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:
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- 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 and for the establishment of His kingdom on earth.
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 oversimplification 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 was most familiar, this was 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
However, this has changed more in recent years. At least now there is a real emphasis on the need for humble repentance.
The interesting thing is that many of those who misquote and misuse this passage 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” saying, “We’re not under the law anymore!”
To which they should be asked, “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 akin to those who like to “claim” the blessings of Deuteronomy 28 without realizing that if you do so, you are placing yourself back under the Old Covenant 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 in 2 Chronicles 7, you should first of all know what specifically is being promised.
Addionally we 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,
“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 Chron. 7:12-20
Due to the length of this study I have divided it into 4 key points. These are enumerated in the list below with a summary title.
I will address each of these points in the order listed.
- 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, let’s 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.
“The Lord 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.
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 godly leader who is 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!
In part of Solomon’s prayer (which really MUST be read in full to even begin to understand this passage) he said to God,
“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 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 not long before this?
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?
God says,
“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.
Point #2 –
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.
“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;”
God is addressing Solomon (not Israel) in response to his prayer.
Read what Solomon prayed and then look at the issues God addresses in His response. They are nearly verbatim Solomon’s words spoken right back to him.
“And if thy people Israel be PUT TO THE WORSE BEFORE THE ENEMY, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
When the heaven is shut up, and there is NO RAIN, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when Thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.” – 2 Chron. 6:24-31
So we can clearly see that God heard Solomon’s prayer and is responding very specifically to all that he mentioned in his prayer.
God is here saying in response to Solomon, that if He sends these disasters on Israel due to their sins, (which He seems to think He will or this part of the passage has no meaning) then the following is what they AS A NATION, must do…
“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.”
One thing which is necessary to understand in order to grasp what is truly going on here, is the authority of the king.
Israel had rejected the authority structure God had originally appointed for them during the time of the judges.
By the time of Samuel the prophet, the people were crying out for a king, so that they could be like all of the other nations. They wanted this king to…
- Judge them
- Go out before them
- Fight their battles
All of this is recorded in I Samuel 8.
God warned them through Samuel of the consequences of their decision, in verses 10-22 in Chapter 8. I will not address those consequences, but I will point out the authority Israel was giving over to their future kings.
God said in I Samuel 8:11,
“He said, “These are the rights of the king who will rule over you: He can take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots.”
The word “rule” is the Hebrew word ָמַלךּ (mālak). It is a verb meaning to rule, to be king, to have sway, power, and dominion over people and nations.
The king had DOMINION OVER THE NATION.
Another word God used for the kings was Shepherds.
- 2 Chron. 11:1,2
- Ezek. 34:23
Sheep go wherever their shepherd leads them. In fact this was the very thing Israel said they wanted,
“The people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We must have a king over us. Then we’ll be like all the other nations: our king will judge us, go out before us, and fight our battles.” – 1 Sam. 8:19-20
God warned Israel that any future king had the authority to:
- Take your sons and put them to his use in his chariots, on his horses, or running in front of his chariots.
- Appoint them for his use as commanders of thousands or commanders of fifties.
- To plow his ground or reap his harvest, or to make his weapons of war or the equipment for his chariots.
- Take your daughters to become perfumers, cooks, and bakers.
- Take your best fields, vineyards, and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
- Take a tenth of your grain and your vineyards and give them to his officials and servants.
- Take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys and use them for his work.
- Take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves can become his servants.
Nevertheless, Israel wanted a king to rule over them. So God honored their request and gave them kings. [Be careful what you ask for – you may get it!]
Why is this important? Because it is the backdrop of the verses of this famous passage.
God HAD to work within the structure of authority He allowed and in fact, set up – as per Israel’s request. Once that structure was in order, God was going to work within its boundaries.
In fact, God warned them IN ADVANCE that they would eventually weary of having kings and cry out to God to remove them. He told them that in that day,
“When that day comes, you will cry out because of the king you’ve chosen for yourselves, but the LORD won’t answer you on that day.” – 1 Sam. 8:18
Once it was done – it was done!
