under temptation. As a turned-over dish is kept free from dirt, so those who give themselves wholly into the Master's hands will be kept in time of trial, and God can completely remove evil thoughts from the heart. The same wiping gives a lesson for daily dishwashing today, because Christ notices even dishwashing and the way dishes are washed, remains the same through time, and stands beside believers as they wash dishes, so daily dishwashing should be done in a way that represents Christian light.