Second Chronicles

LeRoy Eims

As we mentioned in discussing the Book of First Chronicles, the objective of these books is to point out to the people the vital connection of their lives prior to the captivity. They are to resume their religious life as if the captivity had not taken place.

It was of great importance that they understand that the word spoken by the prophets regarding their being restored to the land was fulfilled in the same minute detail as the prophecies of their being carried off into captivity. The exile was God's means of purging them from idolatry.

This sin to which they were drawn again and again, must be cleansed from their lives in order that God could accomplish through them, His great plan of redemption in Christ. God had selected them as the nation from which the Messiah would be born.

He would come from the tribe of Judah. The Bible says in Genesis 49:10 that: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah." He would be born of the house of David: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." (Isaiah 11:1) He would be born in the town of Bethlehem: "But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2)

The fact that He would be born of a virgin, die a sacrificial death by crucifixion, rise from the dead, and come again in the clouds of heaven, is also clearly taught in the pages of the Old Testament.

This leads us to a consideration of the deeper truth of the Books of the Chronicles. As compared with other religions of the world, one of the outstanding facts of the Bible is its historical character; the manner in which its truths are unfolded through history. In this way it stands distinct from all other religious systems.

We are forcibly reminded of this important fact in reading the Books of Chronicles. They take us back to the beginning and carry us through the ages in setting forth God's great purpose. In Adam man fell: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." (I Corinthians 15:22)

However, the redeemer of the world is to be brought forth from the descendants of Adam. The line is traced from Adam to Seth to Noah to Abraham. From that point the record has to do with the chosen nation through which the promise is to be fulfilled.

Thus it is that the Book of Second Chronicles is more than just a long list of names. It must be studied in reference to its deeper significance in Jesus Christ. These names stand for great periods of time in which God's purpose was progressively unfolded. It was designed to show the people that God's plan was in no way affected by the captivity in a foreign land.

Other things had happened in the past that would seem to crush God's great aim. During the period of the judges, for great stretches of time, Israel was under the oppression of other nations; but God's plan survived. The idolatry of Israel and Judah was so vicious that both kingdoms were overthrown and the people carried to idolatrous lands. I'm sure that to many who began the long and weary trek to Babylon, it must have seemed as though the end of all things had come. Suffering in exile through many years, it would have been easy to believe that all was lost.

The Book of Second Chronicles shows how, from the beginning, God has been accomplishing His purposes in the salvation of mankind. Now they are entering the last and final stages of preparation for the coming of the Messiah. The Second Book of Chronicles inspires us to faith and hope.