A superficial reader may well think that the books of Chronicles are the supplement of the books of Samuel and Kings. The Jews indeed have attributed this character to them since ancient times. Christians have done the same with regard to the three synoptic Gospels; they think that the Gospels of Mark and of Luke complete Matthew's account of the Lord's life. In reality the Chronicles, like these Gospels, present the thoughts of God from a completely new aspect. They present the kingship in a very important dimension, which these pages aim to bring out. In relation to this subject, one or two preliminary remarks will be useful.
We have insisted, in other Meditations, upon the prophetic origin and bearing of the books of Samuel and Kings. The Chronicles do not have the same character although, remarkably, we continually find in them the activity of the prophets. Even the Jews did not count them among the prophetic books, to which the majority of the books of history belong, but rather classified them among the "holy writings" headed by the Psalms.
All the historical books, to the end of Kings, recount the history of the people and of the kingdom, until their final ruin. They conclude with the captivity, first of Israel, then of Judah, and go no further than this period. In contrast, the Chronicles, with Ezra and Nehemiah as their immediate sequel, go much further. (Compare 2 Chron. 36:22-2322Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 23Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up. (2 Chronicles 36:22‑23) with Ezra 1:1-31Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, 2Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:1‑3)). Moreover, the stamp of being composed later, after the return from the Babylonian captivity, is impressed on them throughout the text. In various portions of these books we find proof of their relatively recent date, a date after that of the book of Nehemiah. Thus we see in them that the genealogy of David's family does not end with Zerubbabel, the royal head of Judah returned from captivity, but continues past him to the fifth generation, consisting of Hodaviah and his brothers (1 Chron. 3:19-2419And the sons of Pedaiah were, Zerubbabel, and Shimei: and the sons of Zerubbabel; Meshullam, and Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister: 20And Hashubah, and Ohel, and Berechiah, and Hasadiah, Jushab-hesed, five. 21And the sons of Hananiah; Pelatiah, and Jesaiah: the sons of Rephaiah, the sons of Arnan, the sons of Obadiah, the sons of Shechaniah. 22And the sons of Shechaniah; Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igeal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six. 23And the sons of Neariah; Elioenai, and Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three. 24And the sons of Elioenai were, Hodaiah, and Eliashib, and Pelaiah, and Akkub, and Johanan, and Dalaiah, and Anani, seven. (1 Chronicles 3:19‑24)). Just so, we also meet (1 Chron. 3:2222And the sons of Shechaniah; Shemaiah: and the sons of Shemaiah; Hattush, and Igeal, and Bariah, and Neariah, and Shaphat, six. (1 Chronicles 3:22)) Shemaiah, the son of Shechaniah, of the third generation following Zerubbabel, who (if indeed this is the same person) returned from Babylon in Neh. 3:2929After them repaired Zadok the son of Immer over against his house. After him repaired also Shemaiah the son of Shechaniah, the keeper of the east gate. (Nehemiah 3:29). Lastly, our book describes the Babylonian captivity as a historical event already in the distant past (1 Chron. 6:1515And Jehozadak went into captivity, when the Lord carried away Judah and Jerusalem by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar. (1 Chronicles 6:15)).
It would be easy to multiply citations to support the uncontested fact of the late date of the composition of Chronicles. We will limit ourselves to a few more comments confirming this: First, the omissions in the genealogies in the first nine chapters of our book are a valuable testimony to the time at which it was written. We know, in fact, that at the time of the return from Babylon, the genealogies of Judah and of Benjamin in many cases were insufficient, and that the members of the family of Levi who could not furnish them were excluded from the priesthood (Ezra 2:6262These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood. (Ezra 2:62)). Comparing 1 Chron. 9 with Neh. 11 Convinces us that certain genealogies in Chronicles contain numerous omissions, as might be expected with a people returned from captivity.
Moreover, from the very first chapter onward we find proof of the pronunciation of many names differing from their early pronunciation. It seems that a fair portion of these differences can be attributed to changes in dialect brought about by the captivity. All these elements stand in our book as proof of the disorder into which this guilty nation upon which God had pronounced LoAmmi had fallen.
Thus the Spirit of God is careful Himself to indicate the approximate date of these books to us.
The principal object of Chronicles will become clear as we progress in their study; however, it is necessary to insist upon this from the very beginning.
