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Book 14 of 39 · History

2 Chronicles

The Complete Story34:37

Overview

2 Chronicles is the second half of the Chronicler's history. It runs from Solomon's accession (about 970 BC) through the kings of Judah to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, and ends with the decree of Cyrus of Persia in 539/538 BC inviting the exiles to go home and rebuild. In the Hebrew Bible Chronicles comes last, so its final words, "let him go up", close the whole Hebrew scriptures.

Unlike Kings, Chronicles follows only Judah after the division; the northern kingdom appears only where it touches Judah. Each king is measured by whether he "sought the LORD": reliance on God brings victory and blessing, while unfaithfulness brings trouble, often within the same reign. Repentance is always possible, even for the worst of them. The temple, its priests and Levites, its music and its festivals stand at the centre.

Structure: Part 1 Solomon and the temple (chapters 1–9); Part 2 Judah's kings from Rehoboam to Ahaz (10–28); Part 3 Hezekiah's reform (29–32); Part 4 Manasseh to the exile and Cyrus's decree (33–36).

Part 1 — Solomon and the Temple (chapters 1–9)

Wisdom at Gibeon (1). Solomon worships at the tabernacle and bronze altar at Gibeon. God appears at night: "Ask what I shall give thee." Solomon asks for "wisdom and knowledge" to govern; God adds riches, wealth and honour.

Building the temple (2–4). Solomon agrees with Huram (Hiram) of Tyre for cedar and a skilled craftsman, Huram-abi. He builds "at Jerusalem in mount Moriah… in the threshingfloor of Ornan" (3:1), linking the site to Abraham and to David. The Most Holy Place is lined with fine gold, with two great cherubim and a veil of blue, purple and crimson. Bronze pillars named Jachin and Boaz, the bronze sea on twelve oxen, ten lampstands and ten tables are made.

The ark and the glory (5). The Levites bring the ark into the inner sanctuary. Priests, singers and 120 trumpeters make "one sound… in praising and thanking the LORD; saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever". The house fills with a cloud, and the priests cannot stand to minister.

Solomon's prayer (6). Standing, then kneeling, on a bronze platform, Solomon prays: "Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house." He asks God to hear prayers toward the temple in every circumstance: sin, defeat, drought, plague, the foreigner who comes, war and even exile.

Fire and the answer (7). Fire comes down from heaven and consumes the offerings; the glory fills the house; the people bow and say, "For he is good." God appears to Solomon at night with the book's key promise: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (7:14). A warning follows for those who forsake him.

Splendour (8–9). Solomon builds cities, organises the priests and Levites as David ordered, and trades by sea. The Queen of Sheba tests him and declares, "the one half of the greatness of thy wisdom was not told me." Silver is as common as stones. Chronicles does not tell of Solomon's foreign wives or idolatry. He reigns forty years.

Part 2 — Judah's Kings, Rehoboam to Ahaz (chapters 10–28)

Rehoboam (10–12). Rehoboam's harsh answer splits the kingdom; the northern tribes follow Jeroboam. Priests and Levites expelled by Jeroboam come to Judah, strengthening it. When Rehoboam forsakes the law, Shishak of Egypt invades. Shemaiah says, "Ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you", and when the leaders humble themselves God grants "some deliverance".

Abijah (13). On Mount Zemaraim, outnumbered two to one, Abijah appeals to Israel: they have golden calves, but Judah has the LORD's priests. Surrounded, Judah cries out, the priests sound trumpets, and God routs Jeroboam.

Asa (14–16). Asa removes foreign altars and fortifies Judah. Facing Zerah the Cushite's huge army he prays, "Help us, O LORD our God; for we rest on thee", and wins. The prophet Azariah says, "The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you", and Judah swears a covenant with joy. But late in his reign Asa bribes Ben-hadad of Aram against Israel. The seer Hanani rebukes him: "The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." Asa jails Hanani, and in his final illness seeks only physicians.

Jehoshaphat (17–20). Jehoshaphat sends officials, Levites and priests to teach "the book of the law of the LORD" in all Judah's cities, and appoints judges: "Take heed… for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God." His alliance with Ahab nearly kills him at Ramoth-gilead, where Micaiah prophesies truthfully against 400 prophets. When Moab, Ammon and Edom invade, he proclaims a fast and prays, "we know not what to do: but our eyes are upon thee." Jahaziel the Levite answers, "the battle is not yours, but God's." Singers march ahead of the army praising "the beauty of holiness"; the invaders destroy one another, and the place is named the Valley of Berachah (Blessing).

Jehoram, Ahaziah and Athaliah (21–23). Jehoram murders his brothers and follows Ahab's ways; a letter from Elijah announces judgment, and he dies of a painful bowel disease, "without being desired". After Ahaziah's death, Athaliah seizes power and kills the royal family; Joash is hidden in the temple six years. The priest Jehoiada crowns him, Athaliah is executed, and Baal's temple is destroyed.

Joash (24). Joash restores the temple with a collection chest while Jehoiada lives; the priest is buried among the kings. Afterwards Joash and the leaders turn to Asherah poles. When Jehoiada's son Zechariah warns them, he is stoned in the temple court at the king's command: "The LORD look upon it, and require it." Aram defeats Judah, and Joash is assassinated.

