1 & 2 Chronicles 2025-10-31T20:31:37+00:00

1 & 2 Chronicles

Chronicles[1]

  • Chronicles was actually the last book of the Hebrew bible, and it summarizes all the Jewish scriptures
  • Author’s identity unknown
  • Seems to have written centuries after Israel’s return from Babylonian exile
  • The great prophetic hope that God would come and live among his people and that the messianic king would rule and reign had not happened yet
  • The author of Chronicles teaches that the hope is yet future, and shapes the stories of David and Solomon to show that there is future hope
  • Chronicles points to messianic promises that are yet to be fulfilled; it looks back at the past of God’s people and offers it as a source for a future hope
  • 1 & 2 Chronicles emphasize the coming messianic king:

Related information: Adam and Eve sinned. The goodness of the garden was lost. Evil and death entered the world (Gen. 3:8-24). God promises that one will come to destroy the evil (Gen. 3:14-15). Later we find out that the goodness and blessings will be restored back to all the nations of the world, through one from Abraham’s line (Gen. 12:1-3). His great-grandson, Judah, receives a promise that a king will come from his line who will establish a kingdom (Gen. 49:10-12), and all will follow him; but all the kings that come along choose evil (2 Chronicles 36:11-16). David is from Judah’s line, but he is not that said king; he has the same sin problem as the rest of humanity (2 Sam. 11). He is told that the said king will come from his line (2 Samuel 7:12-14). Babylon captures Israel (2 Chronicles 36:17-20) so there are no more king options (2 Kings 25:22-26), but the prophets come along and remind the people that the king will indeed come, and he will defeat evil and restore the garden (Isaiah 42). Isaiah tells us more about the king. He tells us that the king will be wounded for humanity’s evil and be killed but will come back; his wound that he suffered will become the source of healing for all people everywhere (Isaiah 53). The Old Testament ends without the king having come. For this reason the New Testament introduces Jesus as being from the line of David, Judah, and Abraham (Matt. 1:1-17); he announces the kingdom (Matt. 4:17) and starts healing people of the effects of sin and evil (Luke 5:20) and people begin to recognize Jesus as the promised king (Matt.16:13-16). Jesus tells those close to him that he is going to become king and bring peace and take on the full effect of the curse of sin upon himself (Matt. 16:21-25). Then Jesus died, and this would have been a tragedy, but he rose from the dead and now has the power over death and evil (Matt. 28:18). The rest of the New Testament states that Jesus’ power over death and evil is available to us so that we can begin confronting the sin nature / effects of evil, in our lives (Acts 1:8). Sin and death are a real problem; a future day has been prophesied when Jesus will come back to finish the job and restore the goodness of the garden on Earth (Rev. 19-22). [2] 

  • 1 & 2 Chronicles emphasize the coming hope of a new temple:

Related information: The temple was considered the home of God; it was designed by David and built by Solomon (1 Kings 6-8). The purpose of the earthly temple is that is a place that overlaps with God’s heavenly home; it is where He lives and rules all of his creation as king (Ex. 15:17-18) although they realized that the temple couldn’t contain completely the God of the universe (1 Kings 8:27); the temple actually pointed to all of creation as God’s temple (Acts 17:24-27). The whole of the creation story shows this to be true. “In Genesis 1, God creates an ordered world out of a dark wasteland (Gen. 1:1-2) by speaking in a series of seven days (Gen. 1:5 – 2:1-3). Then on the seventh day, God’s presence fills creation as he takes up his rest and rule. (Gen. 2:2-3). Similarly, the tabernacle—and later the temple—were built and dedicated in a series of seven speeches and seven days: Speech 1 (Ex. 25:1; 1 Kings 8:31-32); Speech 2 (Exodus 30:11; 1 Kings 8:33-34); Speech 3 (Exodus 30:17; 1 Kings 8:35-37a); Speech 4 (Exodus 30:22; 1 Kings 8:37b-40); Speech 5 (Exodus 30:34; 1 Kings 8:41-43); Speech 6 (Exodus 31:1; 1 Kings 8:44-45); Speech 7 (Exodus 31:12,  1 Kings 8:46-53), after which the priest or king could rest and rule in God’s presence.” So, God’s intention is to dwell with man in all of creation – like a temple. Genesis 2 focuses on the centre of the land – Eden – which means ‘delight’ where he wants to live together with humanity. For this reason, the temple in the Old Testament was fashioned after the garden with flower imagery and gold, and the menorah symbolizing the tree of life (Exodus 25:1-8; 31-40; 1 Kings 8:29-32). The priests had to “work and to keep” the temple in God’s presence (Numbers 3:7-8; 8:26; 18:1-8); it is exactly the same job that was given to Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:15). “So these humans were the first priests. But instead of ruling with God, they wanted to rule on their own terms, and they’re exiled from the garden-temple” as we see in Genesis 3. Israels leaders made the same judgement error and wanted to rule on their terms, and they too were exiled (2 Chronicles 36:15-21; Jeremiah 52) and the temple was destroyed (Jeremiah 52:12-23). They were left wondering if God had given up on them, but the prophets anticipated a time when God would establish new temple and a new priesthood, and His presence would fill creation completely (Isaiah 2; Zechariah 2, 4; Ezekiel 47). The people did return to the land, and they did rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:2-3; 3:10-11), but in Malachi we discover that it became hopelessly corrupt. So, the ultimate temple is something that they still await. And then Jesus came! He declared that through him, God’s presence and His rule had arrived in a new way (John 1:1-2; 14) and he presented himself as a new kind of priest (John 2:13-22). According to Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, the rest and rule and presence of God was filling the world; he was the true temple (John 1:1-2; 14; 2:13-22). Furthermore, this temple would eventually encapsulate all of creation (Mark 16:15). The biblical church is described as a temple (Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5) rather than a building of people; it is community of believers where God rules and rests (Acts 2:42-47); Jesus said that after his resurrection God’s presence would dwell among believers so that they would be like mini temples. Therefore, Peter says, “You all are living stones built up as a temple for God’s Spirit to dwell.” (1 Peter 2:5). One day we will have a renewed cosmic temple just like that which is portrayed in Gensis 1 (Revelation 21:1-7; 22:1-5), and this new creation won’t need a temple because through Jesus then entire creation becomes the place where God rules and rests with his people (Revelation 21:22). [3]