So here in 2 Chron. 7, God is working within that established structure of authority. In order to bless His people, He had to have the heart of their leader. Sheep do not lead the shepherd, the shepherd leads the sheep!
Applying this to America, I cannot confirm whether God originally wanted a ruler in America (a president), but one thing I do know is that we have one and that if one exists – they do so by God’s appointment.
We will address this point later, but I thought it necessary to connect the dot for the sake of pointing out delegated authority as coming from God.
Even in Israel’s case, God wanted them to be ruled by Himself through the Judges and Prophets.
Due to their insistence He gave them what they wanted and that was their eventual undoing.
Point # 3 –
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.
“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.”
God’s promise here is to His king.
Notice the promise was to heal the land of the natural disasters brought on them due to judgment for their sins.
Consider the examples of disasters God mentions:
- No rain on the land.
- Any plague that devours the land (locust and such).
- Pestilence (sickness) in the land.
Absolutely none of this is addressing political issues!
God is not promising Israel a metaphorical “healing of the land” meaning restoration of good leadership. In fact, He would not be promising anything if a good political leader had not just humbly prayed to Him in the first place!
Also, [and this is REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT] – God did NOT say this TO THE PEOPLE. God was addressing Solomon!
God did not say, “Hear oh My people Israel, if you will humble yourselves and pray…”
He was specifically addressing the one with national authority – the king!
Again, this is not some small, insignificant minutia it is THE PIVOTAL ISSUE!
If you question this, simply allow scripture to interpret itself. Where and how do you see this verse being applied in real life by anyone in the Bible?
The answer – Jehoshaphat! (Who was the ruler – not one of the people under the ruler)
This was a promise to Solomon – the ruler of Israel and to all the future rulers of Israel by extension. That is NOT to say that the common Israelite could not pray and be heard, but the promise was to the KING!
This is why this very same prayer was referenced by Jehoshaphat before the Temple of God, prior to an impending battle which should have wiped Israel from the map!
Lets read it,
“It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi. And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD. And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.” – 2 Chron. 20:1-9
We can readily see (especially if you read the entire account) that it was Jehoshaphat that…
- Humbled himself
- Sought God
- Prayed
- Declared a national fast
Notice, also that it was Jehoshaphat that God was answering – not the people!
Yes, God addressed everyone – but it was in response to the prayer of their ruler – 2 Chron. 20:13-18.
So we have established that the promise was not to the people but to their ruler.
This is not to say the people of Israel were unaffected or unimportant. It simply places the entire passage BACK into its proper context for clarity and understanding. Daniel also prayed during Judah’s time of Babylonian exile, but it was NOT Solomon’s prayer that he prayed. Rather is was a seeking of God regarding when their 70 years of exile predicted by Jeremiah the Prophet began so he would know when they would end. However, even in his case Daniel did pray, orienting himself so as to face the location of the Temple in Jerusalem which lay in ruins.
Most often, when I hear Christians pray in reference to this passage – they spend the entire time praying for God to change their land, by which they mean the current President, Congress and/or Judges.
This contains at least three major problems!
- No where in the entire passage does it suggest that we ask God to heal anything! (land or otherwise) God’s healing the land is HIS part which He promised to do if Israel did THEIR part!
- The promise was to heal the physical land of sickness, disease, famine, drought or war. IT WAS NOT A POLITICAL HEALING!
- The people and land God was referring to was Israel. Israel was a natural nation of one religion and race. Christians are a supernatural nation composed of many people and nations. Christians do not have a “land” to heal.
- I know that the founding fathers of the United States of America were predominately believers, but it is NOT true that all were. In fact we know by way of history that some were deists. The point being that exclusivity to Christian theology was NEVER a per-requisite to establishing, maintaining or becoming a citizen of this nation. Therefore by very definition it never was a “Christian Nation” in the truest, most straightforward meaning of the words.
- America has ALWAYS supported the freedom of religion, including no religion at all, so that patently disqualifies it from being an exclusively Christian nation!
The promise to the Christian was the desire of Abraham.
Abraham longed for a “heavenly country”, whose builder and maker was God (Heb. 11:13-16).
