1/2 Chronicles
歷代志上/下 {li4-dai4-zhi4-shang4/xia4}
Speaking of the kings, we all know where to look for their stories: 1 Kings and 2 Kings! Once we finish those captivating histories, we are immediately invited to persevere through 9 chapters of family trees in 1 Chronicles, only to read on and feel, “Wait, didn’t I just read these in Kings?” Yes, that’s true. In fact, we will be reading some of them again in Isaiah as well, but there is a good reason for that.
1 and 2 Chronicles were originally written as one volume called, you guessed it, Chronicles. In the original collection of Hebrew Scripture, such as the one Paul would be reading, Chronicles was positioned as the very last book. (Remember, there was no New Testament yet.) I could not tell you accurately why Chronicles was placed last, but as the final book, it fulfilled certain purposes that seemed… providential.
On the very basic level, Chronicles gives us a birds-eye view of the history from Adam to the end of exile in Persia. It reiterates or recaps parts of Genesis, Kings, Isaiah, and Ezra-Nehemiah. It highlights the House of David, from which the Messiah was prophesied to come. It emphasizes mankind’s failure and God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises. It is centered around a thread that points to the future hope of the Messiah.
As if these are not enough, Chronicles literally ends on a cliffhanger without completing the sentence! (The end of Chronicles is identical to the start of Ezra 1, except it cuts off halfway through the sentence.) This is by no means a mistake and IMO beats all the Marvel post-credit teasers. More importantly, it is the perfect literary device to hint to the Hebrews that there was hope, there was more, and that Messiah was coming.
Next time, save the best for last and read Chronicles after you finish Malachi.