The Bible Series Chronicles

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The Bible Series  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  44:03
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Chronicles is a book that draws the reader to look back… the writer does this in order to challenge the reader to both look and move forward, but unlike the past move forward with a right focus and intent.
Today’s study of Chronicles will have us:
Remember - from God’s perspective
Reflect - how this should impact our worship now
Rejoice - over the coming promise yet to come…
It is somewhere around 450 BC…
The kings have come and gone (Israel & Judah)
The exile into captivity has occured as Jeremiah the prophet declared it would
Now 70 years later Cyrus the Persian king allows the people to return to the land
Desolate
No walls
No temple
This book is one of the last books written in the Old Testament… on its heels would be Ezra, Nehemiah and Malachi.
Written just before the “Intertestamental Period” or “Silent Years” of 400 years
Ezra is the suggested writer but no proof, has a feel as though written from a priestly perspective
Originally written as one book…
When we read it up close we may tend to discard this book as a repeat or old information(very similar to Samuel and Kings)… Zoom out however, and we begin to see some things emerge and there are some things that are blatantly and purposefully ABSENT!!…

Remember… A Comparison

Consider with me real quick and recall what we learned in our last couple messages...

Samuel

We see the emphasis is on contrasting Disobedience and obedience
Proud and humble

Samuel Chronicles View

Samuel is not in the picture
Greater focus on obedience and the humble
Saul is scarcely mentioned nor his pursuit of David
David’s throne is mentioned but not the other tribes

Kings

Great emphasis is given to the Idolatry and sin calling for repentance
There is a great emphasis on the prophets
We see the two kingdoms and the focus on their disobedience, division and dispersion

Kings Chronicles View

We do see the focus on the kings role and it is praised in Chronicles
There is just a focus on Judah
The focus is on God and His working

Timeline

The role of prophet is focused on and the rebellion of the northern tribes

Timeline Chronicles View

We see the temple take center and proper worship
The good kings are recognized and honored in Chronicles
Israel is hardly mentioned in Chronicles
The absence of the things in these books makes a crucial statement to us and directs our focus to a:
God honoring life that centers around our worship of God!
Chronicles is written from a positive perspective focusing on God’s grace and His forgiveness.
It does not ignore sin rather focuses on The Messiah, The Throne and line of David, and Spiritual Worship & Reform

Remember… Overview

It began with Adam in Genesis 3:15
Genesis 3:15 NASB95
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
God blessed Noah in Genesis 8:20-9:1
Genesis 8:20–9:1 NASB95
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease.” And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
God focused His blessing later to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3
Genesis 12:2–3 NASB95
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
We see a special blessing to Judah as Issac blesses him in Genesis 49:10
Genesis 49:10 NASB95
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

The Book of Chronicles:

Begins with a genealogy all the way back to Adam… God has not forgotten
Being one of the last books before the Messiah comes this family line is crucial… focus on the lines of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi… the priestly tribe
Key individuals in this book are Judah & Benjamin, Levites, David, Solomon, and Obedient kings
After the genealogy the focus shifts to the temple worship
The book begins with David preparing the temple and closes with the decree to rebuild the temple by Cyrus!
The promises in Genesis back in the Torah are made clearer in 1 Chronicles 17:11-14
1 Chronicles 17:11–14 NASB95
“When your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who will be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom. “He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever. “I will be his father and he shall be My son; and I will not take My lovingkindness away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. “But I will settle him in My house and in My kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
We see more detail when David sins and takes a census of his kingdom… but the focus is on God’s mercy and the worship and sacrifice at the threshing floor of Ornan… this David purchased 1 Chronicles 21:22-24
1 Chronicles 21:22–24 NASB95
Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build on it an altar to the Lord; for the full price you shall give it to me, that the plague may be restrained from the people.” Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself; and let my lord the king do what is good in his sight. See, I will give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for wood and the wheat for the grain offering; I will give it all.” But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the Lord, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing.”
This purchased land by David would be the Temple Mount… the land the Temple of God would be built upon!
The focus on the Temple remains as Solomon is looked at as he builds the temple
Great similarities are seen in this section here between The tabernacle build and the Temple build
We then focus on the kings of Judah that obeyed the Lord… doing right in God’s eyes!
Reform occurs in Judah! (making changes to improve)
When the Kings REFORM
Worship is RESTORED
Passover is REMEMBERED
The last chapter addresses the exile of Judah to Babylon… but with the focus of God’s faithfulness
David’s throne was destroyed but his line remained intact
The closing verses we see Cyrus give an edict… 2 Chronicles 36:22-23
2 Chronicles 36:22–23 NASB95
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!’ ”
As the people remember these things as they are read it demands of them and us to reflect on the current situation...

Reflect… What Purpose

What a blessing it would have been as the people returned to read the words of this book in 2 Chronicles 7:14
2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB95
and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Humble yourself to a faithful God and turn (about face)… Repent
They would have now been challenged to have a HEART for the Lord as they read 2 Chronicles 16:9
2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB95
“For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. You have acted foolishly in this. Indeed, from now on you will surely have wars.”
Realizing as they read the book that apart from God… they had not purpose, destiny, or even hope…
Israel was bigger, more potential BUT they rejected God!!!
Any other achievements, accomplishments are for not without God
God was saying look… what is done for me, in my name, my way will last, have value!
SO OFTEN we exert ourselves, our resources, our energy, our identity in a facade
Worth no more than this wall here
We build our castles here on earth and it serves no value!
It is interesting that Judah was sent into exile for worshiping other gods… upon their return they would never again as a nation worship “other gods”…
They would replace the foreign gods with a much more deceptive “god”
Religion…!!! They would soon go through the motions but have no relationship
The kings who brought reform, drew the people into relationship!!! That is what God wants

Rejoice… A Real Future

Judah would rejoice as it looked ahead to the temple being built… God restoring what was demolished.
Chronicles
Walk thru the Bible (Contribution to the Bible)
At the time it was written it taught lessons from the past, illustrated God’s faithfulness in the present (the return from captivity and the new temple), and anticipated the fulfillment of God’s promises in the future (the messianic line).
The promise of long ago was still to come… and God was remaining faithful.
TODAY we still
Remember - what they were looking forward to
Reflect - on the implications it has for how we live
Rejoice - he has promised to come again!
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