II Chronicles 6-7; I Kings 9:1-9
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 and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
II Chronicles 7:14
I suspect that at least a few of us may be somewhat familiar with this verse, as it is quoted now and again to spur us to repentance on behalf of our nation. Perhaps you’ve even memorized it somewhere along the line. But with all its familiarity, I also suspect that most of us are (or have been) generally unaware of the context of this verse. Well, no more — now you know that this verse is part of God’s response to Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple. Here God effectively echoes back to Solomon what Solomon had asked, that if anyone were to orient themselves toward God, body and soul, then God would hear from heaven and answer. (See yesterday’s post.)
Now that we see the context, let’s clarify a couple of things that may stand in contrast with how this verse seems to be quoted these days. First, “My people” does not refer to Americans, and second, “their land” does not refer to that portion of North America between Mexico and Canada. That may come as a shock to some, but that’s the truth. (And, by the way, let’s not disregard the previous verse, II Ch. 7:13, in which God clearly claims responsibility for natural disasters. That may also come as a shock to some, but that’s the truth.) All of that goes to say that we should not take this verse as a promise that if some (or even all) Christians in this country repent, then God will bless our otherwise degenerate nation. God spoke this to Israel, not the United States.
Yet we should still heed the message of this verse, that God is inclined to bless those who truly seek Him. We should readily see that God’s posture toward us has quite a lot to do with our posture toward God. We should recognize that it is incumbent upon us Christians to be the first to repent and seek God’s face. All of that should be evident in our lives — in our personal relationships, in our business dealings, in our politics, in our words, and in our actions. Are we going to be part of the problem or part of the solution? Are we going to thumb our noses at God and go our own way? Or are we going to humble ourselves, pray, seek the LORD’s face, and turn from our wicked ways? Which will it be?