If you own stock in a company, you are keenly aware of one thing: If the company goes out of business, your dividends disappear. You can’t expect to be paid when the company that is supposed to pay you no longer exists!

God made promises of forgiveness to Israel, but at the end of 1 and 2 Kings the nation was in exile. Had God gone out of business? What happened to the promises He made? The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles retell the story of God’s people in light of their return from exile. More than a repetition of 1 and 2 Kings, Chronicles allows us to re-read this part of their story with the knowledge that God brought them back, just as He promised. These books show that God planned to save enough Israelites who would return and reconstitute the nation decades after they went to Babylon. In His wisdom, He coordinated the collapse of the Babylonian empire (Jer. 25:11–12), and orchestrated the rise of Cyrus, king of Persia (Isa. 44:28). It was God’s plan all along, and He was faithful to complete it.

But more important than this change in their physical circumstances was a change in their spiritual condition. God used the exile to lead Israel back to Himself for forgiveness. Their restoration to the land would coincide with their restoration to faithfulness, and it started with the rebuilding of the House of the Lord (2 Chron. 36:23). The Temple was the focus of Israelite worship. It was the place where God promised to meet His people, receive their sacrifices, and forgive their sins! In raising up Cyrus to rebuild the Temple, God began with what mattered most: returning His people to Himself. Solomon’s prayer (2 Chron. 7:14) anticipated that Israel would always find their God in business, ready to forgive them when they turned to Him.