2 Chronicles 33-36

After spending more time telling about the kings of Judah than the Book of Kings does, the Chronicler comes to a relatively swift conclusion. He spends four chapters on the last kings of Judah, whereas Kings spends five.

Chapter 33 focuses on Manasseh and Amon. The Chronicler agrees with the Book of Kings that Manasseh did evil things. Yet, once again, the Chronicler tells us something that Kings does not, namely that Manasseh repented. Chronicles tells us that the Lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria against Manasseh as a punishment. These commanders took Manasseh bound to Babylon. (Kings does not mention this either.) It was at this point that Manasseh changed his attitude:

While he was in distress he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. He prayed to him, and God received his entreaty, heard his plea, and restored him again to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord indeed was God. (2 Chronicles 33:12-13)

It would appear that the Chronicler tells this story in such a way that Manasseh becomes an example and a pattern for what all of God’s people must do. If they repent, God will restore them to the Promised Land; he will bring them out of exile. Moreover, once Manasseh was restored, he went about removing all the idol worship that he had once instigated throughout the land of Judah. Restitution and renewal accompanied his repentance.

Chapter 34 introduces us to the reign of good king Josiah who we talked much about in our study of the Book of Kings. During Josiah’s reign, the Book of Deuteronomy was discovered in the Temple and Josiah set about reforming the kingdom to the standards of God’s book, even reading it in the hearing of the people, just as Ezra after him will do.

Chapter 35 recounts the Passover celebration kept by Josiah. Even though we have just read about Hezekiah’s reform and the great celebration of Passover that came out of it, the Chronicler tells us that…

…none of the kings of Israel had kept such a Passover as was kept by Josiah, by the priests and the Levites, by all Judah and Israel who were present, and by the inhabitants of Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 35:18)

Despite Josiah’s goodness and attentiveness to the Lord, he made the mistake of going to war against King Neco of Egypt when the latter went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates. Intriguingly, Neco warns Josiah that his quarrel is not with him and to step aside because God has sent him on his mission. However, the Chronicler says that Josiah “did not listen to the words of Neco from the mouth of God…” (2 Chronicles 35:22) Here we have a foreign monarch, not a member of God’s chosen people, who is said to speak words from the mouth of God. This is certainly unusual up to this point in Scripture. The Chronicler is most likely preparing us for the fact that King Cyrus of Persia, another non-Israelite, will carry out the Lord’s plan, beginning in the very next chapter. Neco and Cyrus should make us aware that God works through all people when, where, and however God wills. God's salvation extends far beyond "our little group".

Jeremiah is mentioned for the first time at the end of chapter 35. We will, of course, learn more about this prophet in our continuing study of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Chapter 36 treats of the last kings of Judah:

Jehoahaz, who reigned only three months before being deposed by King Neco
His brother Jehoiakim, whom Neco placed on the throne. He reigned for 11 years and did what was evil. Nebuchadnezzar bound him and took him to Babylon.
Jehoiachin who was only eight years old when he began to reign, ruled only three months and ten days, and did what was evil. (How much evil can an 8 year old do? I guess quite a lot if he is given a kingship. That, perhaps, is why Josiah’s goodness is all the more remarkable, since he too took the throne at a young age.)
Zedekiah was the very last king of Judah. Nebuchadnezzar put him on the throne when he deported his brother Jehoiachin to Babylon.

The Chronicler notes that the end of Judah, Jerusalem and the Temple came about “to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah”. This is a different emphasis from the Book of Kings. Another difference is that the Chronicler says that the exile lasted “until the land had made up for its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years.” (2 Chronicles 36:21) Apparently, the author of Chronicles thought that the land needed to make up for the Sabbaths the people of Judah had not kept all the years before. Since they abused the land God had given them, that land needed to lie fallow for a time.

The Chronicler concludes with another point not mentioned by the author of Kings. The Chronicler writes from the standpoint of the post-exilic period. Therefore, he knows that King Cyrus of Persia is the one who will allow the Jews to return to their homeland. Therefore, the Chronicler mentions this important foreign king who does the will of God, and he mentions this as a way of preparing the reader for his next installment: the Book of Ezra.

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