Respect for the holy things of God in the cult and the holy word of God as spoken by Moses and the prophets results in blessing and prosperity, whereas sacrilegious contempt for them brings wrath and disaster in its train. The possibility of inverting the consequent retribution seems to be critical. Kelly doubts whether retribution is and always He observes, really ‘immediate’ ‘inevitable’. “far from stressing the outworking of a strict theodicy in the world, the Chronicler is concerned primarily to highlight the offer of and undeserved mercy to a sinful yet God’s prevenient penitent also warns against the mechanical or rigid use of the principle, as people.” McKenzie a chance for repentance and forgiveness (thereby avoiding punishment) is always at hand, typically signalled by a prophetic warning. Moreover, some disasters defy easy explanation, and so Chronicler would likely agree that ultimately ways are inscrutable to “the God’s human comprehension.” With respect to the view of immediate and individual retribution in Chronicles, Ehud Ben argument is specifically worthy to be considered. He observes, Zvi’s The book reflects and shapes a worldview that is strongly framed around, and actually governed by, a concept of individually-assessed coherence between actions and effects regulated by YHWH, which at times is called the doctrine of Chronicler’s retribution, or the imperative of reward and punishment But it is also true that … … the same (hi)story contains a very substantial number of instances that unequivocally show a lack of this coherence. Those instances that show a lack of the coherence follow. Firstly, all pious “not people in the book. Ben Zvi draws our attention to what often happens to the enjoy blessings” prophets in Chronicles, though one may argue that the main focus of the story (the royal annals) is on a response to the prophet: Hanani and Micaiah are put in prison (2 Chr king’s 16:10 and 18:1–27); Zechariah the son of Yehoiada is killed by Joash (2 Chr 24:20–22); and other prophets delivering warning are confronted with a bad anger (2 Chr God’s king’s
Respect for the holy things of God in the cult and the holy word of God as spoken by Moses and the prophets results in blessing and prosperity, whereas sacrilegious contempt for them brings wrath and disaster in its train. The possibility of inverting the consequent retribution seems to be critical. Kelly doubts whether retribution is really ‘immediate’ and always ‘inevitable’. He observes, “far from stressing the outworking of a strict theodicy in the world, the Chronicler is concerned primarily to highlight the offer of God’s prevenient and undeserved mercy to a sinful yet penitent people.” McKenzie also warns against the mechanical or rigid use of the principle, as a chance for repentance and forgiveness (thereby avoiding punishment) is always at hand, typically signalled by a prophetic warning. Moreover, some disasters defy easy explanation, and so “the Chronicler would likely agree that ultimately God’s ways are inscrutable to human comprehension.” With respect to the view of immediate and individual retribution in Chronicles, Ehud Ben Zvi’s argument is specifically worthy to be considered. He observes, The book reflects and shapes a worldview that is strongly framed around, and actually governed by, a concept of individually-assessed coherence between actions and effects regulated by YHWH, which at times is called the Chronicler’s doctrine of retribution, or the imperative of reward and punishment … … But it is also true that the same (hi)story contains a very substantial number of instances that unequivocally show a lack of this coherence. Those instances that show a lack of the coherence follow. Firstly, “not all pious people enjoy blessings” in the book. Ben Zvi draws our attention to what often happens to the prophets in Chronicles, though one may argue that the main focus of the story (the royal annals) is on a king’s response to the prophet: Hanani and Micaiah are put in prison (2 Chr 16:10 and 18:1–27); Zechariah the son of Yehoiada is killed by Joash (2 Chr 24:20–22); and other prophets delivering God’s warning are confronted with a bad king’s anger (2 Chr