The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Trespassed” it comes from the Hebrew Word “ma’al” which means “to trespass, to be unfaithful.”
Chronicles closes with Jerusalem’s devastating fall, and one final, unexpected note of hope. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is 2 Chronicles 36.
Following Josiah’s death, Judah’s final kings, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, reign in rapid, troubled succession, each removed or controlled by either Egypt or Babylon, with Jehoiakim and Zedekiah both doing evil in the Lord’s sight. Nebuchadnezzar eventually besieges Jerusalem completely, and Zedekiah, despite Jeremiah’s repeated warnings from the Lord, refuses to humble himself, stiffening his neck and hardening his heart against turning back to the Lord God of Israel.
Chronicles explains plainly why this devastating judgment finally comes, that all the leaders of the priests and the people “trespassed,” “ma’al” in Hebrew, very greatly, following the abominations of the nations, polluting the Lord’s house. Though God sent messengers persistently, rising early and sending them because He had compassion on His people and His dwelling place, the people continued mocking His messengers, despising His words, and misusing His prophets, until His wrath rose against them until there was no remedy left.
Nebuchadnezzar burns the Lord’s house, breaks down Jerusalem’s wall, and burns every valuable building, carrying the survivors captive to Babylon, fulfilling Jeremiah’s prophecy that the land would enjoy its Sabbaths throughout seventy years of desolation. Remarkably, Chronicles, and with it the entire Hebrew Bible in its traditional order, closes on a note of genuine hope, recording Cyrus, king of Persia, issuing a decree that the Lord God of heaven has charged him to build Him a house at Jerusalem, inviting any of God’s people among them to go up and begin exactly that work, “The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.”
Chronicles closes not with despair, but with Cyrus’s decree, a foreign king unexpectedly commissioned by God Himself to begin restoring what Babylon had destroyed. After chronicling centuries of both faithfulness and failure, this final, hopeful note reminds every reader that God’s covenant purposes, however severely tested, always find a way to continue moving forward toward restoration.
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