“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked” (Nah 1:3).
If there’s one thing to be learned from reading the Chronicles, it’s the longsuffering of God. “But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness” (Ps 86:15, BSB). As we draw to the close, we are reminded of the people’s abject repudiation: “All the leaders of the priests and the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the nations, and defiled the house of the Lord which He had consecrated” (2 Chron 36:14). This was countered by the Lord’s attempted rescues: “The Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place” (v 15). But we read with sadness their awful response: “They mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy” (v 16). No remedy, but certainly there was appropriate retribution: “Therefore He brought against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword…and had no compassion on young man or virgin, on the aged or the weak…And all…the treasures of the house of the Lord…he took to Babylon. Then they burned the house of God, broke down the wall of Jerusalem…and destroyed all its precious possessions. And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia” (vv 17-20). There’s hope in that word “until”! But to our surprise, in the light of all their atrocities, God says the reason for their 70-year captivity resulted from their disobeying one seemingly minor command. More to follow!