2 Chronicles 3-5
2 Chron. 3-4 correspond to 1 Kings 6-7, but with the difference that here the temple has a special significance. Whereas in Kings it is on the one hand the place where God dwells with His own, and on the other hand the center of His government in the midst of Israel, in Chronicles, as we have already noted, it is the place where one approaches God in order to worship Him, the "house of sacrifice" (2 Chron. 7:12). In speaking of a place of approach we are not alluding to the sinner who comes by the blood of Christ to be justified before God; we are thinking of the worshipper who enters by that same way into the sanctuary. Thus in the Epistle to the Romans we see the sinner justified by Christ's blood, whereas the Epistle to the Hebrews introduces us into the most holy place by that same way. The fact that the temple is presented as the place of approach explains all the details of this chapter. Here we again find the brazen altar and the veil (2 Chron. 3:14; 4:1), omitted in the description of the temple in the book of Kings; on the other hand, the priests' dwellings mentioned in Kings are missing in Chronicles. The prophet Ezekiel, who does not give us the typical picture but rather the actual description of Christ's millennial reign, in his description of the temple (Ezek. 40-45) brings together the characters of the books of Kings and Chronicles. There we find the altar, the door of the sanctuary, the dwelling places of the priests, and the attributes of God's government all together (Ezek. 40:47; 41:22; 41:6; 41:18). In fact, Ezekiel's temple sets forth Jehovah, Christ, dwelling in the midst of a people of priests, exercising His righteous government, and become the center of worship for both Israel and the nations; whereas the books of Kings and Chronicles, in order that we may better appreciate His glories, present them to us one after the other.
Other striking details confirm what we have just said. Chronicles mentions neither the sin offering nor the trespass offering; there the altar is solely the place of burnt offerings and peace offerings. Ezekiel, by contrast, insists upon the sin offering as the preparation for all the other offerings (Ezek. 43:25-27), and then names them not omitting even one (Ezek. 45:25).
A few more words about the brazen altar: This altar of Solomon's has a very important place in Chronicles. It is not the altar of the wilderness, kept at Gibeon, figure of the way in which God comes to meet the sinner and remains just while justifying him; but rather, it is the altar of burnt offering without which one may not approach Him. The dimensions of the altar at Gibeon are quite different from those of Solomon's altar: the first is five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. Solomon's altar (2 Chron. 4:1) is twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and ten cubits high. The two principal dimensions are exactly the same as those of the most holy place (2 Chron. 3:8; 1 Kings 6:20; Ezek. 41:4). The altar, Christ, is perfectly suited to the sanctuary; the glories of the most holy place correspond to the greatness and perfection of the sacrifice represented by the altar. Moreover, as we have said, the altar being especially the expression of worship here, it also has the same measurements as the sanctuary; without being perfect in all its dimensions, it is worthy, in the highest degree, of the millennial scene which it represents.
Everything pertaining to Christ's millennial government and even to the emblems of this government is completely absent in Chronicles; for example, the house of the forest of Lebanon, seat of the throne of judgment, as well as the king's palace, and also the cherubim, special symbols of government which are found throughout the book of Kings, on the walls of the temple and even on the vessels of the courtyard.
Even when it is a question of Solomon's person and his deeds, the description which Chronicles gives is intentionally simplified. There the king is presented to us, not increasing in greatness, as in the book of Kings, but established on the throne according to God's counsels, endowed with perfect wisdom, surrounded by riches and glory. Not a single detail is given us about the exercise of his wisdom, whether in discerning evil, whether in judging, or whether in teaching that which is good by his words and writings (see 1 Kings 3:16-28; 4:29-34). Solomon is set before our eyes on his throne, in a posture, so to say, unchangeable; peace reigns, the counsels of God concerning His King are fulfilled, and this King Himself is God.
This scene of peace and well-being has its starting point on Mount Moriah, a detail, let us carefully note, which is missing in the book of Kings: "And Solomon began to build the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem on mount Moriah, where he appeared to David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshing floor of Oman the Jebusite" (2 Chron. 3:1). It was at Moriah, first of all, that Abraham had offered Isaac on the altar and received him again in figure by resurrection; there, all that the holiness of God demanded had been provided. Next, it was at Moriah where, on the occasion of David's failure, grace gloried over judgment. Solomon's reign of peace is thus established after resurrection, on the principle of grace, just as the future reign of the risen Christ will be based entirely on the grace that triumphed at the cross. Following the sacrifice of Moriah and in virtue of the sovereign monarch's personal perfection, the latter may from this time forward enter his temple. The eternal gates will lift up their heads to let the King of glory pass. He will have a rich entry into His own kingdom. Only in Chronicles do we find the immense height of this porch (2 Chron. 3:4; cf. Psa. 24:7, 9; Mal. 3:1; Hag. 2:7; 2 Pet. 1:11,17).