Let’s read it,
“All these died in the possession of faith. They had not received the promised blessings, but had seen them from a distance and had greeted them, and had acknowledged themselves to be foreigners and strangers here on earth; for men who acknowledge this make it manifest that they are seeking elsewhere a country of their own. And if they had cherished the remembrance of the country they had left, they would have found an opportunity to return; but, as it is, we see them eager for a better land, that is to say, a heavenly one. For this reason God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has now prepared a city for them.” – Heb. 11:13-16.
It is a sad reality that those who had this promise made to them, desired to have the inheritance we have received. We, on the other hand, who have what they longed for, wish to return to the mundane earthly promises they desired to leave behind!
What did God say about Abraham for longing for a heavenly country?
“For this reason God is not ashamed to be called their God…”
What then does this imply God feels about our hearts which desire to establish an earthly kingdom in His Name?
This is the exact same delusion the Israelites were under which kept their eyes blinded to their Messiah, when He came.
They were looking for a conquering ruler to deliver them from the politics of their day and set up and earthly reign.
I wonder how many Christians today are living under that same delusion and so missing the work of the Messiah in their lives.
Jesus CLEARLY STATED His intentions and His kingdom when He was among us.
- He came to give dead men – Life. – Jn. 10:10; Jn. 17:1-3; Mk. 2:17
- He came to establish the rule of God in the hearts of men – Luke 17:20-30*
There are those today who teach that God is seeking to establish His kingdom here on earth in a very tangible way – which doctrine Jesus very specifically denied in Lk. 17:20-21.
They believe God will unify the earth under His leadership expressed through His church.
Many believe this expression of leadership will be through what they call “The 7 Mountains” of business, government, media, arts (and entertainment), education, the family and religion.
Do not get me wrong, there are many who believe The 7 Mountains to be simply a platform upon which to reach the lost with the Gospel of Reconciliation through Jesus Christ. So far as I can tell there is nothing wrong with that!
People are gifted by God with wisdom in various fields of interest, and without a doubt they should honor God and reveal Jesus our Savior through their God given gifts and talents. However, there is a HUGE difference between expressions of God’s grace within those “mountains” and “reclaiming” those mountains for God.
I do not wish to get bogged down here on this topic, but if you are interested, you might wish to research this topic on your own.
I only caution you against the idea of anything approaching a “Kingdom Now” theology!
To get an idea of the way God desired His church to regard politics, let’s look at the topic as it is addressed during the time of the Apostles.
Remember, God chose to come to earth and establish His kingdom in the hearts of mankind at this specific point in time – Gal. 4:4.
What I want you to consider due to this is that if “taking over” and establishing a very real, natural Kingdom of God here on earth was God’s intention, then the Apostles epically failed to communicate such or establish any such kingdom!
In fact, Paul went so far as to say that we should submit to the natural powers that exist.
That Paul did this while under a Roman dictatorship only makes this point all the stronger!
Consider the fact that Paul, who lived under Roman rule as a native born citizen, never prayed for God to change the politics of Rome – nor its leaders. In fact, what did Paul instruct us to pray in regards to our leaders?
“First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,” – 1 Tim. 2:1-3.
Now wait a minute…Was Paul ignorant of the pagan lives of those Roman Emperors who ruled over him?
No he knew!
Obviously how these rulers decided to behave themselves did not matter or Paul would have made this a conditional statement.
I believe one of the problems we have is that we think that just because we pray something, it has to happen. Just because Paul tells us to pray for our leaders so that “we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” does not mean that the leader has to submit to our prayers.
How many of you have urgently prayed for the salvation of a loved one who has since died without ever coming to know the Lord?
Does that mean your prayers were a waste?
No more than salvation being purchased for everyone was a waste, just because everyone does not choose to receive.
Also, notice that it was while under Roman rule that Paul was inspired to write this,
“Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.” – Rom. 13:1-2.
What did Jesus say about this?
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” – Mat. 5:44-45.
