I think everyone likes a good whodunnit—mysteries with jaw-dropping cliffhangers and unpredictable plot twists. Stories with simpler plots have that one thing that took you by surprise. It’s the thing you keep to yourself so you don’t spoil it for others. The best narratives, however, are the ones that reveal something that makes you stop and think twice (or three or four times). They are the ones that drive you back through the storyline to find the elements of the plot that were there all along and contributed to the climactic resolution. You may have been a passive participant originally, but in your return to the narrative you exercise an active sense of seeking.
The Bible is just such a story and God encourages us to continue to be a seeker. In our modern English Bibles, First and Second Chronicles is situated in the first third of the Old Testament. The Jews, however, put it at the end of the Hebrew canon. Our more contemporary way of thinking is to put things in chronological order, but the Jews had a different objective. Chronicles (it was a single book for them) was placed at the end as a recap of the redemptive story up to that time. The first verse begins with Adam and progresses all the way to the return of Israel from exile, highlighting God’s works of providence throughout that history.
Within the inspired Chronicler’s account, he uses a form of the word meaning “seek” 56 times. Put yourself into the pre-Messiah, Jewish mindset while you read just a few of the verses from Chronicles. Instead of thinking about them in a linear, narrative context, read them from a theological perspective in respect to what God is teaching the reader within history.
Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever. (1 Chr. 28:8)
And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the LORD our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. (2 Chronicles 14:7)
He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper. (2 Chr. 26:5)
This is just one sub-plot within the greater plotline. It was there all along and is consistent with a fulfillment that will come many years later. That sub-plot applies to His people that are much later in the timeline as well. Seek the Lord. Study His commandments so that you might know the mind of God just a little bit more. Seek Him if you desire to have a good inheritance. Seek Him if you long for peace. Seek Him in the text of holy Scripture and in prayer.
Chronicles contains examples of the perils of failing to seek God as well. In one of them Saul loses his inheritance, his legacy and his kingdom.
He [Saul] did not seek guidance from the LORD. Therefore the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. (1 Chr. 10:14)
The Bible is a collection of plots within plots that point to the life, death and resurrection of the Messiah. It is a mindboggling narrative that continues to point to the ultimate climax of Christ’s return when we will experience a new heaven and a new earth. Until then, we seek!
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Mt. 6:33).
And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (Lk. 11:9)
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (Col. 3:1)