Hi James and Ellen,
2 Chronicles is the second half of Ezra’s daily affairs and annuals tome. Ezra scribed his historical chronicles somewhere around 450 B.C. The core foci of Ezra’s thesis are the Israelite people group’s kings starting with Saul and ending with Zedekiah. The 36 chapters in 2 Chronicles begin with Solomon starting his reign over the Israelite people group guys and gals as their third positioned king. After Ezra spends a significant part of his chronological discourse on Solomon’s 40 year tenure as king over the Israelite people group guys and gals, Ezra completes his exhaustive study by scribing short bios on the 19 guys who succeed Solomon as kings over God’s specially chosen guys and gals who lived in Israel’s southern kingdom – which was the land of Judah. When Solomon died, one of Solomon’s kids – whose name was Rehoboam, arbitrarily assumed the king position over the Israelite people group guys and gals. While Solomon was alive, one of Solomon’s workers – whose name was Jeroboam, who was an ambitious, subversive self-promoter, hoodwinked the ten Israelite people group tribal clans who were allotted land in the northern region of the land that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always have to live in as their very own land if . . . into thinking that he was their answer to their wanting change. Rehoboam’s refusal to listen to the voices of the guys and gals who were pleading with him for better working and living conditions and Jeroboam’s promise to listen to the voices of the guys and gals who were hoping for change led to an irreconcilable schism between the twelve Israelite people group tribal clans. The land area of the ten Israelite people group tribal clans that were duped by Jeroboam to make him their king became known as Israel’s northern kingdom or Israel while the land area of the two remaining Israelite people group tribal clans that stuck with Rehoboam as being their king became known as Israel’s southern kingdom or Judah. After Ezra briefly referenced the strong animosity that Rehoboam felt towards Jeroboam and what he would try to do about his feelings, Ezra ended his daunting project by briefly chronicling relative info pertinent to guys who became just Israel’s/Judah’s southern kingdom kings.
The final words that Ezra scribed in his comprehensive summary of the guys who used the city of Jerusalem as their base as they ruled as kings over God’s specially chosen guys and gals buttress Ezra as being the author of Chronicles as the words are almost exactly as to how he begins scribing the succeeding missive that bears his name. Ezra’s possible motive for his epic undertaking to complete a document that spans over 450 years and 22 kings who ruled over the Israelite people group guys and gals may have been spurred by the disillusionment that was being felt by impoverished Israelite people group guys and gals – who were also known by this time as Jews, who had been given permission by a Persian king – who was Cyrus, to return to their family homes in the land area of Judah and in the city of Jerusalem. A belief is that Ezra scribed his work to encourage the guys, gals and kids who he personally led on the tedious trek from the country of Babylonia – where they had been living as exiles, to the city of Jerusalem in the land area of Judah. After Ezra arrived in the city of Jerusalem with his large contingent of God’s specially chosen guys and gals – which was in 458 B.C., your grandpaa believes that the guys and gals who had opted to go with Ezra to the city of Jerusalem became very cynical about having left the country of Babylonia when they found that the guys and gals who had returned with Zerubbabel to the city of Jerusalem in 538 B.C. had not made it a priority to rebuild the temple that was in the city of Jerusalem let alone returning the city of Jerusalem into being a safe place where only God was worshipped. An underlying theme throughout Ezra’s manuscript is that God gave victory to and blessed the Israelite people group kings who obediently did what He asked them to do – which was to faithfully worship Him in His temple in the city of Jerusalem.
Just as Ezra researched how dedicated each one of the guys were who became from 1050 B.C. to 586 B.C. a king over his people group of guys and gals worshipped and served God and to document the times when and why God blessed at times over these years his people group guys and gals, your grandpaa thinks that if a similar research study is done regarding the guys who became United States Presidents between 1776 and today and to the spiritual health and climate of the United States over the same period that it would be a very enlightening study. For the past 100 years or so, there has been an intentionality by guys – with some of these guys being United States Presidents, and gals towards having a progressive society that accommodates an open recognition of all religions, advocates an open acceptance of all lifestyles and actuates an open obligation to pursue governmental handouts. The progressive movement has undermined Christ-follower beliefs by using the Supreme Court to make laws that makes it illegal to read God’s Living Word and to have prayer times in schools and a law to make it legal to murder an unborn baby. The progressive movement has undermined the Christ-follower nuclear family by getting legalized guys marrying guys and gals marrying gals, by societal driven communes who under God’s name are utilizing holistic venues to salve their conscience by doing good works and by guys and gals who have exchanged work ethic with entitlement.
2 Chronicles