  • 1 Chronicles 1-9 are genealogies that summarize the whole Old Testament storyline through naming all the important, key characters. The line of the promised Messiah is emphasized, that is, the line of Judah to David to the author’s own day. The line of the priesthood is also emphasized. These two focuses point to the two focuses of Chronicles: the hope of the coming messianic king, and the new temple. (Also see related sources on the Tanak; Jesus and Genealogies; and Chronicles: Not Just a Repeat).
  • 1 Chronicles 10-29 are about King David as the messianic ideal. A narrative prophecy that points to the future messianic king is created. In other books the messiah is referred to as “a new David” (Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 37:25). David prepares for the first temple. He is portrayed as a Moses-like figure. He is given plans for the temple just like Moses was given plans for the tabernacle (compare 1Chronicles 28:11-19 with Exodus 25:9). When we read 1Chron. 17 and 2Sam. 7 it is obvious that neither David nor Solomon were the messianic king but the idealized David points to what the messiah will be like when he does come. In other words, the stories of David – the heroic and classic ones – gives us glimpses of the future Kingdom of God. (Also see related sources on The Covenants; David the Priestly King; Isaiah’s Anointed One; and What’s So Special About the Tabernacle).
  • 2 Chronicles 1-36 are about Judah’s Kings and an Unfinished Story. Although there is much of an overlap with 1 & 2 Kings, there is a focus on David to the exclusion of stories of the kings of the north. New information is also given about kings who were faithful and kings who were unfaithful – it becomes a series of character studies. Those who failed ultimately brought about the Babylonian exile. The author of Chronicles wants the people of God to become faithful to God and the Torah by learning from their family history. The Unfinished Story is in how the book ends. The two books of the Chronicles were the last books of the Jewish Scriptures. God’s people are called to look back so that they can look ahead since the past is in fact a source of great hope for the future. Chronicles ends with the Old Testament as a story that is still in search of an ending. The book concludes with, “Whoever there is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up…” (2 Chron. 36:23). This is an incomplete sentence; clearly the prophetic hopes of Israel were not fulfilled in the rebuilding of the temple after the return from exile as presented in Ezra and Nehemiah. The author of Chronicles has his hope on another return from exile, when the coming messianic king will restore God’s people and rebuild the temple. (Also see related sources on the Exile; Blessing and Curse; and Seventy Times Seven – Prophetic Math)

[1] “Books of 1 & 2 Chronicles | Guide with Key Information and Resources.” 2023. Bibleproject.com. 2023. https://bibleproject.com/guides/books-of-chronicles/.

[2] “The Messiah Biblical Theme.” 2025. Bibleproject.com. 2025. https://bibleproject.com/videos/messiah/.

[3] “Temple Biblical Theme.” 2019. Bibleproject.com. 2019. https://bibleproject.com/videos/temple/.