2 Chronicles | Why This Book Is a Powerful Testament of God's Grace

What is the significance of 2 Chronicles in the Bible?
How does 2 Chronicles differ from 1 Chronicles and Kings?
Who was King Manasseh and why is his story important?
What does the decree of Cyrus mean in the Bible?
How does 2 Chronicles show God's grace and forgiveness?

The podcast episode on 2 Chronicles provides an insightful and encouraging overview of the book, focusing on how it differs from 1 Chronicles and the books of Kings. While Kings was written for those going into exile, Chronicles was written for those returning from it, offering a more hopeful outlook. Chronicles details the journey of the Ark of the Covenant, the construction of the temple, and how the kings of Judah treated both the temple and priesthood.

The narrative dives into the significance of how Chronicles portrays the kings, often offering a more positive view compared to Kings, while emphasizing the importance of their treatment of the temple. The episode stresses the historical accuracy of these accounts, especially in relation to the decree of Cyrus, which allowed the Jewish exiles to return and rebuild the temple. The hosts explore the overarching theme of God's grace and mercy, illustrating that even in the Old Testament, God's forgiveness was available to the most wicked, such as Manasseh, drawing parallels to the New Testament.

The story of Manasseh serves as a powerful example of God's boundless grace, a key theme in 2 Chronicles. Despite his wickedness, his repentance and eventual redemption demonstrate that no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy. This theme resonates with the returning exiles, who might have questioned whether God would forgive their sins after 70 years of exile.

The podcast ties the historical context of 2 Chronicles with its spiritual lessons, making it relevant for both the original audience and today’s readers. The authorship is explored, with some scholars attributing it to Ezra, further emphasizing its focus on the rebuilding of the temple and the reestablishment of God's presence among His people. The episode concludes with a reminder that the return of the exiles, prophesied centuries earlier, is a historically confirmed event, highlighting the accuracy and reliability of the biblical narrative.

#BibleStudy #2Chronicles #BiblicalHistory #GodsGrace #Repentance #OldTestament #KingsOfJudah #TempleRebuild #JewishExile #CyrusDecree

Transcript

 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles

[00:00:00] Welcome to God's Full Story. This year, we're looking at every book in the Bible, piece by piece, one week at a time. Uh, we hope it's helping you understand the full story of scripture, and we hope it's strengthening your relationship with God. Uh, if you are enjoying the podcast, we would love to invite you to partner with us financially.

You can do so for as little as 3 a month by clicking the link in our description. Here's today's episode. Today we are going to be taking a overview look at the book of Second Chronicles. If you haven't had a chance to hear what we had to say about First Chronicles, of course you should go back and check that out.

Uh, but we're spending our day today looking at Second Chronicles. second Chronicles. This is the second time now that we do not have Chelsea with us. So those of you that are just waiting to hear what she has to say, um, unfortunately longing for the wisdom of Chelsea, she won't be chiming in at this point.

Just again, like we, we try to do this, uh, whenever we could find time, you guys. Would think it's hilarious. Like our schedule scramble, trying to [00:01:00] figure out how to get these episodes recorded. Sometimes it takes almost as long to figure out the next time we're recording as it does to record an episode.

There are times when we are gathered up, uh, in my basement at 10 o'clock at night, trying to record episodes. So Chelsea has a lot on her plate right now, and we're just trying to get a couple of, uh, Episodes in the tank. Um, so there might be a few where she's not here, but she will be back and we can't wait to have her back.

She'll be back because everything is better when Chelsea's here with that in mind, though, we're going to jump into second Chronicles. Yeah. And, uh, If you have listened to first chronicles, you would know that, uh, we're not just repeating everything. We've got different audiences here. We've got different authors, different, even really different purposes.

Um, just a little recap, a little bit of review Kings would have been, uh, written for the people that went into exile. Uh, a record of their history, Chronicles is written to those who come out of exile. So there'd be a 70 year gap, [00:02:00] uh, between Kings and Chronicles written by different people. Uh, Chronicles definitely written by a priest, but perhaps Ezra, cause it's right around that time.

In fact, even in the Hebrew Bible, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles are all grouped together in what's called the writings. Uh, and so, uh, Yeah, we've got a different setting here, and Chronicles is actually meant to be a hopeful book. It is the journey of the Ark that leads to the building of the temple, and that as the exiles return, one of their first tasks is going to be to rebuild the temple so that God can once again dwell in their midst and be with them.

And so they're going to take a look at a lot of their history, but it's going to be through the eyes of How did the kings, how did the rulers, uh, treat the temple? How did they treat the priesthood? How did the temple even come to be? Uh, and so it's really with that kind of an emphasis. Uh, we did mention, uh, last week as well, that Chronicles is a little bit more positive amidst some, [00:03:00] some kind of gory details that are found in Kings and probably some of the other writings of that day.

So it's not, uh, Uh, that the people don't know that. But again, uh, as they're looking back, they are doing so with hope. And so the good leaders are looked at even better. Uh, and the bad leaders, they're still bad, but sometimes they're actually even a little bit better too. Or there's some parts of their story that we get to learn a little bit about that we actually didn't even know.

