A tingling feeling usually suggests something exciting, an experience we anticipate with a thrill. A tingle comes at an amusement park, or greeting someone you love after a long absence, or sitting down at a favorite restaurant.

But some tingles ain’t so great.

Manasseh, king of Judah, embraced every pagan custom possible, and egregiously offended the Lord. Then God spoke in judgement:

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of everyone who hears of it will tingle.

The Lord’s actions, be they graceful or disastrous, create tingling far and wide. In this case, God brought conquerers who took Manasseh prisoner, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

Manasseh later humbled himself and sought the favor of the Lord. He truly repented of his sins and unfaithfulness, and the Lord restored him to his throne in Jerusalem. A happy ending, after a great deal of unnecessary pain and suffering.

Enjoy that tingling feeling when it comes with a friend or a fine meal. But pay attention when goose bumps arrive with foreboding. Because not all tingles point to good news.

2 Kings 21 & 2 Chronicles 33 in reading the Bible cover to cover in 2023

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez