led them. Because of the subsequent failures of the people of Israel, both among the leaders and the people as a whole, God’s purposes shifted to reducing their nation’s power and size, and eventually expelling them from their land. Though painful, God carried out his purposes for his people. Fortunately God’s purposes then shifted toward a much more positive future. He brought them back to their land, and by the time Chronicles was written, he was promising a positive future for them once again.