Daily Devotional

“Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:16). 

Five percent of people in the world suffer from arachnophobia, the fear of spiders. In truth, most of these eight-legged critters are harm- less. Only a small fraction of the 40,000 species can cause harm to humans. Most cannot even pierce human skin, and those that can cause no more damage than a mosquito bite. 

There are still poisonous spiders whose deadly venom can potentially kill you. The iconic black widow is one of the most recognized poisonous spiders, with its round black body and striking red markings. Its venom is the most potent of all spiders, but since it is small, it can’t deliver a lot of it. Bites can be fatal, but anti-venom is available to counter the effects. 

Although the brown recluse is also quite nasty, the Brazilian wandering spider tops the list of spiders with deadly bites. Its scientific name (Phoneutria) comes from the Greek language, meaning “murderess.” The venom of a wandering spider is twenty times more deadly than that of a black widow. 

The most evil and venomous king in the Bible was Manasseh. This fourteenth king of Judah and the son of Hezekiah reigned longer than any other Israelite king (fifty-five years). He came to the throne at the age of twelve and has been dubbed Judah’s most wicked king. The godly influence of his father seems to have not touched Manasseh, who was much more like his evil grandfather Ahaz. 

Manasseh was committed to idolatry and restored everything that Hezekiah had abolished. He erected altars to Baal, an image to Asherah in the temple, and worshiped the sun, moon, and stars. This deadly king approved of divination, killed anyone who stood in his way, and even sacrificed his own son to the god Molech. This was one Bible character you would be afraid to be near! 

Dear Lord, I choose to turn away from the deadly lures of this world and give myself fully to You alone.