These two verses determine the whole mood of Chronicles. Rather than ending with the failure of man the writer concluded by focusing our attention on the faithfulness of God (cf. Lam. 3:22-23). God was in control of the Persian king as He had controlled the kings of Babylon, Egypt, and Israel. God had promised Israel a future as a nation. His people would experience this future under the rule of a perfect Davidic Son. Yahweh was moving now after 70 years of captivity to bring that future to pass (cf. Isa. 9:7). Even though the Babylonian army had burned Yahweh's temple to the ground (v. 19) it would rise again (v. 23).
The message to the returned exiles was clear. God would respond to their repentance (6:36-39). He would forgive their sin and heal their land (7:14). Moreover He would raise up a descendant of David who would rule over not only Israel but all the nations forever (1 Chron. 17:11-14).
"Now that Cyrus had decreed the rebuilding of the temple (36:22-23), here was prima facie evidence that God had not annulled His covenant with Israel nor the Levitical system revealed at Sinai."106
The closing words of Chronicles are identical to the opening ones in Ezra.107
"Unlike the Book of Kings, with its central message of stern moral judgments . . . Chronicles exists essentially as a book of hope, grounded on the grace of our sovereign Lord."108
"If Chronicles in its last chapter tells us that God acted in mercy by restoring his people Judah, Ezra-Nehemiah will reveal to us how they fared upon their return, privileged with a new opportunity to be God's people in their own land."109
