The Message of Chronicles

by Michael Wilcock

Book Overview

Michael Wilcock sees Chronicles as first and foremost a sermon; its object -- to foster a right relationship between God and his people. The Chronicler finds in the records of Israel the "great overall pattern" of God's hand in history. The Lord's constant mercy, love and faithfulness shine through. With great perception, the Chronicler first selects and then proclaims this vibrant pattern, highlighted in the living events of the nations's actual...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 087784299X
• ISBN13: 9780877842996
• Release Date: June 1987
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

A great book for pastors and worship leaders!

Another great book in a great series! This is clearly a book for those interested in preaching through Chronicles without killing their congregations. It's also a great book for worship leaders, as Chronicles has so much to say about the methodology of worship. I love the clear-headed conservative scholarship that doesn't spill a lot of ink on textual criticism issues, but rather drives on to discover the enduring theological message. Wilcock takes the position that the Chronicler wishes to rehearse Israel's history to the post-exile generation in order to encourage a right relationship between God and His covenant people. To that end, he continually puts himself in the place of the Chronicler in order to understand what the stories of Saul and David, Solomon and Hezekiah should mean for his audience of contemporaries. From there it is easy to make the shift to what those stories mean to the generation of the church by using the principles that endure in both the ancient and the modern world. For example, in chapter 5 "Changeless Grace in Changing Circumstances," he comments on the taking of the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem, and questions the relevance of all the pageantry and excitement to the Chronicler's readers. "It is all very well for him to write so enthusiastically about Israelite worship in the days of David; but he is centering it on the very thing which, will all their attempts to revive worship after the exile, they do not actually posses!...Even if they wanted to be giving it [the ark] the honors the Chronicler seems to be commending, they could not....What matters is not the thing itself (in this case, indeed, it cannot be), but the truth the thing enshrines. This ark, which in the days of David was so important, so exciting, so electric with holiness, so rich with blessing...what does it actually stand for?" Wilcock will go on to talk about the ark representing the Covenant of Grace, the presence of God with His people, and a whole lot more. Regarding worship, if we can judge by his interest in the subject, the Chronicler may well have been a worship musician. 1 Chron. 15 alone probably has more to say about the methodology of modern worship (yes, I said modern, see page 69 for example) than all of the New Testament put together. This is the best commentary I've found on Chronicles; Williamson is a classic, but way too preoccupied with text-critical issues, The WBC series fine for supplementary technical material. Another good commentary is Leslie C. Allen, one of the best ones in the Mastering the Old Testament Series.