LEARNING THE HARD WAY

II Chronicles 33 tells us about Manasseh's life.

His father, Hezekiah, had been King of Judah for twenty-nine years.  Hezekiah had been a good, God-serving king!

Manasseh became king when he was twelve years old.  That means he was born when his dad was forty-two years old.  Although we have no details, Manasseh chose to rebel against his father's values - and therefore against God.

The Bible describes him as follows:
v.2  -  ...it was an evil reign, for he encouraged his people to worship the idols of the heathen nations...
v.9  -  ...Manasseh encouraged the people...to do even more evil than the nations the Lord destroyed when Israel entered the land.

But here's the critical line: 
v.10  -  Warnings from the Lord were ignored by both Manasseh and his people.

So:
v.11  -  ...God sent the Assyrian armies, and they seized Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains and carted him away to Babylon.