Amaziah and Uzziah (25–26). Amaziah obeys a prophet and sends home hired Israelite troops, then worships Edom's gods and is defeated by Israel. Uzziah seeks God in the days of Zechariah the seer and prospers: towers, cisterns, an army, inventive war machines, and a love of farming. "But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up." He enters the temple to burn incense; Azariah and eighty priests resist him, and leprosy breaks out on his forehead. He lives isolated till his death.

Jotham and Ahaz (27–28). Jotham "prepared his ways before the LORD". Ahaz makes Baal images and burns his sons. Aram and Israel defeat him; Israel takes 200,000 captives, but the prophet Oded rebukes them, and Ephraimite leaders clothe, feed and anoint the captives and return them to Jericho. Ahaz turns to Assyria, which "distressed him, but strengthened him not". He sacrifices to Damascus's gods, cuts up the temple vessels, and shuts the doors of the house of the LORD.

Part 3 — Hezekiah's Reform (chapters 29–32)

The temple reopened (29). In his first month Hezekiah opens and repairs the temple doors and tells the Levites, "My sons, be not now negligent." They cleanse the temple in sixteen days. At the rededication, "when the burnt offering began, the song of the LORD began also with the trumpets", with David's instruments and the words of David and Asaph. "Hezekiah rejoiced… for the thing was done suddenly."

The great Passover (30). Hezekiah sends couriers "from Beersheba even to Dan", calling the remnant of the north to Passover: "turn again unto the LORD… and he will return to the remnant of you." Many mock, but some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun come. Many are ritually unclean, and Hezekiah prays, "The good LORD pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God." The LORD heals the people. The feast is extended to fourteen days: "since the time of Solomon… there was not the like in Jerusalem."

Provision for worship (31). Idols are smashed across Judah and even in Ephraim and Manasseh. Tithes pour in, heaped up for four months, and storerooms are prepared. "In every work that he began… he did it with all his heart, and prospered."

Sennacherib (32). Assyria invades. Hezekiah stops the springs, repairs the wall and encourages the people: "With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles." Hezekiah and Isaiah pray, and an angel cuts off the Assyrian army; Sennacherib returns in shame and is killed by his sons. Hezekiah's illness, a moment of pride and his humbling are briefly told; he builds the Siloam tunnel.

Part 4 — Manasseh to the Exile (chapters 33–36)

Manasseh's fall and repentance (33). Manasseh rebuilds the high places, worships the stars in the temple courts, burns his sons in the Valley of Hinnom and practises sorcery, leading Judah to do "worse than the heathen". God sends Assyria's army, who take him "with hooks", bind him in bronze chains and carry him to Babylon. This episode is told only in Chronicles. "When he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly." God hears and restores him: "Then Manasseh knew that the LORD he was God." He removes the foreign gods and restores the altar. His son Amon does evil and is assassinated.

Josiah's search and the Book of the Law (34). At sixteen, Josiah "began to seek after the God of David"; at twenty he purges Judah, Jerusalem and the northern towns. During temple repairs Hilkiah finds "a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses". Josiah tears his clothes; Huldah the prophetess confirms judgment but promises him peace. He reads the covenant to all the people and makes them pledge to keep it.

The Passover (35). Josiah tells the Levites to place the ark in the temple and serve. He gives 30,000 lambs and kids and 3,000 bulls from his own flocks; priests, Levites, singers and gatekeepers all take their places. "There was no passover like to that kept in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet."

Josiah's death (35). Pharaoh Neco, marching to Carchemish, warns Josiah that God has sent him and urges him not to interfere. Josiah disguises himself and fights at Megiddo; archers wound him, and he dies in Jerusalem. Jeremiah laments for him, and the laments are still sung.

The end of the kingdom (36). Jehoahaz is deposed by Egypt; Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin are taken to Babylon; Zedekiah "humbled not himself before Jeremiah the prophet". God sent messengers "rising up betimes", because "he had compassion on his people", but "they mocked the messengers of God… until the wrath of the LORD arose against his people, till there was no remedy." The Babylonians kill young and old, burn the house of God, break down the wall and take the survivors to Babylon. The land lies desolate "to fulfil the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths… to fulfil threescore and ten years."

Cyrus's decree (36:22–23). "The LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia." He proclaims that the God of heaven has given him all the kingdoms of the earth and charged him to build a house at Jerusalem: "Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up."

Key themes, and the bridge to Ezra

  • Seek the LORD. Kings who seek God prosper; those who forsake him fall. 7:14 is the book's charter.
  • Repentance and mercy. Rehoboam, Hezekiah's Passover guests and above all Manasseh show that humbling oneself before God is always met with grace.
  • Temple and worship. The temple's building, cleansing and festivals mark the high points; Levites and singers are honoured, and praise often goes before victory.
  • Prophets as God's patience. Prophets warn king after king. The exile comes only when "there was no remedy".
  • Hope beyond judgment. The exile is a sabbath rest for the land, lasting seventy years, not the end.

2 Chronicles closes with an open invitation rather than a ruin: the temple lies burned, but a Persian king calls God's people to "go up" and build it again. Ezra begins with the very same decree, word for word, and tells the story of those who answered it.