The Difference Between Forgiveness and Consequences

Picture a beautiful sunny day in the Caribbean.

My hubby and I had saved our pennies for a family cruise on our older daughter’s senior-year spring break. On this day we’d chosen an excursion on inner-tube motor boats. Dad got one daughter. I got the other. The guide instructed us on how to accelerate, how to steer, and off we went—about 15 of these cumbersome, floating, zooming things in a long row out into the ocean. 

My husband and older daughter were behind my younger daughter and me. We followed a middle-aged woman and her friend. The guide goosed his engine, and the other boats sped to keep up. 

Let me say—in my defense—I’d never used a throttle, a boat engine, or anything I had to steer with a silly stick! I eased the throttle up, and everything was going quite nicely until the stupid guide decided to come to a quick and complete HALT right in the middle of the ocean! 

The boats in front also seemed to stop more quickly than me, and I could suddenly count the fillings in the woman’s wide-open mouth on the boat in front of us. I could think only of what the propellers on my motor would do while I continued flying over top her pretty yellow inner tube.  

All the forgiveness in the world wouldn’t erase the consequences. 

Thankfully (and likely by the power of several guardian angels), my boat slipped off the side of her inner tube, and I was able to regain control. As a result, the guide went a little slower after that. 😊

A King’s Wild Ride 

If you’ve read Isaiah’s Daughter, you know that we began our story with Judah’s idolatrous King Ahaz. His son, Hezekiah, worked his whole life to restore the nation’s allegiance to Yahweh. As we prepare for the August 1st release of By the Waters of Babylon, a story about Judah’s final king and exile, we’re moving through the stories of all the kings after Hezekiah.

Scholars are uncertain as to the exact timing of a terrible illness that struck Hezekiah, but when he was near death, Yahweh sent the prophet Isaiah and ultimately gave him fifteen more years of life. Three years later, Manasseh was born, and at the ripe-old-age of twelve took Judah’s throne—this young boy who had grown up knowing Yahweh’s prophet proclaimed the exact year of his father’s death. 

We have no idea why Manasseh went so far astray. Why did he—as legend has it—saw Isaiah in half? Why did he do more evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites (2 Kings 21:9)? We do, however, know that he was judged harshly for it. 

“So the Lord brought against [Judah] the army commanders of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon. In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.” 2 Chronicles 33:11–13 

Irreparable Consequences 

If you asked me, these are some of the most sobering verses in God’s Word: 

“[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…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. The people, however, continued to sacrifice at the high places, but only to the Lord their God.” 2 Chronicles 33:15–17 (emphasis added) 

It didn’t matter how much Manasseh told the people to stop their idolatry, the consequences of his sin was irreparable, and his heir paid the price. 

“Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem two years…He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.” 2 Kings 21:19-20 

The Hopeful Ending

In ALL Christian fiction, there can be a HOPEFUL ending even when there can’t be a happy one. In Manasseh’s story, it’s the same. Scripture gives us a bleak generalization of Judah’s condition as a NATION, but let’s step back and consider the individual in this story—because our God is a personal God.  

Was Manasseh forgiven by Yahweh? I believe he was! His personal story was a triumph of restoration and hope for anyone who’s endured a prodigal and prayed for years that they’d come “home.” Forgiveness doesn’t erase consequences, but God’s mercy offers new life to dead hearts. Consider Manasseh—the wickedest king ever recorded—and the most beautiful redemption in God’s Word. 

BTW… 

Isaiah’s Legacy, the sequel to Isaiah’s Daughter, tells the story of Manasseh and his ima Hephzibah—after Hezekiah’s death. It introduces a new heroine, Manasseh’s lovely wife, Meshullemeth (Shulle). This story is both tragic and triumphant. See the special announcement below for BIG NEWS! 

Tweet-A-Licious! 

• Forgiveness doesn’t erase consequences, but God’s mercy offers new life to dead hearts. 
• Christian fiction can offer a HOPEFUL ending even when there can’t be a happy one. 
• Consider Manasseh. The wickedest king ever recorded. And the most beautiful redemption in God’s Word.

Today’s Question: 

• Do you have a prodigal we can pray for today? Or a victorious prodigal story? 

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT! 

All three of my next books will be available in AUDIO format!!! 

• By the Waters of Babylon (McPherson Publishing – August 2018) 
• Of Fire and Lions (WaterBrook/Multnomah – February 2019) 
• Isaiah’s Legacy (WaterBrook/Multnomah –  February 2020) 

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