While in prison Manasseh repented before the Lord and the Lord restored Manasseh to his throne in Jerusalem. For the remaining six years of his life Manasseh got rid of the foreign gods and removed the images from the temple. He restored the temple and temple services and told the people of Judah to seek the Lord.

Besides seeking the Lord and leading the people back to God, Manasseh also was concerned about national defense. Manasseh had lost his desire to cooperate with the evil world powers. He no longer sought to compromise with the forces of darkness once he returned from captivity. He returned to his throne concerned with fortifying the cities of Judah and rebuilding the defensive walls of Jerusalem because he had seen and experienced the wicked and evil forces that now threatened his people.

The people did not listen. Manasseh’s son Amon would have a short, evil reign for two years but this would be followed by Josiah who took the throne at the age of eight. Josiah would have been born the year his grandfather Manasseh returned from his Babylonian prison. Josiah’s first six years of his life would have been lived during King Manasseh’s six years as a believer who was trying to restore the proper worship of the Lord. It is very likely that the godly King Manasseh in his final six years of his life influenced his young grandson Josaih in the ways of righteousness. And, when Josiah became king he would lead the whole nation in that same path of righteousness.

“I am profoundly convinced that the historic revelation of God in Jesus of Nazareth must be the cornerstone of any faith that is really Christian. Any historical question about the real Jesus who lived in Palestine nineteen centuries ago is therefore fundamentally important.” – Montgomery

The book of 1 Chronicles begins by listing around 2,000 names. Obviously, this was important information that connected the contemporary Jewish people of 530 BC with their past and their national heritage.