The Chronicler wrapped up the last few kings of Judah – three chapters worth in II Kings – in just fourteen verses: things went from bad to worse through the reigns of Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah (II Chronicles 36:1-14), and then came the fall of Jerusalem and the Exile (36:15-21).

The Chronicler’s story was coming to a close: but where II Kings ended with the heartbreak of the people of God in slavery in Babylon, not knowing if they would ever get back to the Promised Land, the Chronicler ended his book with gladness, for by the time he was writing, a remnant of the exiles – (some of) the children and grandchildren of those taken to Babylon in captivity – had indeed returned.

So in his last few verses the Chronicler will cover (1) the seventy years of the Babylonian Captivity, (2) the whole range of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Esther, (3) the specific fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophecy, and (4) the rise of Cyrus king of Persia. Cyrus had conquered the Babylonians, and then offered these words of encouragement to the people to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple: “The Lord, the God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him! Let him go up.” (36:23).

During the time leading up to the Exile, and during the long decades of living as slaves in Babylon, it must often have felt like God had forgotten them, or indeed that God had written them off forever. Yet in hindsight, the Chronicler can skim over that time in just a few lines. The suffering was real, but it was not permanent. In the end, God will bring us home.

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You are the God of restoration, O Lord: when we have been lost, you bring us back again. We pray that you would remind us of this, when we are in the midst of lament: even when the hard times last many years, you are faithful still.

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