For those who use special pleading to side step the obvious and claim that this is just in reference to the “position” of authority and not the specific PERSON IN the position of authority, consider this…
“For the Scripture tells Pharaoh: For this reason I raised YOU up: so that I may display My power in you, and that My name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” – Rom. 9:17
Who specifically raised Pharaoh to power? God!
Was Pharaoh a nice guy? NO!
Wasn’t he the one who made the Israelites make bricks without straw and doubled their workload? YES!
And you mean to tell me that God placed him in that position? ABSOLUTELY!
Also,
“So Pilate said to Him, “You’re not talking to me? Don’t You know that I have the authority to release You and the authority to crucify You?”
“You would have no authority over Me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.” – John 19:10-11.
Where did Jesus seem to think the Pilate’s authority to rule came from? God!
Why was Israel in bondage to Egypt and later to Rome? It was judgment!
This is why God can say that leaders are His ministers for their good.
It does NOT mean the ruler is always going to be benevolent and rule in ways which WE SUBJECTIVELY call good. Sometimes it means quite the contrary!
If they offend us, it is so that we will be filled with our own ways until we are sick enough of them to change our ways.
What if good people suffer as well as evil?
There is MUCH the scriptures have to say about that, and I will address it in another study, but suffice it to say that Nehemiah, a Godly prophet – repented personally over the sins of the nation.
He did not attempt to disassociate himself with the sufferings of God’s people just because he was righteous. In fact, it was his righteousness which called him to identify with the nation and suffer with it [Nehemiah 1:1-11].
The same was true of Moses,
“Through faith Moses, when he grew to manhood, refused to be known as Pharaoh’s daughter’s son, having determined to endure ill-treatment along with the people of God rather than enjoy the short-lived pleasures of sin; because he deemed the reproaches which he might meet with in the service of the Christ to be greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt; for he fixed his gaze on the coming reward.” – Heb. 11:24-26
Point # 4 –
God is STILL talking exclusively to the Godly King Solomon.
He is telling him the conditions upon which he and his descendants will continue to rule His people.
“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.”
God, still addressing Solomon, speaks of the conditions of his continued rule and the rule of successive generations.
“…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”
God’s promise is conditional to the heart of the leader.
God delegated the authority to lead to David and then subsequently to Solomon, his son.
Additionally, God offered to them a promise that their descendants would rule perpetually upon certain conditions. None of these conditions were outside of their control. The conditions were all within the sphere of their authority as ruler.
This promise had nothing to do with the hearts of His people Israel. The conditions of ruling perpetually were within the power of David and his descendants.
If these kings failed to keep God’s commands, the promise was this…
“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.”
Notice if you will that the land never ceased being God’s. He had only offered it to Israel as a stewardship, which could be revoked by God under the conditions He outlined above.
Conclusions:
So one is likely to ask,
“Then what are we to do and what are we to pray?”
“If we have no control over the heart of the ruler then what are we to do?”
Good question!
The rulers are not independent of the people:
The appointed ruler of God’s people, has always been a result of the hearts of His people.
When their hearts were taken away to serve other Gods, then the nations of those “gods” became their rulers.
When Israel was brought into bondage, their hearts would begin to cry out to God for deliverance.
The book of Judges (which predates the time of the Kings) reveals the whole story.
God allows His people to be filled with their own fancies, until they begin to vomit it out of their mouths (e.g. until they are so full of their own ways that it sickens them). -Ps. 78:25-31; Numbers 11:18-20.
The people are not independent of their rulers:
In like manner, if Israel had a godly ruler, the people largely lived godly lives.
Historically, people often reflect the disposition of their king. This is true on virtually every level. Children follow the heart of their fathers. Employees tend towards the same attitudes and aptitudes of their employer. Nations follow the leading of their rulers.
This is not to say that there are never any exceptions, but they are rare enough to not serve as the rule.
Most of the time if people are evil – their leader is as well.
In the rare cases when the hearts of God’s people change (which change is evidenced in the way they live their lives), God has always sent deliverance. Again, you need look no further than the book of Judges to confirm this as truth.
Also, the cry of Israel was never solely focused upon their plight. They cried out for deliverance “For the sake of God’s GREAT NAME”.
