Manasseh set up a carved image of the idol, which he had made, in God’s temple that God had spoken about to David and his son Solomon: ‘I will establish my name for ever , in this temple and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
All the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, imitating all the detestable practices of the nations, and they defiled the Lord’s temple that he had consecrated in Jerusalem.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.
Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, as well as the children and older women, but do not come near anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.’ So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple.
Moses said to Aaron, ‘This is what the Lord has spoken: I will demonstrate my holiness , to those who are near me, and I will reveal my glory , before all the people.’ And Aaron remained silent.
The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place behind the curtain in front of the mercy seat on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. ,
For the time has come for judgement to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?