Day 12

I was about ready to throw in the towel with 1 & 2 Kings. They were bleak, labored, and exhausting books. The author was excruciating as they detailed the sins of Israel, Judah, and the many many Kings. Even the “good Kings” would incur punishment from God on Israel or Judah. I described it as the Biblical tabloids, and really, it was that and much worse. I knew 1 & 2 Chronicles would be a repetition of much of the previous two books, but what I didn’t expect was the shift in tone.

Suddenly, the fog lifted. The weight on the shoulders, gone. The agony of looking at one pile up after another, non-existant. No more tabloids. The tone in Chronicles was…hopeful. The stories didn’t center all the sins and faults of every single person ever. God became a character that offered redemption freely. The stories were almost exactly the same, but, there it is! Hope!

I’ve tried to avoid my training as a minister and my background in Patristics as much as possible reading these scriptures. Try as I may, some little bits of info creep into my memory. For Kings and Chronicles, it helped me to understand. Kings was written during the exile in Babylon after the temple was destroyed. It makes sense that we read a book full of despair, anguish, and judgement. How did we get here? Well, let me tell you about the great sins of our nations and kings, even the good kings. Chronicles, though, was written during the return from exile. Hence the hope. There was healing available to the people and, suddenly, the faults and sins didn’t matter as much.

Again, a human story. In our anguish, we look for faults, even if they’re our own. In our relief, we can find the good once more. I hear it often, when someone loses a loved one: “Why am I remembering the bad times?” Grief is a strange beast.

I was surprised I read these books as quickly as I did. But, let’s be honest. Nine chapters of First Chronicles are lineages, which are very quick to read. The rest of 1 & 2 Chronicles present complete retellings of 1 & 2 Kings. I ended up appreciating this repetition. I readily took note of the hopeful language and was able to zero in on what was unique in Chronicles. Gone were the lists of deadbeat kings and the sassy retort, “If you need to know more, go find it yourself.” In its place we get King Hezekiah and the restoration of the priesthood.

This reading also gives me the first glimpse of the Apocrypha with the Prayer of Manasseh. Second Chronicles speaks of this prayer, but it is nowhere to be found. The composition of this prayer makes it rather obvious it was written later, but again, I found hope and, surprisingly, redemption!

One Word for First & Second Chronicles: Anticipation
One Word for the Prayer of Manasseh: Absolution

Parts of the Story That Stayed With Me

1. 1 Chr 1-9, Lineages. It begins with Adam and, for the next eight chapters, simply lists names. That might sound absolutely boring, but it also felt like a recap of all the characters we’ve seen thus far in this journey.
2. 1 Chr 21:1, Satan! In this translation, Satan makes his/its first appearance. It felt a little out of place since Satan has not been involved in this story at all. Now, I know it means “deceiver,” so, I’m left wondering who the deceiver was here.
3. 1 Chr 22, David Gets More Credit. King David gets credit for drafting the plans for the first temple as well as all of the specifications, not Solomon. I found this to be interesting here, since it erases the anguish of David’s story and gives him a more prominent role in an incredibly significant event.
4. 2 Chr 14, Suddenly Ethiopia. Where did this battle come from? War with Ethiopia? Sure, why not, it’s far more interesting than yet another war with the Philistines.
5. 2 Chr 24, Old Age. We had relatively normal lifespans since we left the Torah, but suddenly Jehoiada lives until the age of 130. It kinda sticks out.
6. 2 Chr 29-31, Another Good King. The more I read about Hezekiah the more I like him. There’s a tone of joyfulness as he reforms religious practice and reinstates the priesthood. I kept reading this and thinking to myself: When will the United States have a Hezekiah that restores our sanity?
7. 2 Chr 35, Cyrus the Great. The conqueror speaks! And he’s given credit for allowing the Judaeans and Israelites to return home and rebuild their temple. Did you know some bizarre evangelicals think Trump was a modern day Cyrus? Glad they were wrong.
8. Pr Man, Forgiveness Assured. The Prayer of Manasseh has this interesting assurance of forgiveness built into it. It feels quite Universalist to me and a shift from the God of 1 & 2 Kings that exacts vengeance no matter what.

This post is part of a lager series where I read the entirety of Hebrew & Christian scriptures in 45 days. Take a look a the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.