Old Testament Core Seminar

Class 24“Chronicles”Old Testament Overview 1

Introduction

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• Ever been to a wedding or retirement party where you have watched a slideshow of pictures telling the person’s life?

• They not only show the changes - they highlight the meaning of his or her life.

• We’ve followed the development of God’s plan of redemption through the Old Testament all the way up to the people of Judah’s tragic exile into Babylon.

• Last week, we saw Daniel rejoicing that the exile’s end was near. • Now look at a book that was written after the exile.• The books of Chronicles, functions like a giant slideshow of the

whole Old Testament. • Reaching back to Adam and focusing especially on the period of

the kings, Chronicles is a retelling of the people’s history.• It makes sense of who they are now that the exile is over. • So today we look back as the story moves forward.

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Context:• First and second Chronicles were originally written as one book.• The Hebrew name translates to “the events of the days”. • One of the early church fathers, Jerome, called it the “chronicle”

of Judah’s history when he translated it into Latin … it stuck.• No one knows who the actual chronicler was that assembled

these various historical accounts into one book. • Some theologians suggest it may have been Ezra the priest.• To get a sense of this context read 1 Chron. 9:1-2.

“But Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. And the first inhabitants who dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and the Nethinim.”

• Notice “dwelt” is italicized meaning it’s not there in the original.• Some versions have “resettle” which makes more sense.• They were in exile to Babylon and after 75 years are back.• Chronicles were writing in the “postexilic” era - after the exile.

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• This is key to appreciating the message of the book of Chronicles.• The history of Israel was one that combined hope and tragedy:

– hope in the promise of God that one of David’s sons would rule forever, – tragedy as king after king failed to live up to God’s righteous ways and

showed themselves not to be the promised Messiah.

• Tragedy seemed to win as the northern tribes of Israel were exiled to Assyria in 722 BC, never to return,

• And as Judah was finally defeated by Babylon in 586 BC - Jerusalem and the temple destroyed, and the people exiled.

• But hope continued as a remnant of the people was preserved in Babylon and the line of David continued through king Jehoiachin!

• The books of Ezra and Nehemiah, complete the story as the people finally return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple and city walls.

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• Imagine you are one of those returning to Jerusalem … you’d have got some substantial theological questions in your mind. – Is God’s promise of a Messiah still valid? – Are we still the covenant people of God, even after 70 years of terrible

exile? – Is God still interested in us?”

• It is in response to these questions that the chronicler tells the history of the people.

• Like a master slideshow creator, the writer deliberately selects a handful of specific “photos” or historical narratives that tell the people who they are now that they are back in the land.

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Theology of Chronicles:• First, a question to be answered: Why does the chronicler

address the questions of the postexilic community through an overview of history that for the most part is already covered in other books of the Old Testament?

• Much of Chronicles overlaps with the books of 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings!

• Chronicles was compiled with a different purpose. • Kings was composed during the exile with a concern to show that

God did not break his promises in sending his people to Babylon. • For the chronicler, the exile is over. His aim is to remind the

people of faith that God does indeed have a future for them. • Thus he leaves out stories and details that were prominent in

Kings, and focuses of content that the book of Kings lacks. • Because he has a different end in mind.

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• Kings is about why the people had to go into exile.• Chronicles is about where their hope is to be now.• The seventy years are over—and so the exiles are returning. But

the seventy weeks have just begun.• Seventy “sevens” that must pass until the Lord’s Anointed One—

the Messiah—begins his rule. • While the physical exile is over, the spiritual exile continues.• When they return to Jerusalem, they’re not yet enjoying all the

new covenant promises (Jer. 31 & Ezek. 37).• Chronicles is telling them to not place their ultimate hope in the

fact that they’ve returned to the land, but in God’s greater fulfillment of promises that is yet to come.

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1 Chronicles 1-9 -- Genealogies: The Roots of the Postexilic Community Theology of Chronicles:• 1 Chronicles 1:1-4. Adam, Sheth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalaleel,

Jered, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.

