Getting Biblical in Daily Life
Jewish Perspective
2 Chronicles was written by Jews, for Jews. In Hebrew, the book is called Divrei Hayyamim (which means "the events of the days") and it's actually the last book in the Jewish Bible. It's part of the section called Ketuvim, which means "writings."
After David, Solomon is probably the most important king in Jewish history and culture. He builds the first Temple in Jerusalem and is known near and far for his great wisdom and wealth. He's also credited with writing a couple other books of the Bible—Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
David, Solomon, and their descendants have an important place in Jewish thinking about the mashiach. That just means "anointed one" in Hebrew, but you may know the idea better by the Greek term "messiah." The basic idea is that God will send a righteous ruler (who also happens to be one of David's ancestors per God's promise in 2 Chronicles) to lead the Jewish people into a time of independence and security. A minority of Jews believe that this messiah will gather all the Jews in Israel and build a Third Temple on the site of the first two. Oh, and he'll bring peace to the entire world, too. It's a big job description. Christians think they've found this ruler in Jesus, but contemporary Jews are still waiting for their messiah or for a "messianic era" of peace and security. The Jewish idea of a messiah is less otherworldly than the Christian idea. In the Bible, he'll be a righteous but earthly king.
Jewish ideas about a messiah from the line of David are all over the map. Some devout Jews eagerly await his arrival as a major principle of their faith. Others believe that the messianic era will come about through the efforts of individuals to create peace and righteousness—that waiting around for the anointed one is not the answer.
The Temple
The Temple has enormous significance to Jewish people. The Temple in Jerusalem is central to Jewish history, and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is seen as holy because Jews believe it to be the site of both ancient Temples as well as the place where God tested Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. Jewish liturgies contain prayers for the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple, and Jews face east toward Jerusalem when they pray. Check out the lyrics to Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, and you'll get the picture of the importance of Jerusalem in the Jewish consciousness:
As long as the Jewish spirit is yearning deep in the heart,
With eyes turned to the east, looking toward Zion,
Then our hope, the two-thousand year-old hope, will not be lost:
To be a free people in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
After the destruction of the Second Temple, Judaism underwent some changes that had begun after the Babylonian exile. With no priests and no Temple, worshipping God through priestly animal sacrifices gave way to personal prayer and worship. Things became decentralized rather than centered in one Temple, and the synagogue as a place of learning and worship became the communal structure.
Still, synagogues today retain some aspects of the Temple—they all contain an ark with scrolls of the Torah (the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures) which includes the 10 Commandments. The ark is located on the east side of the synagogue and usually covered by a curtain, like the old "Holy of Holies" part of the temple where the high priests offered their prayers for the community. Decorative menorahs often adorn the sanctuary. Reform Judaism calls their houses of worship "temples," although some people think this trivializes the memory of the Temple itself. Fortunately, no one gets struck with leprosy when they enter modern-day temples. You can even touch the Ark without getting incinerated on the spot.
Some very Orthodox Jews believe that the Temple will in fact be rebuilt and all Jews will be gathered back to Israel. Prayers at the end of some Jewish holidays promise, "Next year in Jerusalem!" But for most Jews, these prayers are more like fond memories of an idealized Jerusalem and represent an appreciation of Jewish history and hopes for the future, not necessarily a real plan for moving to Jerusalem and reconstructing the Temple. They express a longing for a unified nation in a peaceful homeland, like in the Hatikvah lyrics. Not many people think the Temple will or even should be restored. Exceptions are groups like The Temple Institute that actively advocate that a new temple be erected on the Temple Mount, currently the location of the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock. Now there's a problem-free plan…
Christian Perspective
Even though 2 Chronicles was originally part of Hebrew Scriptures, Christians today still embrace it as a holy and sacred text. They've even got it tucked away for safekeeping in a little section known as the Old Testament.
Most of the early Christians were actually Jewish. Jesus and his first followers grew up in Jewish homes, celebrated Jewish holidays, and led altogether Jewish lives. So while Christians accept 2 Chronicles as part of their Bible, probably the most important ideas from this book are these promises directly from God:
- You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me according to my law, as you have done. (6:16)
- I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, "You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel." (7:18)
- Because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David. He had promised to maintain a lamp for him and his descendants forever. (21:7)
Given what we know about 2 Chronicles, it would seem that God did break his promise. Israel never had another Davidic king after Zedekiah. Not exactly, said the early Christians. They believed that God was just playing the long game. Eventually, he would fulfill these promises with Jesus.
