Manasseh becomes king and consistently acts as if God does not exist.
God says, "I will...deliver them into the hand of their enemies...because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day."
I like this because it sounds so human(e). Israel did not disobey God ever since "their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day." They had their obedient times under good kings.
I desperately want my wife to love only me, care only about me, think only about me, respect and honor only me. When she does something that causes me hurt, my feeling is "you always do this!" ...especially if it seems like a pattern of behavior. "You always [frustrating action here]!" And I'm right - her unfaithfulness to my feelings is much more consistent than I would want. If it was a conscious choice, she was not dedicated more to me than she was to herself, and if she's not 100% dedicated to me, I still desire more.
How much more would God want our complete dedication - He actually deserves it! Here He becomes just as upset and jealous as I would want the Pursuer of my soul to be if I was unfaithful, however inconvenient His anger may be to my selfish desires. In a sense, it's quite an honor that he's so ticked at Israel! ...and the part that really set Him apart and makes this beautiful instead of disfunctional is how willing He is to turn back to Israel and bless her and love her and delight in her when she repents from her unfaithfulness. In this way, I see Him as very gracious, even in the Old Testament. I would trust the evidence of Israel's unfaithful actions and distrust her repentant words.
Thank God I'm not.
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