Chronicles give us the history of the kings of Judah, that is, of David's family; whereas in the books of Kings, we find the history of the sovereigns of Israel. Until the captivity of the ten tribes the acts of the kings of Judah do not appear in the books of Kings except in relationship to the kingdom of Israel; then, once the history of the ten tribes has ended with their being carried away, the narrative in Kings carries on exclusively with the account of the careers of the last rulers of Judah.
But the most important suggestion for understanding Chronicles concerns the counsels of God. We must consider several aspects of this: The Word views man in two ways: According to his responsibility, or according to the position which he occupies in the counsels of God, that is to say in His eternal purpose before time began, before there was any question of responsibility.
The Old Testament contains the history of responsible man, given by God Himself. This history shows that man has always come short of God's expectations of him; failure after failure finally brings him to the cross to which he nailed the Son of God. He for his part ends his history by open revolt against the One who had come to save him. But, at that same cross God for His part, also ends the history of man. He places all our responsibility on His Son, even making Him sin in our stead, so that His counsels of grace toward us might be fully accomplished.
Indeed, it is in the death of Christ that the counsels of God (the mystery of His will, hidden in Him from before all time) have become manifest. There the veil which separated the sinner from God was rent; there man, redeemed by the blood of Christ, saw a way opened to God. Jesus, raised from among the dead, has ascended to God's right hand and from there sending the Holy Spirit, in His own person has prepared a place for man in glory.
The counsels of God, the mystery of His will, are thus fulfilled in the Man Christ, whom God has established as center of all things; but they do not stop there. God gives Christ as Head a body, His complement—as Bridegroom a companion, His Assembly—a body which is His "fullness," a companion, flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone.
These counsels of God could in no way be revealed before the cross. At most they were suggested in figure by Adam, type of Him who was to come, and Eve, his companion. Thus Christ not only is the object of the counsels of God, but in Christ we also have become the objects of these same counsels.
Man enters God's glory because man, in Christ, has perfectly glorified Him. The second Adam becomes head of a new race, holy and blameless before God, worthy of dwelling in eternal glory.
The Old Testament revealed nothing of this. And yet a part of God's counsels in relation to Christ comes to light there; doubtless not the highest part, but that concerning the dominion of the earth. This is why the epistle to the Ephesians (Eph. 1:9-109Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:9‑10)) states that God has "made known to us the mystery of His will... to head up all things in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things upon the earth." God's counsel was not to establish the first Adam who had failed, but the Second Adam as Head of the creation, and that in virtue of His sufferings. It is because He was made a little lower than the angels that God has made "Him to rule over the works of [His] hands; [and has] put everything under His feet: sheep and oxen, all of them, and also the beasts of the field; the fowl of the heavens, and the fishes of the sea, whatever passeth through the paths of the seas" (Psa. 8:5-85For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. 6Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:5‑8)). So it is with the establishment of the earthly kingdom of Christ—and this is the subject which Chronicles treats. Here it is not a question of a glorified Man, nor of Christ as the Center of all things, nor of the Head of the Church, nor of our union with Him, but of the Son of God, the Root and Offspring of David, establishing His kingdom upon earth and associating a willing people in His reign in the day of His power. He Himself is the object of these counsels and He will carry them out, whereas men to whom dominion has been entrusted have completely fallen short of God's purpose.
In order to make these purposes concerning Christ's reign known before they would come to pass, God in the Old Testament has given us types of kingdom rule according to His counsels, through examples like David and Solomon. But how could such figures have absolute bearing when these men of God sinned so grievously during their careers? Their history belongs rather to that of responsible man and rule, as presented in the books of Samuel and Kings. Doubtless we see the grace of God at work throughout their history to discipline and restore them, and in spite of everything, to make these fallible men capable of representing Christ's character. God accomplishes this by forming them through trials. This is the subject of the books of Samuel and Kings. But in Chronicles it is not a matter of setting forth restoring grace remedying the faults of the believer placed under responsibility, but rather, a matter of giving us a preview of the counsels of God, and this, as much as possible, without confounding them with any elements which would obscure them.
This explains the character and general bearing of Chronicles. Here God gathers together the features of Christ's future reign in David and Solomon, for example, without however hiding from us the fact that David, even if only on account of two faults (for this book only mentions two), and Solomon, without a single fault of his being mentioned, could not personally be "He that should come," and that we must "look for another." Consequently, to achieve their purpose, the Chronicles must pass over all the serious sins of these two kings.
