The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles confused me for a long time, because they seem to just rehash the same stories that the previous books had already given us. Why would the Bible need that? But it turns out they retell Israel’s history with a very particular focus, one which is absolutely crucial in the message of God’s Word. Chronicles shows us that throughout all of Old Testament history, the holy temple—the place where God and man meet—is the most foundational piece.
God has always desired a relationship with his people, and even though our depravity and finitude separate us from him, he still decides to meet us in a consecrated place—praise God for that! And in this consecrated place where God and man meet, grace and restoration can flow. It also forces God’s people to remember that grace and restoration, and in fact all good things, come only from God. This is why man’s part in the relationship, as God reminds Solomon, is to humble themselves and pray.
There is no substitute for prayer. Prayer forces us to our knees, relinquishing all apparent control to our sovereign king. Prayer recenters our minds on the Lord and trains our minds to stay that way throughout each day. Prayer seeks the face of God beyond our visible little world and seeks to glorify the Lord’s holy name first and foremost, with no hidden agenda.
The temple building that Solomon erected eventually fell. But as God promised, the place where his eyes and heart dwell continues to stand, and certainly will forever. As the church, the body of God’s people whose head is Christ, the Son of God who took on flesh to dwell in person with his people and become the new, everlasting place where God and man meet, we still have this wonderful, blessed access to right relationship with God! We are his people called by his name, and we are where his heart dwells and where his name is glorified. So if we his people will humble ourselves and pray and seek his face, there is no good thing that our God cannot do.
