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I. Introduction
In many churches this morning a verse from the OT will be quoted in reference to the plight in which our country finds itself in today. But it will be misread, misunderstood, and subsequently misapplied. Nonetheless, it will be held up as the answer to America’s national woes. Some will even proclaim it as God’s promise to save America. As such, this verse has become one of the most often quoted and well-known verses in the OT. It is 2 Chronicles 7:14.
It says, “(If) My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
How are we to understand this verse? One of God’s commands to His church is found in Paul’s second letter to his young protégé, Timothy. He is instructing Timothy on his call as a shepherd of the flock of God. One of those instructions is to be very careful with the preaching and teaching of God’s Word. Many of you know it as “The AWANA verse.”
2 Timothy 2:15
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.
The KJV says, “…rightly dividing the word of truth.” Either way, you get the point. The simple fact of the matter is that you can’t take verses at random, or out of the context in which you find them, and expect to “rightly divide” or “handle accurately” God’s Word.
It’s been said that in biblical interpretation “context is king.” You’ll never understand the Bible if you’re in the habit of taking individual verses or passages helter-skelter, and trying to build a theology around them. Everything God says is true, but everything God says must be taught and consequently understood in the context in which it is found.
Isn’t that’s just common sense? Listen to J. Vernon McGee on the subject of context… “It is possible to quote an isolated Scripture or two to support false doctrine today. However, you cannot take a verse here and there; you must look at the whole picture presented in Scripture. When you do, you will not be able to support false theories.”
Having said that let me read 2 Chronicles 7:14 again. “(If) My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
What does that mean? How are you and I to interpret it? Are we to apply it to ourselves? If so, how are we to apply it? If not, why not?
It isn’t just verses like 2 Chronicles 7:14 that call for us to answer those kinds of ques-tions. You and I need to answer questions like that every time we open the Bible. There are four basic principles that all serious students of Scripture must use if they truly want to know what God’s Word means and how it applies to them.
1. What is the literal meaning of the verse or passage in question? What does it say and who said it?
2. What is the historical setting? In other words, to whom was it originally addressed and what did it mean to them?
3. What is the grammatical context? That is, how does it fit into the sentences and phrases around it?
4. How does it compare to other Scripture?
Answers to these questions will eventually lead you to the true meaning of any verse or passage. And those answers will bring you to a more complete understanding of the whole picture that J. Vernon McGee was talking about.
So if we apply those principles to 2 Chronicles 7:14 we will readily see that God is not talking about our country at all. So how can we claim it for ourselves here in twenty-first century America? But even if we can’t directly claim it for ourselves, is there something we can learn from it? Is there something we can apply to our daily lives?
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II. Text
2 Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Bible. Ezra wrote it to tell of the reign of King Solomon from 970-930 B.C. and chronologically record the history of all the kings of Judah from 930 to 586 B.C. when, because of their nation’s sin, God exacted punish-ment by turning the Jews over to the Babylonian captivity.
Our concern this morning is with the time near the beginning of Solomon’s forty year reign. God speaks the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14 after the completion of Solomon’s Temple. The date is approximately 965 B.C.
*2 Chronicles 1:1
1 Now Solomon the son of David established himself securely over his king-dom, and the LORD his God was with him and exalted him greatly.
That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? Now look at this…
*2 Chronicles 1:7-9
7 …God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask what I shall give you.”
8 And Solomon said to God, “You have dealt with my father David with great lovingkindness, and have made me king in his place.
9 “Now, O LORD God, Your promise to my father David is fulfilled; for You have made me king over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth.
What was that promise? (go to 2 Samuel 7)
*2 Samuel 7:12-13, 16
12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.”
16 “And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” (back to 2 Chronicles 1)
*2 Chronicles 1:10-12 (in response to God’s offer to give Solomon what he desires)
10 “Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can rule this great people of Yours?”
11 And God said to Solomon, “Because you had this in mind, and did not ask for riches, wealth, or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and knowledge, that you may rule My people, over whom I have made you king,
12 wisdom and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed, nor those who will come after you.”