• And the list goes on and on for nine chapters!• To us these genealogies may appear dusty and irrelevant. • But in context they are fundamental to the chronicler’s purpose. • Its not just historical trivia; he’s showing the postexilic

community is vitally connected to the people of God from ages past.

• They are God’s chosen people—just like these saints of old!• In 1:5-16 he briefly mentions the two descendants of Noah who

are not predecessors of Abraham. • But in verse 17 account shifts to the line of Shem, Noah’s son

who does lead to Abraham.

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• Same with Abraham’s sons – – the line following Ishmael is only traced for one generation, – the line following Isaac continues indefinitely beginning in 1:34.

• 2:1-2 we see the twelve sons of Israel but it starts with Judah!• Why? Because through Judah’s line we watch for the coming

king David, and still far off in the future, the Messiah. • David appears in 2:15 and his sons in chapter 3.• David’s royal lineage is traced all the way through the exile. • Verse 19 mentions Zerubbabel, a descendant of Davidic,

governing Jerusalem after the return from exile. • The chronicler starts all the way at the beginning, with Adam. • And as he progresses he always zeroes in on the line of promise.• The exile is over and Yahweh’s promises are still intact!”

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• Chapters 4-8 contain the genealogies that point to what happened to the North because of their unfaithfulness.

• 1 Chr. 9:1 is the summary statement, “All Israel was included in the genealogies … were written in the book of the kings.”

• “All Israel,” is repeated dozens of times throughout the book. • It shows his concern for both Judah and the northern tribes.• It also suggest that the spiritual core of the people isn’t found in

the national kinship but in the promises Yahweh made to David.• Promises are for anyone (Judah or Israel) who repent and believe • One final point on genealogies – they often gets misinterpreted. • For example, folks might argue if you pray the same prayer Jabez

prayed in 1 Chr. 4:9, you’ll get blessed in the same way he did. • Author: Beware! It ignores different ways God worked in the

nation of Israel and the ways he works among his church today. • Here it misses the author’s intent to give the people hope they

are still connected to God’s promises and David’s line is still intact

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1 Chronicles 10 - 2 Chronicles 9: The United Monarchy - The Messianic Hope of the Postexilic Community :• This section covers the united monarchy under David and

Solomon. • 1 Chr. 17:11-13 gives the reason why David in particular featured.

“And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son …”

• Here, God makes a covenant with David. – one of David’s sons will build a “house,” a temple for God– but God himself will build a “house” for David – a dynasty from which will

come an eternal king.

• It is this promise that the chronicler wants to impress upon the hearts of the postexilic community.

• He does this in two different ways than in Samuel and Kings.

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1. He presents a vision of what the Messiah will be like by highlighting the positive aspects of David and Solomon. • For example read 2 Sam 11:1-2 (David and Bathsheba). • You know how the story ends, 2 Samuel reminds us that David

was far from perfect.• Now read 1 Chron. 20:1-2 – there is no mention of Bathsheba.• In one account, David is exposed as a sinner. In the other, David

ends up wearing a crown of victory! • Was he trying to cover up the facts? Not at all: David’s sins were

recorded in Samuel so the people wouldn’t forget them. • The chronicler has a different agenda: in portraying David in an

overwhelmingly positive light, he is painting a picture of the sort of king the postexilic people were to hope for.

• Same with Solomon: his pinnacle sin of being led astray by his many wives (1 Kings 11) is absent from Chronicles.

• The chronicler describes them as a preview of the future King.

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• Today, we marvel at how the history of David and Solomon teach us so much about Jesus: – The King who rules in justice; – The warrior who brings us victory over sin, Satan, and death; – The shepherd of our hearts who leads us to worship and pray to God; – The owner of all wealth, riches, and splendor; – The supreme wisdom of God.

• As you read of David and Solomon in Chronicles, see how they foreshadow the greatest King of all.

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2. Unlike in Kings, in Chronicles, the reigns of David and Solomon revolve around the temple of God.• In 1 Kings (5:7), Hiram, king of Tyre, praises God for Solomon’s

wisdom. “for he has given David a wise son to rule over this great nation.”

• In Chronicles (2 Ch 2:12), Hiram is again quoted: “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel . . . He has given King David a wise son . .. who will build a temple for the LORD . . .”