Uh, and so that's one of the interesting things. Uh, my favorite King in a weird, strange way. in Second Chronicles is actually King Manasseh. Okay. Now, why would I say King Manasseh? Tell me more, Chris. He is, uh, he is actually probably the worst king of Judah. Uh, in fact, Kings does say that it was the sins of Manasseh that's what pushed God over the edge and he sent the, the nation into exile and judged them, uh, that he was the [00:04:00] worst of the worst.

Uh, so why in the world would I. Be a Manasseh fan when it comes to, uh, second Chronicles. Well, there is a notable, uh, story in second Chronicles that we don't have in Kings. Uh, so this is one instance that Chronicles doesn't omit something, but actually Chronicles includes something, uh, that gives us a, a much greater, uh, story and sense of what's going on.

And, uh, in second Chronicles chapter 33, if you look at verses, Uh, we actually see that the worst king of all, uh, actually has a, a time of repentance and really makes a, a great return or coming for the first time, perhaps, uh, to God, which, um, that's pretty amazing. Uh, it actually, I think in a book that is hopeful, uh, this would be a pretty amazing testimony to the original readers to, to those people who are returning from exile.[00:05:00]

A hundred percent it would have been really valuable to the original folks. Um, how is it valuable to us now? I'm sure it is. Yeah. But like, what, what do we take from it and why is it important? I mean, I, I think we see that no one is beyond repentance. Yeah. Um, and that even, you know, we, we do hear the occasional story of like, somebody on death row giving their life to Christ and it's like, Yeah, the mercy of God actually is available to anyone.

Uh, but I think, uh, particularly why this would be such a story of hope is that the Israelites, as they were in exile for 70 years, they would have already always heard Manasseh was the worst king Judas ever seen. And as they're maybe for the first time, I don't know if they would have heard this for the first time, but as they're, you know, this is recorded for them as they go back and they, you know, Perhaps learn of Manasseh's repentance.

Uh, they have just come out of 70 years of captivity because of their sin. [00:06:00] I'm sure is some questions of like, is God still really gonna go with us? Does is he really forgiven us? Have we have, we kind of, can he, can he forgive the sin that sent us into exile? And this would be a story that would say, well, if he can forgive Manasseh, the, uh, a king who burned his own children alive, he can forgive the returning exiles for sure.

It is a really interesting contrast because if you look at Chronicles as one unit, so if, if first and second Chronicles is like one work. You get Uzzah, who touched the Ark and was judged immediately. And then you have Manasseh, who He should have been judged. Apparently shoved God over the edge. Uh, certainly is well known for many wicked things.

And, and, you know, if we today are aware of wicked things, like the original audience would have been even more aware of wicked things. And he receives this incredible, Grace and [00:07:00] forgiveness from God. So it's interesting to hold those two things. intention. Um, that, that God certainly, uh, can execute judgment on the spot, but also at times God certainly chooses not to.

Yeah. And that's a mystery. It's a huge mystery. Yeah. It's an absolute mystery. I will say it's interesting that the Uzo was most likely a Levite, a priest who very much should have known, uh, how to handle the presence of God. Um, Manasseh, like, you know, it's a little bit different. He's, he's a ruler. He's a king.

Um, he still, I guess, should have known what's going on. Well, he, I mean, he did have a, a good father, um, or at least a, a father who followed God. Hezekiah would have been Manasseh's father, and he was one of the few good, generally good kings. I mean, nobody is, like, perfect king generally, but compared to most of the kings of Judah, [00:08:00] Hezekiah was one of the good ones.

Mm hmm. Um, so, yeah. You would assume that Manasseh had some kind of an upbringing and understanding of God But then he definitely fell off the deep end. It's not a guarantee with these Kings. No, it's not with their kids That's probably a good point Fatherhood isn't back then wasn't what it is now. Yes, even some of the best Kings had the worst kids.

Aka David Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yep Yes, um, so anyway, uh, so I say it a little bit tongue in cheek that Manasseh is my favorite. Um, he's obviously not my favorite. I mean, there's, how could he be better than Josiah or, you know, some of these other kings that we can learn so many great things from, but I do have to say I love the story of the worst king, the absolute worst king that will get referred to again and again, the sins of Manasseh.

Uh, he repents and, and it's a Like it really [00:09:00] truly shows us that no one is too far gone. It is a really powerful story of repentance. I, again, I love to point out these old Testament, new Testament things because that, that split is not great for any of us. Um, God accepts incredible repentance and shows incredible grace.

Throughout the Old Testament, God shows incredible grace and forgiveness throughout the New Testament. He didn't, he didn't all of a sudden change his mind. He didn't become something different. Um, there are many stories in the Old Testament of God showing incredible grace to incredibly wicked people. Um, just like they're, you know, I, I think the more popular, more well known stories, like you can point out, uh, Saul who was actively seeking to destroy the church.

Um, Repents and becomes, you know, obviously a really prominent leader in the church. Um, you, you could point to several of Jesus immediate disciples that were up to not great things and became pretty prominent leaders. So that repentance piece is [00:10:00] huge and it's a huge key feature of second chronicles. Uh, but of course it's a huge.

