Among the Gods (38 page)
When Christ came as high priest … He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption…. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
—Hebrews 9:11–12, 14
[Manasseh] got rid of the foreign gods and removed the image from the temple of the Lord, as well as all the altars he had built on the temple hill and in Jerusalem; and he threw them out of the city. Then he restored the altar of the Lord and sacrificed fellowship offerings and thank offerings on it, and told Judah to serve the Lord, the God of Israel
.—2 Chronicles 33:15–16
The Prayer of Manasseh
O Lord Almighty, God of our ancestors,
of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous offspring;
you who made heaven and earth with all their order;
who shackled the sea by your word of command,
who confined the deep and sealed it with your
terrible and glorious name;
at whom all things shudder, and tremble before your power,
for your glorious splendor cannot be borne,
and the wrath of your threat to sinners is unendurable;
yet immeasurable and unsearchable is your promised mercy,
for you are the Lord Most High, of great compassion,
long-suffering, and very merciful,
and you relent at human suffering.
O Lord, according to your great goodness
you have promised repentance and forgiveness
to those who have sinned against you,
and in the multitude of your mercies
you have appointed repentance for sinners,
so that they may be saved.
Therefore you, O Lord, God of the righteous,
have not appointed repentance for the righteous,
for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, who did not sin against you,
but you have appointed repentance for me, who am a sinner.
For the sins I have committed are more in number than
the sand of the sea;
my transgressions are multiplied, O Lord, they are multiplied!
I am not worthy to look up and see the height of heaven
because of the multitude of my iniquities.
I am weighted down with many an iron fetter,
so that I am rejected because of my sins, and I have no relief;
for I have provoked your wrath and have done what is evil in your sight,
setting up abominations and multiplying offenses.
And now I bend the knee of my heart,
imploring you for your kindness.
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned,
and I acknowledge my transgressions.
I earnestly implore you,
forgive me, O Lord, forgive me!
Do not destroy me with my transgressions!
Do not be angry with me forever or store up evil for me;
do not condemn me to the depths of the earth.
For you, O Lord, are the God of those who repent,
and in me you will manifest your goodness;
for, unworthy as I am, you will save me according to your great mercy,
and I will praise you continually all the days of my life.
For all the host of heaven sings your praise,
and yours is the glory forever. Amen.
from the Apocryphal book The Prayer of Manasseh (NRSV)
In 1961, archaeologists uncovered the ruins of a temple on the island of Elephantine in Egypt. Aligned to face Jerusalem, it was identical in size and construction to the Jerusalem Temple and had been built by Jewish priests and Levites fleeing the persecution of King Manasseh’s reign. Records unearthed with it revealed that a full schedule of sacrifices and feast days had been celebrated there. Since no other temple was ever built by exiled priests or Jews, some scholars have concluded that the Ark of the Covenant might have been rescued during the time of Manasseh and housed in Egypt, as well. My novel
Among the Gods
is based on this premise.
King Hezekiah did have a second son named Amariah. In the book of Zephaniah (1:1), Amariah and his son Gedaliah are listed as the prophet’s ancestors.