One more characteristic detail: here we see only palm trees and chains on the walls of the house; palm trees are the symbols of triumphant peace; the chains, which also ornament the pillars here, are not mentioned anywhere else except on the shoulder pieces and the breastplate of the high priest. They firmly unite the various parts and appear to symbolize the solidity of the bond uniting the people of God. There are no more partially opened flowers, symbol of a reign that is beginning to blossom out, as in the book of Kings; here the reign is definitely established; there are no more cherubim hidden under the gold of the walls; they appear only on the veil; there are no more secret thoughts, no more hidden counsels of God; they are now made manifest in the person of Christ, but fixed on the veil — His flesh delivered to death. In the most holy place, two cherubim standing with wings extended face "toward the house" (2 Chron. 3:13), a fact mentioned only here, and contemplate the order of the people of God established from henceforth on. The pillars Jachin and Boaz ("He shall establish" and "In Him is strength") are essential to this scene, emblems of a reign established from this time on and dependent entirely on the power which is in Christ.
Another interesting detail: Solomon "made ten tables, and placed them in the temple, five on the right hand and five on the left" (2 Chron. 4:8). 1 Kings 7:48 mentions only one. Is it not striking to see the loaves of shewbread thus multiplied tenfold? Solomon is viewed as seated "on the throne of Jehovah" (1 Chron. 29:23); Israel increases under his reign; they ever remain the same tribes, but infinitely increased in the eyes of God, who beholds them and governs them. The true Solomon, Christ Himself, is the author of this multiplication (2 Chron. 4:8). In the millennium Israel will be complete, as presented to God by Christ, an offering well-pleasing to God.
In 2 Chron. 5 the ark is brought up from the city of David to the magnificent house which Solomon has prepared for it. The tabernacle and all its vessels, which were at Gibeon, rejoin the ark in the temple: thus the remembrance of the wilderness journey ever remains before God. We are not told of the vessels of the court; most importantly, we are not told of the brazen altar that was set up by Moses and where God in grace came to meet a sinful people. This wilderness altar is replaced by Solomon's altar, itself corresponding to the altar David set up on the threshing-floor of Ornan. Solomon's altar is mentioned in passing in the book of Kings only when all has been finished (1 Kings 8:22). Kings, as we have said, has another object in view than worship. The ark has at last found a place of rest, but the millennial scene, which these chapters pre-figure, is not the eternal, final rest for God's throne. The staves have not disappeared, although their position denotes that the ark will no longer journey. The entire scene of millennial blessing described here will end when the new heavens and the new earth are established.
The passage from 2 Chron. 5:11-14 is missing in the book of Kings: "And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place (for all the priests that were present were hallowed without observing the courses; and the Levites the singers, all they of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, clad in byssus, with cymbals and lutes and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets), it came to pass when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one voice to be heard in praising and thanking Jehovah; and when they lifted up their voice with trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised Jehovah: For He is good, for His loving-kindness endureth forever; that then the house, the house of Jehovah, was filled with a cloud, and the priests could not stand to do their service because of the cloud; for the glory of Jehovah had filled the house of God." This is the appropriate picture of millennial worship when the "song of triumph and praise" shall be sounded (cf. 2 Chron. 20:22). There the Lord is praised "for He is good, for His loving-kindness endureth forever." (As to this song, see also: 1 Chron. 16:41; 2 Chron. 7:3,6; Psa. 106:1; 107:1; 118; 136; Jer. 33:11). All the instruments of music resound, just as in Psalm 150 which describes the same scene. Here we have properly the dedication of the altar (2 Chron. 7:9) preceding the feast of tabernacles, but only Chronicles shows us the glory of the Lord filling the house twice. In fact, there were two feasts, one of seven days, the dedication of the altar, and one of eight days, the dedication of the house or the feast of tabernacles (2 Chron. 7:9). Both are found here, with the same hymn and the same presence of God's glory in His temple, a subject most appropriate to this book which speaks of worship and of the fulfillment of God's counsels concerning His reign.
In Chronicles the dedication of the altar takes the place of the great day of atonement (cf. Lev. 23:26-36), while in Zechariah this day must precede the establishment of the messianic reign. Here it is not a question of afflicting their souls as on the day of atonement (Lev. 16:29), but of rejoicing, for by means of the altar God's loving-kindness which endures forever has ultimately brought the people to Himself.
The song: "His loving-kindness endureth forever," so characteristic of the beginning of the millennial reign, is repeated in this book of Chronicles both times when the glory of Jehovah fills the temple; this hymn is completely absent in 1 Kings. The scene is much more complete here: the counsels of God as to the establishment of Christ's kingdom on earth are in type at last accomplished. "The glory of Jehovah had filled the house of God " (cf. 1 Kings 8:11). The name of God often replaces that of Jehovah in these chapters, an allusion to His relationship with the nations which acknowledge the God of Israel as their God.
In conclusion let us say that in the presence of all the differences in details between 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, every believer will be convinced of the wisdom and divine order which invariably preside in these accounts. The smallest omission as well as every word added in the sacred text are the fruit of an overall plan destined to display the various glories of Christ. We are far from having exhausted the enumeration of these differences; others may discover additional differences with real profit for their souls.