• In Kings, wisdom is for ruling; in Chronicles it is for building. • This section of Chronicles you’ll see the attention to the temple.• When you read 1 Chr. 22-26, you’ll see it includes David’s

preparations for the temple Solomon would build, from the organization of the priests to the assignments of the musicians and gatekeepers.

• And it continues into 2 Chronicles.

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• All this is not to get the people to hope in a mere building.• In 2 Chron. 6 Solomon reminds us that God does not need a

physical place to dwell. • It is a reminder that in order to enjoy a reconciled relationship

with God, the returning exiles had to respond to God in repentance and faith.

• Its the temple because the temple was where the atonement sacrifices were made, representing God’s willingness to forgive.

• Listen to 2 Chron. 6:24-25: “24 “… if Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against You, and return and confess Your name, and pray and make supplication before You in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to them and their fathers.”

• To approach God at the temple was to approach him humbly, pleading for forgiveness.

• That’s the kind of approach to God they needed.

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2 Chronicles 10-36: The Kings of Judah - Examples of Rebellion and Repentance for the Postexilic Community:• The rest of Chronicles continues on from Solomon with a record

of the kings of Judah, the nation’s descent into sin, division, and finally exile.

• Recall that there are differences in the events recorded in Chronicles vs. Kings and Samuel.

• Chronicles includes something special surrounding Solomon’s commemoration of the Temple in 2 Chr. 7:13-15. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.

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• Solomon’s prayer in Kings highlights that the downfall of the nation is merely the working out of the Deuteronomy curses.

• Here the focus will be on this plea for repentance. • In that sense, verse 14 is really a theme verse for the whole book.

• Chapters 10-36 cover 19 different kings, from Rehoboam to

Zedekiah. • All are evaluated by how they live up to that verse. • Do they humbly seek God and turn from sin? • Or do they stubbornly rebel, serve idols, and coddle pride? • This verse is key for the postexilic community. It’s the idea of

immediate retribution. • Some returning exiles might think: “we can do whatever we

want, and God won’t punish us right away!” • The chronicler fights this sinful mindset.

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• The chronicler points out how when the kings and people sinned, they experienced the consequences of their sin right then, in their own generation.

• But when the kings and people obeyed and sought God like this verse instructs them to, he “heard from heaven,” “forgave their sin,” and “healed their land.”

• From the Author:“7:14 is an important verse for Chronicles, but we should note that it’s also a terribly misapplied verse today. It’s a verse given to God’s national people, Israel, the people who were set aside by God to display his character and give birth to his Messiah. You may hear folks apply this verse to America, but we should gently resist such misapplication because that kind of interpretation is ripping this verse—painfully!!—out of its original context. America is not the chosen land of God – it carries none of the redemptive-historical significance that the land of Israel did. When the Messiah came, God concluded the work of his special people in their own land. So, this particular promise to “heal their land” thus no longer applies directly to any place or nation. But the pattern of repentance and blessing we see here is one that endures, and that instructs us as God’s people to continually turn from our sin and seek the Lord.”

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• Throughout the rest of 2 Chronicles, you will find kings who followed God and the nation was blessed.

• You will also find kings who greatly sinned and God cursed the nation.

• By the end of the book we read in 36:15-20And the LORD God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy. Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak; He gave them all into his hand. And all the articles from the house of God, great and small, the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king and of his leaders, all these he took to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burned all its palaces with fire, and destroyed all its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths. As long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.

• Hope is not lost – read 36:22-23.

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• So, at the end of Chronicles, does sin have the last word? • No, there is hope for God’s people!• The genealogies show that David’s seed still endures. • The focus on the temple reminds the people that God will build

his house – the house of David’s son. • As 2 Chron. 21:7 says, “Because of the covenant the LORD had

made with David, the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever.”

• This leads us directly to Christ, the fulfillment of all God’s promises. – Jesus is the one who rescues his people from spiritual exile. – He is the promised son of David and the true temple.

• The end is not a question mark but a giant arrow to Christ.• Don’t read Chronicles as mere history – but to treasure it as a

signpost to the Messiah.