In 2 Chronicles 2-5 the temple is built and dedicated. In 2 Chronicles 6 the Ark of the Covenant takes its rightful place in the Holy of Holies and King Solomon prays for the people. In 2 Chronicles 7:1 the Glory of God enters the temple. This is followed by two weeks of offering sacrifices and feasting in celebration. That takes us to today’s text.
*2 Chronicles 7:12-18 (Please stand with me in honor of reading God’s Word.)
12 Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sac-rifice.
13 “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people,
14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
15 “Now My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place.
16 “For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.
17 “And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked even to do according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances,
18 then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’”
Well, now we have 2 Chronicles 7:14 in its immediate context. We know what it says, we know when it was said, we know to whom it was said, and we can readily see how it fits into the Scripture around it.
The temple has been completed and the glory of God has come and taken up residence in it. God has told Solomon that Israel will be blessed if they are humble, prayerful, seek after God, and are repentant before Him.
So let’s examine v. 14 to see what its primary meaning actually is. Upon completion of the temple, God speaks directly to Solomon, Israel’s temporary king. God tells Israel pre-cisely what He expects of them – humility, prayer, devotion, and repentance. If they do those things, He will heal their land. Now let’s take a closer look at the verses near v. 14.
In v. 12 and v. 15, you will notice that “this place,” is located in Israel, specifically in Jerusalem. “…this place” is not in the United States of America.
In v. 16, you will notice that “this house,” is where God’s throne room on earth is found. It is located in Jerusalem, specifically upon the temple mount. “…this house” is not in the United States of America.
In v. 18, you will notice that “your royal throne,” is located in the nation of Israel, in the city of Jerusalem, on the temple mount, specifically in Solomon’s Temple. “…your royal throne” is not in the United States of America. Finally, “…a man to be ruler in Israel,” is Israel’s Messiah and our Christ.
And Solomon is Israel’s temporary earthly king.
*2 Chronicles 7:17-18
17 “And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked even to do according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances,
18 then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’”
Remember what God had told Solomon’s father David. “And your house and your king-dom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” These last two verses (7:17-18) reiterate God’s promise of an eternal King to rule Israel. We know who He is, don’t we? He is God’s Anointed, the Holy One of God, the Messiah, the Christ. So this entire passage is about Israel and her eternal King.
So why is this verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14, so often applied to our nation? Is it because we desperately want it to be so? I suspect it is. I would like it to be so, wouldn’t you? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Jesus were America’s eternal King? But He will not be that. God made the covenant with Israel. Here is a definition of a covenant the way the Bible defines and uses the word. It is from the Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia.
“A covenant is an agreement between two or more persons in which the following four factors or elements are present; (there are) parties, conditions, results, security.”
Look again at 2 Chronicles 7:18. “…I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’”
Israel is God’s covenant nation. America is not. (Nor, for that matter, is any other nation on the face of the earth.) Long before God made His covenant promise to King David, and long before He reiterated it to King Solomon, He made His covenant with the human fathers of the nation of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God even changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
Genesis 32:27-28
27 So He said to him. “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”
28 And He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.”
The word Israel is transliterated directly from the Hebrew “Yis´rā’ēl.” Its literal meaning is, “He persists (goes on) with God.” So the very name, “Israel,” tells us that God isn’t finished with them as a nation. They will persist. Israel will never be destroyed.
While God made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He made no such promises to our Founding Fathers. We have no national claim to the promises made to Israel. But even Israel, His own chosen people, had to meet God’s own conditions to receive the national blessing. When they failed to do so, He judged them severely.
So with regard to America, ask yourself this, “Why would a non-covenant nation have any hope of receiving God’s blessing if it persists in unbelief and refuses to even acknow-ledge God’s existence, let alone obey Him?”
Our country has not turned toward God; it has turned away from Him. For example…
• We kill millions of unborn babies, yet we turn rapists and murderers loose on soci-ety. God protects the innocent and punishes the guilty, but America murders the innocent while making excuses for, and then freeing the guilty!
