But they did not listen, and Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.Manasseh was obviously one of the worst kings Judah had. He did everything bad that his predecessors had done, and then some. God had destroyed the previous inhabitants of the land, in part because of their wicked acts, and now Manasseh is doing worse. It's no surprise that he's about to be condemned.
However, that's not what caught my attention here. What I noticed is what Manasseh did to get the people to follow his wicked actions. He "seduced" them. He didn't order them, or just put up the idols and they came flocking to them. He had to attract them somehow. He did something that enticed them, some kind of blatant or implied reward. This is always the most dangerous path, to be tempted because there's some kind of perceived benefit. I know that's how I normally mess up, because I see a benefit that in my mind outweighs the danger.
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