Sins of the fathers

Reading through the books of Kings, you see that for generations, Israel is lead by evil and corrupt kings. From the end of Solomon's reign until Hezekiah's reign, not one followed God completely, most not at all. After Hezekiah came Manasseh.

Manasseh king of Judah has committed these detestable sins. He has done more evil than the Amorites who preceded him an has led Judah into sin with his idols. Therefore 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. . . I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. -- 2 Kings 21:11-13

After Manasseh came Amon, who followed in Manasseh's ways. After Amon came Josiah.

[Josiah] did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. -- 2 Kings 22:2

Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. He went up to the temple of the Lord with the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets . . . He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. The king stood by the pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord -- to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul . . . Then all the people pledged themselves to the covenant. -- 2 Kings 23:1-3

Jehoahaz, Josiah's successor was enslaved by Egypt. Jehoiakim's reign was really the beginning of the end for Judah before being carried off to Babylon.

The Lord send Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite and Ammonite raiders against him. He sent them to destroy Judah, in accordance with the word of the Lord proclaimed by his servants the prophets. Surely these things happened to Judah according to the Lord's command, in order to remove them from his presence because of the sins of Manasseh and all he had done, including the shedding of innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood. For he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to forgive. -- 2 Kings 24:2-4

It bothers me that so close after Josiah's reign, turning the people back to God, He still turned His wrath upon Judah. The sins of Manasseh were so great that the rightness of Josiah could not put off God's wrath past the end of his reign. But then again, after each good king, Israel seemed to have no trouble slipping back into sin; could it be that all the evil kings so corrupted the people that they never truely turned back to God?

I'm not very familiar with the events following Israel's captivity and return, but I have noticed that in the New Testament, Jesus is clearing corrupt merchants out of the temple, not alters to other gods; the evils mentioned in Kings don't seem to be present in Israel at that time. Maybe captivity straightened them out. I hope to learn in weeks to come.