Key Verse: 2 Chronicles 7:14; 36:15,16

Themes to track: Obedience and disobedience, God’s character and nature, revivals

Have you ever listened to an excited young woman tell the story of her recent engagement? Where did it happen? How did he ask? Did he get on one knee? Did he pick the ring out himself? Chances are, she was happy to go into lots of detail, recapturing the moment in practically perfect likeness to the actual event. And if it was a friend you hadn’t seen in awhile, she was probably happy to tell you the whole story of how they met too! Now, have you ever asked a guy to tell you the story of when he asked a girl to marry him? Chances are, you got a lot less detail—not because he wasn’t excited about it, but just because men and women tend to tell those types of stories differently.

Though two people can live through the exact same event, the story will come out different based on who is telling it. Person A will want to focus on things that didn‘t mean much to Person B. Person B will want to go into detail about something Person A completely left out!

That is what we’ll see happening in Chronicles. About seventy-five percent of the events in Chronicles appear in either Kings or Samuel. Nevertheless, if you read them side by side, you’ll see that Chronicles was written by a different character in the story than the Kings and Samuel. The author clearly tells it from a different perspective, focusing on particular facets of the time period that were not prominent in Kings and Samuel. We can trust that God included both versions for a reason and that He has something different for us in each of the three books!

First and Second Kings left off with the Israelites in a grim situation. Both Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah (the southern kingdom) had been conquered and the people taken into exile. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and Babylon was the world power. Kings was written to tell the Israelites why they were in exile—they disobeyed the covenant, and God carried out the curses He had warned them of in the event of such disobedience.

Whereas Kings was written to explain the exile, it is generally accepted that Chronicles was written to the Israelites who had returned to rebuild Jerusalem after the seventy years in exile was up. (More about that in Ezra!) Chronicles was written to give its original readers hope for the future of Israel, focusing not on the nation’s past failures (as Kings does) but on the steadfast love and faithfulness of their God who is ready and willing to restore them.

The traditional view is that the priest Ezra authored Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. (Again, we’ll learn more about him next month in the book of Ezra.) One major reason for that view is that Chronicles seems to be written from a priestly perspective, capturing the religious history of Israel more than the political history.

Let’s briefly look at some of the major differences between Samuel/Kings and Chronicles:

1. Whereas the Kings focuses on both the kings of Israel and Judah, Chronicles focuses solely on the kings of Judah, unless an event occurs in which a king of Israel significantly affects a king of Judah. Why ignore the northern kingdom of Israel? One of Ezra’s goals is remind the readers of God’s faithfulness in preserving the Davidic line, as He promised to David in 2 Samuel 7:16 (see also 2 Chron. 21:7). David came from the line of the kings of Judah, not of Israel.
2. Chronicles pays a lot of attention to genealogies. Why all the names? They’re so hard to pronounce! Although we may not enjoy reading through big lists of names, the genealogies were important to the original readers. Besides promoting national unity, they help to restore the Israelites’ identity by going all the way back to the twelve tribes of Israel. The readers can see that God has been incredibly faithful to continue His people and that His plan started all the way back to Adam! Genealogies also served to show a person or group’s right to hold a certain office or function within the Levitical Priesthood.
3. Chronicles focuses primarily on the religious aspects of the nation—the temple, the priesthood, the Levites (and all religious organization in general), and the necessity of keeping the covenant in obedience to God.

The third difference listed tells us a lot about Ezra’s heart in writing Chronicles. Yes, it was important for the Israelites to read Samuel and Kings to learn from all of the wrong things their ancestors had done to usher in a seventy-year exile. But it was also important for them to get back to the question, Why has God chosen to continue our nation? What does He want with us? Ezra’s answer? “God wants to bless you! God wants to restore you! God wants to dwell with you!” But those things will not happen unless the Israelites choose to do things God’s way.

Very intentionally, Ezra shows what happened in the past when both the king and the people heeded God’s prophets, obeyed the covenant, honored the temple, (through building, repairing, and keeping it sacred and pure) and carried out the priesthood and duties of the Levites as God had instructed them to. When God was honored and obeyed from pure hearts, the people were blessed. Ezra starts off with the examples of David and Solomon. Notice that Ezra puts them in a very positive light, leaving out the details of their sin and disobedience that at certain points had very negatively affected their lives and kingships. The reason is not to excuse their sin, but to focus on what they did right, encouraging the readers to follow their examples. David, for instance, greatly revered the law and kept it with his whole heart. His passionate heart for God also led him to the desire to build a house for God. Since it was God’s plan for Solomon, not David, to build the temple, David did all he could by preparing all the building materials for it. While Solomon was reigning, he built a beautiful temple for the Lord and kept David’s instructions to keep the priesthood and the service of the Levites organized and running (see specifically 1 Chron. 28:20,21 and 2 Chron. 8:12-15). Other positive examples of kings include Asa in 2 Chron. 15:8-15, Jehoshaphat in 2 Chron. 17:3-6, Hezekiah in 2 Chron. 30, and Josiah in 2 Chron. 34:29-35:15.

Ezra wants to remind his readers that God had set them apart as a people to fear and worship Him alone and that God had given them a very specific way in which they were to do that. It was a way that honored and revered God, sought Him wholeheartedly, and took God’s desire to dwell among Israel very seriously. God wanted to dwell with them, be with them, but they had to be hospitable to His presence.

Probably the most quoted verse in Chronicles is 2 Chronicles 7:14, where God was speaking to Solomon in a dream: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

How inspiring such a promise would be to the Israelites who have returned to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile. As they begin with a fresh start, they have an opportunity to come before God, seek Him, obey Him, and devote themselves fully to Him as a people He has set apart for Himself. When I think of Chronicles, I’m reminded of a song by Sonic Flood that many of us have been singing for years in worship services:

When the music fades
And all is stripped away
And I simply come
Longing just to bring
Something that's of worth
That will bless Your heart

I'll bring You more than a song
For a song in itself
Is not what You have required
You search much deeper within
Through the way things appear
You're looking into my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
It's all about you
All about you, Jesus
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it
When it's all about You
It's all about you, Jesus

The exiles who have returned to Jerusalem for a fresh start need to first come back to the “heart of worship”, recognizing God as the only One worthy of their worship, the only One with whom they will find life and blessings and joy. They can talk about obeying God, intend on obeying the Law, and make all sorts of plans about organizing the priesthood and positioning people in their proper places to carry out worship in the temple—but unless they act, their words will be meaningless. And unless they act from their hearts, everything will be mere pretense—a performance that keeps them from truly knowing God the way He so wanted them to.

God is ready to restore them and bless them abundantly if they wholeheartedly honor and obey Him with sincere hearts. They must rebuild Jerusalem and the temple with great care—but in what way are they going to rebuild their hearts? What will their response be to Ezra’s challenge and encouragement? Come back next month and find out in the book of Ezra!

Copyright © by Tessa Hershberger Share

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