One may object that the books of Chronicles continue the history of the kings of Judah after Solomon and that in the subsequent accounts we do not find anything prefiguring the counsels of God concerning Christ's future reign. This observation is sound except for the fact that a godly king in Chronicles as well in Kings may be a representative of Christ. We must remember that God, in relating their history in Chronicles, establishes another fact: that His counsels have Christ as the Son of David by royal descent in view. At times David's line corrupted themselves terribly, but even then God is careful to emphasize wherever possible, what grace has produced in those who were to be the Messiah's stock. He does this even at a time when the kingship in Israel had already ceased to exist for over two centuries. The ways of grace are particularly evident in this book throughout the history of Solomon's successors. In accord with Chronicles' plan and purpose, all that grace produces in the hearts of even the most wicked kings, such as Manasseh for example, is brought to light, in order to show that grace toward man is the only means of fulfilling God's counsels concerning him.
Summing up, Chronicles does not present the history of responsible kingship, but of kingship according to God's counsels in grace, counsels that will not be completely fulfilled until the crown is set on Christ's head. Therefore Chronicles never fails to record God's ways in grace to remedy the faults of the kings who succeed one another upon the throne up until the appearance of the great King. This is also why the divine account silently passes over faults committed as much as possible. The Spirit of God, as we have said, omits David's serious sins and their consequences; He also omits those of Solomon.
To this can be added yet another characteristic feature. Chronicles says nothing at all about David's rejection and sufferings; it introduces us directly into the glories that follow these sufferings, evident proof that this book does not have, in relation to the work of Christ, the prophetic character of those which have preceded it.
If in Chronicles we find God's counsels concerning Christ in the types of David and Solomon, and God's ways in grace concerning the royal family in view of the appearance of the true King, let us not forget to mention that they contain these same counsels in relation to Judah as Messiah's people. God shows that nothing will hinder the course of His eternal designs toward those who are their objects. Wherever evil rules, there God hastens to bring in good, so that, as a servant of God has expressed it, "we may always have the good which He has produced before our eyes instead of the evil produced by man". Therefore He prepares everything in view of the full manifestation of the future glory of His Anointed.
It is all the more striking to find in Chronicles the picture of grace operating in the heart of man, for these books are written, as we have seen, after the final ruin of the people and of kingdom rule. But what consolation for the poor remnant, returned from Babylon in servitude and contempt, to find here their history written in these disastrous times by the Spirit of God Himself, and showing on every page that no unfaithfulness on part of the people could modify God's counsels nor alter the grace by which He would establish, in relation to His people, His eternal purposes in the person of Christ.
God's counsels concerning the kingship being the principal truth of this book, we find in it of necessity, on the one hand, all that is linked together with the priestly organization, and on the other hand, to the political organization of the people. Indeed, the kingdom according to God is characterized by divine order in both the religious and civil sphere.
The religious sphere naturally comes first in the organization of the kingdom according to the thoughts of God. Neither the people nor the kingship could subsist without the worship of Jehovah; without this, the nation fell to the level of the other nations and, like them, had to be destroyed. The people of Israel had no reason for existing unless through their religious service they would maintain their relationship to the God who had chosen them to be His own. From the moment Israel abandoned this relationship in order to give themselves up to idolatry, God also abandoned them, as we see in the history of the Judges and later of the Kings. Finally their transgressions became such that God pronounced His Lo-Ammi upon them.
So too it was with regard to the kingship. Responsible to lead and govern the people for God, it could not subsist without the worship of Jehovah and all that belonged thereto. Kingship and priesthood, the two pillars of Israel's relationship with God, could not be separated without causing the whole system to collapse; if one of the two should fail, complete ruin would be the result. Even before the establishment of the kingship, the indissoluble alliance between it and the priesthood was seen in Moses, king in Jeshurun, and Aaron, his brother; there was, however, this difference here, that once the kingship, properly speaking, was established, the priesthood was subordinated to it, because it had come short of its calling; henceforth the faithful priest must always walk before the Lord's Anointed (1 Sam. 2:3535And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. (1 Samuel 2:35)). In God's counsels the kingship and the priesthood, government and religious service, must of necessity subsist together. Hence the immense importance of all that pertained to the service of the temple in the history of David and Solomon, as Chronicles presents them. And when afterward we witness revivals at the time of the ruin of the kingship, in first place we always see the religious service reestablished, as for example in the history of Hezekiah and of Josiah.
The union of the civil and religious spheres is presented in Chronicles as types of its fulfillment in Christ in a future day. These two elements will be united in Him as the unshakable basis for the kingdom of God upon earth. Christ will be "a priest upon his throne" (Zech. 6:1313Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both. (Zechariah 6:13)).