No Regard for Passing the Torch!

I can't understand it no matter how many times I read it or hear it read.  It seems so glaringly obvious that these kings of Judah who were entrusted with the sober responsibilty to rule over God's people with great care to serve their God and obey his law failed so miserable over and over at one very crucial thing -- passing the torch to the next in line to rule as king.

How could it be that for all his righteousness and strict adherence to the commandments of God that Hezekiah could produce a son who would rule after him and yet we read . . .

"Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen" -- 2 Chronicles 33:9

I must be honest . . . it baffles me!  Yes, I'm still grappling myself with the awesome responsibility of fatherhood as a father of just one 5 year old (it's challenging I'm learning everyday) and I know you can't always control the choices made by your children because in the end they are individual people and have to chart their own course in life.  But for goodness sake could not the kings of God's chosen people put a little bit more effort in the grooming of their hiers to the throne!

It would seem that the preparation to because the leader of Israel would have been held with the highest regard and have been met with the most diligent care.  Yet, as we approach the end of the long line of kings in Judah we find one bad seed after another recklessly aquiring the most sacred trust of leading God's people with very little regard (or none at all) for the gravity of the position thrust upon them.  Even after really good men ruled the land and served God with all their hearts it's shocking that surprisingly little regard was made for the critical preparation of the next man who would one day fill their shoes.  It's such a sad refrain that we read over and over again of the next new king in the history of Israel . . .

". . . But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD"

It's easy to gloss over the significance of this constant straying away from God (sometimes in dractic measure), but as you stop to think about what this says about the culture and the royal families it jumps out as incredibly odd.  Of course we know this was all part of God's plan for Israel (and Judah in particular), but in retrospect, it's still really stunning when you think of it -- what lack of foresight!  What reckless disregard for what seems from this vantage to be so crucial.