If My people...Part 1 - Living Grace Fellowship

Politically minded Christians… are very aware of the promise of God in II Chron. 7:14.

At least, they are familiar with part of it anyway. Quite honestly, I dove into this study for two reasons:

Some of the people in my church asked me to teach on it.
As a result of the prayers I have heard in Christian circles which relied upon this verse. It seemed to me that there were several problems with its use and certainly with the prayers in which it was referenced. Nearly all of these prayers were focused on changing the nation on a political level. Prayers for deliverance from a particular agenda, President, Congress or Judges. What I failed to hear almost every time the verse was mentioned, was a heart crying out to God in repentance for the sins of His church (let alone the nation).

So… I decided that I needed to study these verses to discover the who, what, why, where, whens and hows of this promise. What you are about to read is actually an over-simplification of that study.

Let’s examine the passage to see if and how it applies to our political situations here in America.

“If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.” – 2 Chron. 7:14

Now in the Christian circles with which I am familiar, this is usually misquoted to say,

“If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, I will hear from heaven, and will heal their land.” – 2 Chron. 7:14

For some of you this may be a little amazing, but I really am NOT joking! More often than not, this is basically the way I have heard this verse (mis-)quoted!

The funny thing is, that most of those who misquote it, do not even believe that the old covenant has anything to do with them anymore as New Testament believers. They only like this verse, because it fits their agenda. If I were to tell these people that obeying the law and repentance for failing to do so, were THE conditions of these verses, they would cry “foul” – I am not under the law anymore! To which I ask, “Then why are you seeking to live under the blessings of its promises?” God’s Word is holy and pure and should not be misquoted, misapplied or twisted to fit our desires. It is a dangerous thing to take a promise of God outside of its proper context, and thus misrepresent the One Who gave the promise in the first place.

It is very much like those who like to “claim” the blessings of Deut. 28 without realizing that if you do so, you are placing yourself back under the Old Testament law by seeking to be a benefactor of its promises. Most of these people do not realize that the list of curses which will come on you if you fail to perform by the tenets of the law, is many times longer than the blessings given if you do live by them.

In any case, I believe it is safe to say, that if you want to claim the benefits of verse 14, you should first of all know what specifically is being promised. Secondly, you need to be willing to obey the conditions and fall in line with all of the surrounding context as well – after all… it is a package deal.

Let’s see what God actually said,

[To make this a simple as possible, the key topics which I believe need to be addressed, have been underlined and color coded.]

“And the LORD appeared to Solomon and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people; If My people, which are called by My Name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. Now Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that My Name may be there for ever: and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually. And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; Then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. But if ye turn away, and forsake My statutes and My commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of My land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for My Name, will I cast out of My sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.” – 2 Chorn. 7:12-20

Due to the length of this study I have divided it into 4 key points which correspond to the four color divisions above. They are enumerated in the list below with a summery title. I will address each of these points in a separate blog in the order listed, beginning with this blog as Point #1.

The promise was to Solomon as King (and to all subsequent kings of Israel by extension). God had accepted the Temple as a residing place for His eyes and heart. So He answered the prayer of this Godly king and was promising to watch and listen to the prayers offered in this place.
God is STILL talking to the King. He is affirming to Solomon that He may at times bring calamity upon Israel in response to their sins – just like the king had said in his prayer in 2 Chron. 6:24-31.
God is STILL talking to His Godly King Solomon. He is responding to his request (2 Chron. 6:24-31), that God hear the prayers of His people when they repent for sins which bring trouble on them by way of judgment.
God is STILL talking exclusively to the Goldy King Solomon. He is telling him the conditions upon which he and his descendants will continue to rule His people.

So, lets take an honest…unbiased, look at this passage to discover the who, what , where, when and how’s of this promise.

Point #1 – The promise was to Solomon as King (and to all subsequent kings of Israel by extension). God had accepted the Temple as a residing place for His eyes and heart. So He answered the prayer of this Godly king and was promising to watch and listen to the prayers offered in this place.

“ appeared to Solomon … said unto him…I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an house of sacrifice.” & “Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that My Name may be there for ever: and Mine eyes and Mine heart shall be there perpetually.”

Notice that the agreement was between the ruler and God – NOT between God and His people! God’s people are not brought up until later. The initial conditions for this agreement is a believing, humble, praying ruler who was dedicated to God’s covenant with the nation of Israel and to His worship.

So, we have barely begun our study and already one of the primary conditions for this promise appears to eliminate its primary usage in modern prayers. As I said above, most of the time, this prayer is used in an attempt to get God to remove an ungodly leader. Yet, here we read that the initial conditions of this promise begins with a leader who was godly, humble and who prays.

This is significant because it is not simply a sub-point, it is THE point! This entire agreement between God and Solomon only happened because Solomon as ruler of Israel prayed! To assume that you can begin with an ungodly leader and somehow still get the results of 2 Chron. 7:14 is to both take away from and add to this scripture.

The prayer Solomon prayed took place at the dedication of the Temple and is spelled out word for word in the previous chapter. In fact, all that follows in chapter 7, was a result and response to a prayer prayed IN THAT CONTEXT!

Part of Solomon’s prayer (which really MUST be read in full to even begin to understand this passage) he said to God,

“And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like Thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto Thy servants, that walk before Thee with all their hearts” – 2 Chron. 6:14.

If Solomon knew that a heart completely dedicated to God was a condition of enjoying the benefits of the Old Testament covenant and to be a recipient of God’s mercy – doesn’t it follow that God must have had Solomon’s heart as the leader? In fact, what was God’s statement about Solomon’s heart?

God said to Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not requested riches, wealth, or glory, or for the life of those who hate you, and you have not even requested long life, but you have requested for yourself wisdom and knowledge that you may judge My people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are given to you. I will also give you riches, wealth, and glory, such that it was not like this for the kings who were before you, nor will it be like this for those after you.” – 2 Chron. 1:11-12

Next we see that God was now watching. What would be the future actions and prayers of His king(-s)? Would the king hearken to God’s Holy commandments and live a life of dedication to them? Would he seek Him and humbly pray to Him or forget Him until Israel is in national distress?

“Mine eyes shall be open, and Mine ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place.”

Let’s go over our key study questions so far…

Who… was God speaking to? King Solomon

What… was being addressed? God’s acceptance of the temple as a place for His eyes and heart and for sacrifice to Him.

Why? It was a response to an appeal to God from Solomon at the beginning of his rule following the dedication of the temple.

Where? Before the Temple.

When? Immediately following the Death of King David and so, at the beginning of his rule following the dedication of the temple.

<Cont. to If My people…Part 2>

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!