If American Christians wanted deliverance for even half as noble a reason, it might go a lot further, but then again THAT would require a heart change, so we are back at the original problem.
There are two major difficulties I can see with attempting to apply the actions of God toward Israel when they cried out for deliverance to our situation here in the United States of America.
First, when God delivered Israel – they as an ecclesia ( a group called out from the world and unto God for his special purpose) WERE THE NATION. Not only that, they were a natural nation – meaning they were all Jews.
America is by very definition a “melting pot” of various nationalities and beliefs.
Yes, I believe our nation was “founded” on Christian principles and therefore began as a nation inclined towards Christian principles. However, there is nothing in our Constitution which requires all naturalized persons to be adherents to the Christian faith.
From the beginning anyone who wanted to be an American was welcome!
That is more than a trivial difference!
To be an Israelite, one HAD to be a partaker in and adherent to their faith or they were killed. That is NOT true, nor has it ever been true of this nation.
To compare the two and attempt to take the Old Covenant promise given to a natural Jewish nation of one faith and “retrofit” it quite unnaturally onto our nation which is eclectic in the extreme is simply irresponsible!
Secondly Israel was a NATURAL NATION whose promises all spoke to NATURAL issues.
Everything in Judaism was a “reversed parable”.
Every tenet of their faith was a heavenly reality illustrated through a natural paradigm.
Feasts, new moons, sabbaths, atonement by animal sacrifice, ritualistic cleanings, dietary laws, the Mosaic Law itself and even the very nation of Israel itself…etc. All of them were types and shadows of a spiritual reality which they could not embrace or enjoy while under the old covenant.
Paul said as much in the following passages:
- Rom. 9:6-8 (natural Israel was Jewish, Spiritual Israel are those who rely upon Christ’s finished work)
- Col. 2:16, 17 (new moons, Sabbaths, feast days – types of Christ)
- Acts 11:7-18 (unclean animals were a type of the Gentiles)
- Heb. 10:1-5 (clean animals sacrificed for atonement [a covering over] of Israel’s sins were a type of Christ as the Lamb Who, once and for all, takes away the sins of the whole world.)
- Rom. 10:19; I Peter 2:9 (Israel was a natural nation with physical boundaries, we are a spiritual nation without physical, national boundaries.)
Quite to the contrary Christains are a spiritual nation comprised of every ethnic group and language of this earth.
The promise was to reconcile our hearts to God not with those on the earth.
Jesus promised that the world would HATE us – not create laws which made our Christian lifestyle easy. – Matt. 10:16-20.
Why is this important? Because if the enemy can over occupy you with a seemingly “good” thing, he can keep you from doing the only necessary thing to which you were called.
It is not my desire to crush any hope of living in peace on earth. As we read earlier, it was Paul’s direction that our prayers for our leaders was with this goal in mind.
I do not however, want my brothers and sisters to get too caught up in attempting to conform the world to the church. That was NOT our commission!
We are to see to it that WE do not conform to the world (Rom. 12:1,2), not the other way around!
Our commission was to be witnesses in the world, without being part OF IT.
The only overcoming we are to do is to overcome the influence of the world within our lives by maintaining what we have in Christ and not allowing Him to lose ground within our hearts.
Too many believers today are on a mission which God never issued.
If we would be more diligent in allowing God to gain more real-estate in our own hearts we would BE the witness to the world He desires.
Instead, we have a tendency to fight the world in the world.
We want government to establish laws in keeping with our Christian beliefs. This is little different from the crusades in goal.
What were the words our Lord and Savior used to describe the world’s reaction to the church?
“Then Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of birth pains. “Then they will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name. Then many will take offense, betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be delivered. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.” – Matt. 24:4-14.
Regardless of how we view 2 Chron. 7:14, we must admit that our part is to “… humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their [our] wicked ways;”
Then and only then and ONLY IF IT APPLIES will God do His part of hearing “from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Let us allow God to determine what “land” He will heal, but from all I can see in scripture it is the land of the Kingdom of God within the hearts of mankind.
For more on this topic I invite you to listen to the following messages and read their associated articles:
