2nd Chronicles and the lesson of an interesting ending

“Cyrus, King of Persia, says this:

The Lord, the God of Heaven, has

given me all the kingdoms of the earth

and has appointed me to build Him a

Temple in Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Whoever there is among you of all His

people, may his God be with him!
Let him go up.” 

--2nd Chronicles 36: 15

When I started my journey through the Bible, I was trying to write at least one post on every book, but over the past few months I’ve gotten off track.  Family trials and work and anniversaries, other writing[1] and daily life have gotten in the way at times.  I’ve been reading, but not writing as much.  And I have felt quite scattered; unfocused. Out of sorts.  And at times like I am making a mess of everything: starting the laundry, but forgetting to put it in the dryer; loading the dishwasher, but forgetting to start it –or forgetting to add soap; feeding the cats but forgetting about their litter box; intending to pray but allowing distractions to keep me distracted –scattered.  As the psalmist says: “...All doers of evil are scattered...” (92:9), and I certainly feel scattered –ineffectual-- even if I don’t feel evil (at the moment).

I think my habit of writing and posting meditations broke down around the time I was finishing 2^nd Chronicles.  I couldn’t keep up with everything, but I kept reading. And occasionally I would write in my notebook—little comments and thoughts.  But by the time I was ready to write a post, I was in the middle of a new book or 3 books on and I wanted to write about that one instead and... despite everything getting out of sorts, I went ahead and started writing comments about whatever it was I was reading at that moment, for instance Nehemiah, or Tobit or Judith but something about 2^nd Chronicles[2] kept troubling me.  And mostly it was the ending.

In the penultimate chapters (34-35), we meet the heroic figure of Josiah, a king who restores order and glory to Jerusalem.  Under his reign the Book of the Law (probably referring to Deuteronomy) is rediscovered (34:15) while the temple is being repaired. With the rediscovered law in hand, Josiah rededicates the people and renews the covenant with God.  He is a king of great zeal, intent on following the Lord. But just as suddenly there is the story of his odd death (35:19ff).  Necho, king of Egypt, is marching across Judah to advance against an enemy and Josiah goes out with an army to intercept him.  Necho tells Josiah that his quarrel is not with Judah. He has been commanded by God to march quickly against another foe; warning Josiah, “Do not interfere with God who is with me, as otherwise He will destroy you.” (35:21). But Josiah won’t listen.  I imagine he couldn’t believe that God would speak through the mouth of a pagan.  And because he ignores this warning, he suffers the consequences and is badly wounded and dies. His death is followed by a series of kings who do what is displeasing “in the eyes of the Lord.”  And in less than a chapter (36) we see the fall of Judah, the Babylonian Exile, and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem. The final paragraph tells the story of Cyrus, the new king of Persia, who sets the Jews free and sends them back to Jerusalem with orders to rebuild their temple.  The final words of the book are a command from Cyrus to set the Jews free.  Wow.  In the final pages of this history one pagan king speaks a warning from God, and another pagan king setting the Jews free and sending them home.  And I kept wondering: what is the author saying? What did the author intend by these two pagan kings? 

Then, I came across this interesting detail: 2^nd Chronicles is the final book in the Hebrew scripture (the Tanakh).  Which means that the Hebrew “Bible” ends with stories of two pagan kings doing the work of God.  And again, I wonder: What does that mean? The last words in the Hebrew scripture are not from Moses or a prophet or a recalling of some piece of wisdom from Solomon or King David, but a proclamation from Cyrus of Persia: “Whoever, there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up.” (36:23)  Hmmm.  To me, that is interesting.

Regardless of what any human author intended, what does the REAL author of scripture mean by these two kings? What is God teaching us here?   Are they a lesson in tolerance? A lesson in humility?  A lesson in trust?  All three?  I wonder... (Wait a minute!  There are THREE kings: Cyrus, Necho & Josia...Hmmm. Three kings? Teaching us something?...sounds familiar... )

One thing is for certain: that the last words of the Hebrew scripture depict a pagan speaking a messianic message is pretty amazing... And definitely something worth contemplating. So, stay focused, Mr. Sutter. Don’t let yourself get distracted... Don’t be scattered...  the dishes will still be there in the morning.  

Lord,

Open our hearts to your word.

Give us the presence of mind and will

to remain with You in Your word.  Teach

me to listen as You speak, and inspire me

to live what You teach.

Amen.

---

[1] Working on some poems (3 were accepted for publication); and trying to get back to my novel... (Poor Dorothy is stranded at MytiBurger on Kempwood )

[2] And now I have read all the way to Maccabees and feel a need to write a word about...  Aargh. There is so much to contemplate and so little time to... fold laundry.... let alone sleep.