Scripture: One Book at a Time
The whole of Sacred Scripture is a single narrative that promises and points to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the World. It is an epic story, the greatest ever told, and told "one book at a time." Each book makes it contribution to the narrative as God reveals God's self to us and his desire that all be saved.
Lesson 16: The Book of Chronicles
The Chronicles of the Kings
Although listed as 1st and 2nd Chronicles, it is really one composition. The books repeats a lot of information already written in the Book of Kings, but not all, and it adds additional information – all with a purpose: to highlight the ideal King and to emphasize the importance of the Temple. Chronicles is written/composed some 200 years after the return of the Exiles from Babylon and in the Hebrew Scriptures, it is last/final book of the Old Testament. If you are interested in additional information, you can read the supplementary document on the Temple:
For those who would like to explore details of this book, please consider videos from Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” program. You can find the entire playlist here.
The Importance of the Temple
Recall that the theme from Exodus, amplified in Leviticus, and emphasized in Numbers and Deuteronomy, was “holiness” and the “presence of God” among the people of God. Throughout Chronicles the author repeats these themes again and again. The Temple was the life center of the people of God, the hub of the Lord’s kingdom on earth. The Chronicler also portrayed the temple in Jerusalem as the center of holiness and blessing and showed that as people are brought into respectful and obedient proximity to it, they are blessed.
Take a moment to watch the following video on the Temple.