Entry 32: II Chronicles 7:11 - II Chronicles 23:15

So I didn't quite make my blog through the Bible in 90 days goal. I got busy, fell out of the habit of daily blogging, and, as you can see, it's been quite a while. I would like to continue blogging through the Bible though, so I'm back. I can't promise daily entries, but I'll try to blog as often as possible. Here goes.

The reading for today's entry includes one of the verses that I often hear quoted at the National Day of Prayer, local community prayer breakfasts, and similar events. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” My blog today is on why I don't think this verse applies to those events and shouldn't be used there.

First of all, let me acknowledge that there are timeless truths in this verse. It is good and we should humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from our wicked ways. However, this promise of God to hear from heaven, forgive national sin, and heal a nation was to a specific nation at a specific time in history in response to a specific event. If we read 2 Chronicles 7:13, we see the context, "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people...” This promise is to Solomon and the Israelites so that if they turn away from God and He punishes them by causing drought or locusts, they can and should repent and He will forgive them.

Am I saying that we shouldn't gather corporately to do all these things? Of course not. But I think it is dangerous for us to take a conditional promise that was made specifically to the nation of Israel and apply it to our own nation. The United States is not a theocracy, established by God to be a light to the world, and the national promises to the nation of Israel do not apply to us.

I think this is a danger we have to be aware of when reading the Old Testament. Some of the promises of God in the Old Testament can't be taken out of context and applied to us directly. However, we can gather truths about who God is and how He responds to his people from these passages. For example, in this passage we see the forgiving grace and mercy of God. That is something that applies to us today and something that we can cling to. What I don't think we should do is post II Chronicles 7:14 on a banner and quote it as a promise for national revival. I do think we should pray for these things, but I also think we shouldn't quote the Bible out of context.

What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree vehemently? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The next entry will cover 2 Chronicles 23:16 2 Chronicles 35:15.