BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusનમૂનો

The point of no return has passed. Josiah led a solid season of nationwide repentance and some intense torah-guided resuscitation exercises. He got the people’s hearts beating again, but Judah was too far gone. After Josiah’s death, the people slip back into idolatry and injustice. The story of David’s line ends in tragedy, exile, and widespread human suffering.

As we know from the prophets and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, exile would not be the end of Israel. The chronicler concludes his retelling of the TaNaK by focusing on Israel’s return home from exile. The chronicler puts the book’s final words on the lips of a foreign king. King Cyrus decrees, “Whoever there is among you of all his people, may Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up.”

Wait. Up where? Chronicles seems to end with an incomplete sentence, not to mention all kinds of incomplete promises.

Where’s our snake crusher promised in Genesis 3:15, the seed of Eve, and later the son of Abraham who restores God’s blessing to the world (Gen. 12:3, 18:18, 22:18)? Where’s the better David who rules with divine wisdom and love to defeat evil once and for all? Where’s the new temple, the dwelling place for Yahweh that overflows with holiness, the glorious space where God’s Spirit rests in the world, the house of prayer whose doors open to welcome all nations?

It’s the end of the Hebrew Bible, but the big story it has been telling continues. The chronicler reminds us of all these beautiful yet unfulfilled promises.

This scroll took us on a whirlwind ride through the whole TaNaK, from the radiant garden to the temple’s smoking ruins. Humanity’s heart-wrenching story makes us long for a way out of this mess—for someone to replace stone hearts with beating hearts of flesh and make God’s broken world whole.

Watch today’s video to learn about the promised messiah, anticipated by this chronicler and all the authors of the Hebrew Bible.

Hold tight, the long night is almost over. The sun’s coming up.

Reflection Questions

• Take a moment to reread Genesis 3—the point in humanity’s story where everything went wrong and the beginning of God’s plan to make everything right again. What have you learned about the snake crusher over the course of your journey through the Hebrew Bible?
• Meditate on the story of God’s rescue plan in the TaNaK. It may be helpful to review key passages such as Genesis 12:1-3, Exodus 19:1-8, and 2 Samuel 7. Which of God’s covenant promises are we still waiting for at the end of the Hebrew Bible?