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. (2 Chr 7:14)Oh, yeah, lots of believers are hanging on to that one right now. I would, however, urge us to be careful. The text is a promise to Israel after the warning of God's judgment. We are not Israel. Our land is not promised land. We have no reason to believe that God will "heal our land" based on this text.
What, then? Let's look again. It turns out that verse 14 is the second half of a sentence that begins in verse 13. God speaking says, "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people ... (2 Chr 7:13). Then we get that "if My people" text. Verse 14 is about God's people in the midst of God's judgment. Verse 13 anticipates that God will stop the rain or command locust and pestilence. (Notice "When," not "if".) If you're going to hang your hat on this verse, you'd better be sure we are currently under God's judgment.
Regardless of the applicability of the promise to American Christians, there is, in fact, a real take-home message in this text. In the context, all Israel would be in the midst of this judgment -- both the godly ones and the ungodly ones. Notice, however, that God doesn't urge the believing ones to correct the unbelieving ones. He doesn't say, "Be sure to pass good laws and elect good leaders to get this straightened out." No. What God says is that His people should humble themselves first, then pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways. Whose wicked ways? The wicked ways that God's people have picked up from their surroundings. The wicked ways that believers have adopted because of their inattentiveness and compromising.
I think, unlike some, that the text has value to us today. I don't actually expect God to "heal their land" in some nationalistic sense. This isn't God's Promised Land. But I do believe that we need to look to ourselves. We need to take the log out of our own eye, so to speak. We need to humble ourselves rather than the Internet trolls that beset us. We need to pray. We need to seek a closer, more intimate, more personal relationship with God rather than our congressional representatives or the like. We need to repent. Do we ignore the sin out there. No, not if we love God and love others. But our primary focus in terms of correction needs to be us, not them. We are, after all, God's people. We should act like it.
5 comments:
I agree with your last paragraph. But the abuse of this passage for claiming it is the USA in the promise just drives me NUTS!!!
I even wrote an article demonstrating the proper context; not many comments on the blog but I got a lot of hate email!
Hate email? From Christians? That does not bode well ... for Christians.
I think your point that while the passage doesn't specifically relate to American Christians, that it does (as does all scripture) have some applicability.
Doing as you indicate Scripture suggests does not preclude or mitigate our obligations as citizens to appeal to our reps. Indeed, if our appeal is provoked by our desire to improve our land for His sake, then we're doing as you indicate Scripture suggests. For after we look to ourselves and repent, acting as we're taught would include how we relate on a social and political level as well.
You're right, Art, we are to be good citizens of the place God puts us.
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