That's probably why Matthew and Luke both go through a whole lot of trouble to let us know that Jesus totally came from the House of David:
- David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. (Matthew 1:6-16)
- Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his work. He was the son (as was thought) of Joseph son of Heli, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Melchi, son of Jannai, son of Joseph, son of Mattathias, son of Amos, son of Nahum, son of Esli, son of Naggai, son of Maath, son of Mattathias, son of Semein, son of Josech, son of Joda, son of Joanan, son of Rhesa, son of Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, son of Neri, son of Melchi, son of Addi, son of Cosam, son of Elmadam, son of Er, son of Joshua, son of Eliezer, son of Jorim, son of Matthat, son of Levi, son of Simeon, son of Judah, son of Joseph, son of Jonam, son of Eliakim, son of Melea, son of Menna, son of Mattatha, son of Nathan, son of David. (Luke 3:23-31)
Okay, so these don't exactly jive with each other. Matthew's genealogy says that Jesus is a descendent of Solomon, and Luke's has him as one of his brother Nathan's ancestors. Also, Jesus and Joseph aren't exactly biological relatives (according to the story, Joseph never contributed any DNA). But Jesus gets to claim David's lineage anyhow. The rest of the New Testament emphasizes the idea:
- Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me! (Mark 10:47)
- The Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. (Luke 1:32)
- He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David. (Luke 1:69)
- Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. (Luke 2:4)
- His Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh. (Romans 1:3)
- Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David. (2 Timothy 8)
- The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. (Revelation 5:5)
This all refers to the idea in the Hebrew Scriptures that the messiah would come from David's bloodline. If Jesus really is the one we've been waiting for, then he has to be of Davidic ancestry.
The Christian scriptures also mention the Temple in Jerusalem, which was still standing (the Second Temple) during Jesus' lifetime. He spent a lot of time there:
- Jesus was circumcised in the Temple (Luke 2:22-24).
- He taught there as a 12-year-old boy (Luke 2:46).
- The Devil tempts him to jump off the top of the Temple (Luke 4:9).
- He healed people in the Temple (Matthew 21:14).
- He taught in the Temple (Mark 12:35).
- He paid temple taxes—render unto Caesar and all that jazz (Matthew 17:24).
- He kicked moneychangers out of the Temple because he didn't want his father's house corrupted (Mark 11:14-16).
- He predicted the destruction of the Temple (John 2:19-21).
- The curtain that covered the Ark in the Temple tore when he finally died. (Mark 15:38)
The first apostles even continued to hang out in the area after Jesus' death. Peter healed a man who couldn't walk outside the gates of the Temple (Acts 3:2). Paul was eventually arrested there for teaching about Jesus (Acts 21:27). They didn't appreciate his cool sermons in God's house.
After the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans, Christians began to see the role of the Temple a little differently. Maybe God didn't need an ornate house of worship for people to be close to him. After all, he'd given the world Jesus and his church. And, really, aren't those more lasting?
- "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." […] But he was speaking of the temple of his body. (John 2:19, 21)
- [The church is] the temple of the living God. (2 Corinthians 6:16)
- In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord. (Ephesians 2:21)
- I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. (Revelation 21:22)
The Jewish people kept the memory of the Temple after its destruction. Christians transformed the memory into a symbol of Jesus and the church, but the image of the Temple was a useful and familiar one when preaching the gospel to the Jews.
Muslim Perspective
Along with Christianity and Judaism, Islam is one of the Abrahamic religions. That means that all three faiths trace their origins back to Abraham in the Book of Genesis. They also share similar principles—like believing in one, and only one, God. Also they all happen to like waffles. But then again, who doesn't?
That means that not only do Muslims share a common faith ancestor with Judaism, they're also familiar with the Jewish scriptures. Take Solomon, for example, who's called Sulaiman in Arabic. He's regarded as a prophet and king in Islam. The Quran even gives a little more background to his visit with the Queen of Sheba. Apparently, Solomon was the one who reached out to her. He wanted her to start worshipping the one true God:
"I have come to thee from [Sheba] with tidings true. I found (there) a woman ruling over them and provided with every requisite; and she has a magnificent throne. I found her and her people worshipping the sun besides Allah: Satan has made their deeds seem pleasing in their eyes, and has kept them away from the Path—so they receive no guidance—(Kept them away from the Path), that they should not worship Allah, Who brings to light what is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows what ye hide and what ye reveal. Allah!—there is no god but He!—Lord of the Throne Supreme!" (Solomon) said: "soon shall we see whether thou hast told the truth or lied! Go thou, with this letter of mine, and deliver it to them: then draw back from them, and (wait to) see what answer they return." (The queen) said: "Ye chiefs! Here is delivered to me—a letter worthy of respect. It is from Solomon, and is (as follows): 'In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful: Be ye not arrogant against me, but come to me in submission (to the true Religion).'" […] She said: "O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul: I do (now) submit (in Islam), with Solomon, to the Lord of the Worlds." (27:23-31, 44)
What happens to all the other faithful from the Hebrew Bible who never got the chance to know Allah on this up-close-and-personal level? No worries:
Indeed, those who believed and those who were Jews or Christians or Sabeans [before Prophet Muhammad]—those [among them] who believed in Allah and the Last Day and did righteousness—will have their reward with their Lord, and no fear will there be concerning them, nor will they grieve. (2:62)
Muslims and Jews both consider Jerusalem (in Arabic, al-Quds) as their holy city. This has caused no problems whatsoever.
Jerusalem is home to the al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, which together are part of the Noble Sanctuary. According to Islamic tradition, the Prophet Muhammad took a physical and spiritual journey into Heaven from this very spot. It's the third most holy place (after Mecca and Medina) in Islam.