• Day by day homosexuality continues to be spread and embraced by our culture. Someone has said that if God doesn’t judge America, He will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.
• Words like, “marriage between a man and woman is normal and to be preferred,” are classified as hate speech in Oakland, California and other cities.
We are turning away from God. How many examples of America’s turning away from God can you come up with? Since we are not a covenant nation, what hope is there for America? At this point someone may ask, “If Israel is the only nation to which God’s national covenant applies, then why do the laws God gave them apply to anyone else?” The answer may surprise you. Many of them don’t!
Remember that there were three types of laws given in the OT. They were ceremonial, civil, and moral.
The ceremonial law dealt with the rites of worship, things like feasts and sacrifices. You do not have to obey those. Ceremonial law was valid until each and every aspect of it was fulfilled, and therefore negated, by the death of Christ. So for the Christian the cere-monial law is no longer binding.
The civil law dealt with how the Jews conducted their public lives. Things like property rights, personal injuries, and money lending were covered under civil law. With regard to such things, the NT calls us to use the wisdom and the discernment God gives through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The real task before us is to keep from falling into the extremes of legalism on the one hand or license on the other. In this you and I are to be led and directed by the principles that are given us in the NT. Therefore, for the Christian the details of the OT civil law are not binding, but the principles are.
The moral law had to do with one’s morality and conduct. It is summarized in The Ten Commandments. The moral law is non-negotiable. It reflects God’s character. The moral law is perpetual. It never ends because God’s character never changes. We do have to obey these. They are binding. And they are not merely about what we do. They are also about how we think.
In other words, while there is no question that Christians are to be concerned about the letter of the law, they are to be just as concerned about the spirit of the law. Jesus taught this with multiple examples in the Sermon on the Mount.
The letter of the law says, “Do not murder.” The spirit of the law agrees and then raises the bar to, “Do not even hate.” The letter of the law says, “Do not commit adultery.” The spirit of the law agrees and then raises the bar to, “Do not even consider it.” The letter of the law says, “Love your friends.” The spirit of the law agrees and then raises the bar to, “Love your enemies too.”
This is what God requires of His people. And when God’s chosen and covenant nation Israel did not do these things, God severely punished them. So again I ask, “Since this country is not a covenant nation, how should we expect God to deal with America?”
But someone says, “America has been greatly blessed by God’s grace, not by God’s binding covenant.” While that is true, the fact remains that America, as a nation, has no absolute biblical claim on God’s blessing.
Why has God blessed us so? I believe that at least in part, He has done so because we are a nation founded on biblical principles. Let’s be clear. It is understood that not all of the founding fathers were Bible-believing Christians as you and I understand the term, but virtually all of them respected and admired what might be called the “Judeo-Christian ethic,” the morals, the values, and the principles laid down in Holy Scripture.
They knew that a nation built upon them could succeed like no other. They also knew that a national rejection of those morals, values, and principles would lead to disgrace, dishonor, and ultimate destruction. Listen to the words of our second president John Adams who, along with Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, wrote the Declaration of Independence.
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human pas-sions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. (The Constitution of the United States of America) is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”
But what about the church? What about God’s people? First and foremost, we need to remember that the church is not an American institution. The Church of Jesus Christ is universal. God’s people are everywhere, and God’s people do have a part in His binding covenant. The Apostle Paul addresses that in his letter to the churches in Galatia.
Galatians 3:26-29
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.
We have seen 2 Chronicles 7:14 applies specifically to Israel, God’s chosen nation. But wait a minute, the NT says that the church consists of God’s chosen people. So might it be that 2 Chronicles 7:14 applies generally to all of God’s people without regard to the country into which they were born and hold their citizenship?