Key feature to the character of God and who he is and how he treats us and handles us. So don't forget the fact that that repentance is very available, um, at all times and oftentimes very available to some of the most wicked people. I know sometimes we create scenarios in our minds where it's like, Oh man, that guy is too far gone.

And oftentimes it is those guys, uh, who Come to Christ and and seek repentance and they are welcomed into the kingdom just as quickly as anybody else Yeah, I think also another thing that kind of crosses that Old Testament New Testament divide is that Here's Manasseh repenting and being forgiven for his sin before Christ came in the flesh.

Oh, man How does that work? And I think that Like there, there, I run into it so often that people are like, well, that was before Jesus. Like, you know, you know, did [00:11:00] any, was anyone forgiven to anybody, you know, anybody end up spending eternity with God? Like, and it's like, well, God is outside of time and space.

And, um, yeah, I think as there, you know, God has the ability to, the sacrifice that Christ eventually did to people. We see that happening all the way back with Abraham when Abraham's declared righteous by his faith. It's like the only way you become righteous is through Christ. Uh, so yeah, I, I'm glad that Scott isn't bound by time and space and he, he knew the first coming was a done deal, uh, even before we got to experience it in time and space.

So. Pretty cool. So Chronicles does continue on and it looks at all the kings of Judah. It goes from Solomon all the way, uh, through Manasseh and then until they are sent away into exile. Um, and it goes Really is looking at how did the kings treat the temple? [00:12:00] How did they respond to the priests? uh and giving The people that are receiving this book kind of a history of the journey Of god's presence and then they're sent into exile and one of their questions, you know as they were going into exile Would have been as god abandoning us is he punishing us and we see some of the the prophets like ezekiel address that We'll get to that eventually but then second chronicles actually takes a 70 year jump Uh, in a very short time, and the book actually ends with the decree of Cyrus to send the exiles back home.

So they go into captivity, Jerusalem's destroyed, and then right at the end, uh, in chapter 36, we, we take that jump where Cyrus sends them back, and that kind of is, uh, as they're being sent back, they're being sent back to Israel. Their lands, they can become people once again, and of course, they're going to want to begin to worship God again and build a temple, which we're [00:13:00] going to begin to see some of those events in the coming books of Ezra and Nehemiah, but Chronicles kind of gives us that, that perspective.

Um, in fact, we're going to see some very similar language in the beginning of Ezra, uh, that we finish up here in Chronicles. That is why some people think Ezra was the one who wrote Chronicles as well. So we kind of took this big jump over a 70 year period of exile. Um, some of the prophets are going to dive into that better.

We will, we'll see some, uh, things that happen in exile through Ezekiel. We'll see some of the things that happened through Daniel. So yeah, as we go through this historical overview, we're going to go the whole way through the history, and then we're going to go back and kind of reinsert the prophets and the wisdom leadership books as, uh, and we'll try to, Keep you up to speed on what period of history we're in as we tackle those various books.

Uh, I will say that Second Chronicles ends, like if you just flip to the very end of the book, it ends with this proclamation of Cyrus. Uh, that, that is basically the restoration, like [00:14:00] sending them back to the land. This, this is a historically confirmed, uh, event. So this is, um, it's, it's not a fairy tale.

It's not a made up story. Um, extra biblical things outside the Bible, uh, sources confirmed that this did actually occur. And it actually occurred to more peoples than just the Jews going back to their lands. Like Cyrus apparently had some kind of, um, some kind of heart and concern for peoples in his kingdom to be able to go back and serve there.

Regional gods and you know, people will point to like, that's God's sovereignty over Cyrus. Like God used, uh, raised up Cyrus. God used Cyrus. Well, that's even predicted. Yes, exactly. We are going to see that later in the prophets that Cyrus was predicted. Way before. I want to say it was like 400 years in advance or something.

By name. Yeah. I think it's by name, right? Right. And, and it is historically accurate. There's always, you know, always this long ago, the dates are always like [00:15:00] people like to debate about what the dates are and when it, when it is, but this did occur. We know what it occurs. And that is just another way that we can confirm that what we are reading in the Bible is actually true.

Yeah. Well, and I mean, this was also kind of a transition of empires around this time here that, uh, Assyria captured Israel, Babylon captured Judah. And with. Cyrus sending all these different nations home, uh, in some ways there, that empire Persian media did, they just didn't have the same tactics, didn't want to do things the same way as Babylon.

So when they overthrew Babylon, uh, this was one of the things that they ended up doing. They. Let the people go. And so that's, that's how we get our, our Southern King of Judah returning to the land. Um, and I think around the, we're at about 536, somewhere in that period of history, about 500 some years before Christ, when this would have happened.

So, so that's a very [00:16:00] big overview of second Chronicles. There are some really great stories in there. There's a lot of Kings that you can take a look at. Please check out the daily podcasts that we did. Cause we went into all of those stories and talked about a lot of those fun individuals in whenever you get it, you're going to get Kings and Chronicles together on the daily.

Yep. Um, so now you have a bit of a good overview as to how they fit and how they're different. All right. Hey, we will see you next week. We're going to be tackling. See ya.