COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST BOOK CHRONICLES

FR. TADROS Y. MALATY

A HEAVENLY LIFE IN THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD

Ezra the scribe and priest, author of the first and the second books of the chronicles, lived in the land of captivity, denied of the enjoyment of ministering to the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. He led the second batch of those returning from Babylon to Jerusalem; not to support the worship in the temple, rebuilt by

Zerubbabel, as much as to motivate the leaders and the people to experience the holy heavenly life in the temple of the Holy God. And here he is, in the first and the second books of the Chronicles, drawing our attention, by the Holy Spirit of God, to the holy history from the time of Adam to the fall under captivation; and to that, there is a divine promise of return from captivation.

The first and the second books of the chronicles call us to have our hearts rise up as though to heaven to enjoy its deposit. Noticing that only few among the Christians care to enjoy these two books, St. Jerome presented to us the following warning: [Whoever thinks that he got acquainted of the holy books, without reading these two books, would be deceiving himself].