Of course! The question is not, “Are you an American?” The question is, “Are you a Christian? American citizenship has some obvious advantages but…
Philippians 3:20
20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
John MacArthur has said, “America wants God’s blessings but it doesn’t want God.” America is deliberately and systematically removing God and His principles from every area of our public life and national consciousness. We reject His Word, His command-ments, and His Son. Then we turn to entertainers, to politicians, and to judges for wis-
dom. We look to them for “hope and change.” In doing so we get what we deserve.
Galatians 6:7-8
7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
8 For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the (Holy) Spirit shall from the (Holy) Spirit reap eternal life.
We as a nation have mocked God. We have sown to the flesh and we are beginning to reap what we’ve sown. That was the lesson for God’s covenant nation of Israel, and that is the lesson for you and for me, God’s covenant people. What can we learn from Ezra’s words in 2 Chronicles 7:14?
I believe it is this. You and I, as God’s covenant people, can intercede for America. We can humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and repent. He will hear us. Will He heal our land? He isn’t bound by any promise or covenant to do so, but He certainly could, and maybe He would.
But if He did, it would not be for the sake of a covenant nation, it would be for the sake of God’s covenant people in that nation. (repeat) Can you see why the spiritual condition of the church is the key to any future blessing of America?
But sadly, the spiritual condition of the professing church is not all that good today. Still, someone might ask, “Will God judge a nation if His covenant people inhabit it? Isn’t the mere presence of God’s people enough to influence the nation and ward off impending judgment?” The Prophet Ezekiel speaks to that very issue.
*Ezekiel 14:12-21
12 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,
13 “Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it, and cut off from it both man and beast,
14 even though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the LORD God.
15 “If I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they depopu-lated it, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,
16 though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the LORD God, they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the country would be desolate.
17 “Or if I should bring a sword on that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass through the country and cut off man and beast from it,’
18 even though these three men were in its midst, as I live,” declares the LORD God, “they could not deliver either their sons or their daughters, but they alone would be delivered.
19 “Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it, to cut off man and beast from it,
20 even though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the LORD God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.
21 For thus says the LORD God, “How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem; sword, famine, wild beasts, and plague to cut off man and beast from it!”
What can this passage teach us? Well, for one thing it teaches that you cannot save any-one else. It teaches that each one of us is individually accountable to God. You can lead your children to Christ but you cannot save them. God has no “grandchildren.” Theo-logically speaking, it can be defined like this: Christ’s righteousness can be imputed to you, but your righteousness cannot be imputed to anyone else.
But the main thrust of the passage is this – God’s wrath will be poured out on a godless and disobedient nation whether or not God’s covenant people are in it. Listen, America has no chance for survival unless it returns to the biblical principles upon which it was founded. If Christians, the Church of Jesus Christ, you and I, don’t pursue that, who will? Our first president, George Washington understood that. He said…
“It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.”
Nearly every single one of our Founding Fathers understood that. But today, that under-standing is all but gone from our nation’s leadership. If George Washington were alive and uttered those words today, he would be vilified as a right-wing religious bigot. The outcry would be deafening and the ACLU would be lining up its lawyers.
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III. Conclusion
Listen please. This is not a time to be discouraged. We are God’s covenant people. All the joys and glory of God await us no matter what country we live in here on this earth. Where you have lived this life won’t matter one iota in eternity. But while we are here we can pray for the country we live in regardless of its moral and spiritual decline. We can pray for America just as Moses prayed for Israel.
In three days we will celebrate Independence Day. There will be picnics, parties, and fireworks. While we’re enjoying all of that let’s remember to thank God for the blessings He has given to us. And let’s take what we can from 2 Chronicles 7:14 and apply to our-selves. Let us be humble, prayerful, seeking God’s face, and repenting of our sin.
And know this – no matter how God ultimately deals with America, His covenant people will be blessed. And for that we can praise Him.
John Greenleaf Whittier was a nineteenth century American poet. He wrote the words to one of the hymns we often sing here at LBC. The words of the first verse seem appro-priate this morning. Let me close with them.
“Dear Lord and Father of Mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind;
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper rev‘rence praise.”
~ Pray ~