I liked 2 Chronicles better than I liked 1 Chronicles. Fewer lists of names, I suppose.
Second Chronicles provides a fascinating sweep of the history of Judah, the southern kingdom, from the time of Solomon until its demise in 586 B.C. It's a repeating cycle of kings either honoring God with worship and devotion--and receiving blessing and protection for themselves and the people--or ignoring God and worshiping foreign idols--and suffering personal and national penalties.
There are a lot of wicked kings in 2 Chronicles. And considering that the southern kingdom was supposedly still loyal to Yahweh (as opposed to the northern kingdom, Israel, that was blatantly apostate) it's disturbing to see how many were wicked, and even worse, how many started out well and became wicked -- such as Asa, Joash and Uzziah.
My favorite story in 2 Chronicles is in chapter 18 (and it parallels a passage in 1 Kings 22). Jehoshaphat (yes, that would be "jumpin' Jehoshaphat") ventured "down" from Jerusalem to Samaria to confer with Ahab, king of Israel. Ahab wanted Jehoshephat to join him in a battle to wrest the Israelite settlement of Ramoth Gilead away from the Arameans, even though both Jehoshaphat and Ahab had recently forged alliances with the Arameans.
Jehoshaphat was uneasy with the plan. Even though all the "prophets" of Israel (who were not Yahweh worshipers) prophesied in favor of the attack, Jehoshaphat thought it would be smart to consult with a prophet of Yahweh. "There is still one man through whom we can inquire of Yahweh," Ahab conceded, "but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad." That statement always cracks me up for some reason.
The story continues. They called in this prophet, Micaiah, who started with a facetious promise that the attack would be successful. The kings were not fooled, and pressed him for a truthful prophecy. His answer was negative--implying that the people of Israel would be left without a leader, viz., Ahab. Ahab's follow-up comment to Jehoshaphat also cracks me up: "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?"
It's a great interchange. Sounds like a reality TV series: "Kings Behaving Badly."
Perhaps the most memorable passage from 2 Chronicles is early in the book, chapters 6 and 7. The Chronicler seems to have revered Solomon and wrote a lot of nice stuff about his temple building and dedication. There's a very long prayer of Solomon on behalf of the people and himself. The famous passage, however, is in the words of Yahweh: "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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chron 7:14.
What a fabulous promise of blessing! But it's followed by a dire threat of punishment: "But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and command I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them...." (2 Chron 14:19) The passage then enumerates the disaster and ridicule that would--and did--result.
Year after year, generation after generation, people have read these words. I think that there have been times when groups of suffering people would take them to heart and truly repent and then find relief and blessing from their suffering.
More often, though, people have read these words, shrugged their shoulders, and kept on serving gods other than Yahweh. The Bible records the results of this course for the people of Israel and Judah: they were wiped out and sent into exile, never to fully regain their position of power.
We can only guess how this will play out for the people of our age as we shrug our shoulders and keep on serving gods other than Yahweh.
People never learn from the past, it seems.
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