Verses 22 , 23
God had promised the restoring of the captives, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, at the end of
seventy years; and that time to favour Zion, that set time, came at last. Though God's church be
cast down, it is not cast off; though his people be corrected, they are not abandoned; though thrown
into the furnace, they are not lost there, nor left there any longer than till the dross be separated.
Though God contend long, he will not contend always. Before we close the books of the Chronicles,
which contain a faithful register of events, think what desolation sin introduced into the world, nay,
even into the church of God. Let us tremble at what is here recorded, while in the character of some
few gracious souls, we discover that the Lord left not himself without witness. And when we have
looked at this faithful portrait of man by nature, let us contrast with it that same nature, when
recovered by Almighty grace, through the justifying and soul-adorning righteousness of Christ our
Saviour.