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OBSERVATION STAGE
The purpose of the observation stage is
to maintain focus on the text at hand within the normative rules of
language, context and logic 
which
limits the observer to the content offered by the book of 2 Chronicles especially the previous chapters. This will serve to
avoid going on unnecessary tangents
elsewhere; and more importantly, it will provide the framework for a
proper and objective comparison with passages located elsewhere in
Scripture.
Remember that something elsewhere may be true, but in the text at hand it may not be in view.
I) 2 Chronicles 7:1-22 (NASB)
1
'''Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and
consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the
LORD filled the house.
2 The priests could not enter into the house of the LORD because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD'S house.
3
All the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the
LORD upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the
ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the LORD, saying, "Truly
He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting."
4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifice before the LORD.
5
King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. Thus
the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
6
The priests stood at their posts, and the Levites also, with the
instruments of music to the LORD, which King David had made for giving
praise to the LORD—"for His lovingkindness is everlasting"—whenever he
gave praise by their means, while the priests on the other side blew
trumpets; and all Israel was standing.
7 Then Solomon
consecrated the middle of the court that was before the house of the
LORD, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the fat of the peace
offerings because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able
to contain the burnt offering, the grain offering and the fat.
8
So Solomon observed the feast at that time for seven days, and all
Israel with him, a very great assembly who came from the entrance of
Hamath to the brook of Egypt.
9 On the eighth day they held
a solemn assembly, for the dedication of the altar they observed seven
days and the feast seven days.
10 Then on the twenty-third
day of the seventh month he sent the people to their tents, rejoicing
and happy of heart because of the goodness that the LORD had shown to
David and to Solomon and to His people Israel.
11 Thus
Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's palace, and
successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of
the LORD and in his palace.
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 sacrifice.
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.
https://www.gotquestions.org/2-Chronicles-7-14.html
When
approaching 2 Chronicles 7:14, one must first consider the immediate
context. After Solomon dedicated the temple, the Lord appeared to him
and gave him some warnings and reassurances. “The Lord appeared to him
at night and said: ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place
for myself as a temple for sacrifices.’ 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, 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” (2 Chronicles 7:12–14).
The immediate
context of 2 Chronicles 7:14 shows that the verse is tied up with
Israel and the temple and the fact that from time to time God might
send judgment upon the land in the form of drought, locusts, or
pestilence.
A few verses later God says this: “But if you turn
away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off
to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my
land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have
consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of
ridicule among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble.
All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a
thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because
they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought
them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving
them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them’” (2 Chronicles
7:19–22).
No doubt Solomon would have recognized this warning as
a reiteration of Deuteronomy 28. God had entered into a covenant with
Israel and promised to take care of them and cause them to prosper as
long as they obeyed Him. He also promised to bring curses upon them if
they failed to obey. Because of the covenant relationship, there was a
direct correspondence between their obedience and their prosperity, and
their disobedience and their hardship. Deuteronomy 28 spells out the
blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. Again, divine
blessing and divine punishment on Israel were conditional on their
obedience or disobedience.
We see this blessing and cursing
under the Law play out in the book of Judges. Judges chapter 2 is often
referred to as “The Cycle of the Judges.” Israel would fall into sin.
God would send another nation to judge them. Israel would repent and
call upon the Lord. The Lord would raise up a judge to deliver them.
They would serve the Lord for a while and then fall back into sin
again. And the cycle would continue.
In 2 Chronicles 7, the Lord
simply reminds Solomon of the previous agreement. If Israel obeys, they
will be blessed. If they disobey, they will be judged. The judgment is
meant to bring Israel to repentance, and God assures Solomon that, if
they will be humble, pray, and repent, then God will deliver them from
the judgment.
In context, 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a promise to
ancient Israel (and perhaps even modern-day Israel) that, if they will
repent and return to the Lord, He will rescue them. However, many
Christians in the United States have taken this verse as a rallying cry
for America. (Perhaps Christians in other countries have done so as
well.) In this interpretation, Christians are the people who are called
by God’s name. If Christians will humble themselves, pray, seek God’s
face, and repent, then God will heal their land—often a moral and
political healing is in view as well as economic healing. The question
is whether or not this is a proper interpretation/application.
The
first problem that the modern-day, “Westernized” interpretation
encounters is that the United States does not have the same covenant
relationship with God that ancient Israel enjoyed. The covenant with
Israel was unique and exclusive. The terms that applied to Israel
simply did not apply to any other nation, and it is improper for these
terms to be co-opted and applied to a different nation.
Some
might object that Christians are still called by God’s name and in some
ways have inherited the covenant with Israel—and this may be true to
some extent [Actually NO it is not. ref Jer 31:31-34] Certainly, if a nation is in trouble, a prayerful and
repentant response by Christians in that nation is always appropriate.
However, there is another issue that is often overlooked.
When
ancient Israel repented and sought the Lord, they were doing so en
masse. The nation as a whole repented. Obviously, not every single
Israelite repented and prayed, but still it was national repentance.
There was never any indication that a small minority of the nation (a
righteous remnant) could repent and pray and that the fate of the
entire nation would change. God promised deliverance when the entire
nation repented.
When 2 Chronicles 7:14 is applied to Christians
in the U.S. or any other modern nation, it is usually with the
understanding that the Christians in that nation—the true believers in
Jesus Christ who have been born again by the Spirit of God—will
comprise the righteous remnant. God never promised that if a righteous
remnant repents and prays for their nation, that the nation will be
saved. Perhaps if national repentance occurred, then God would spare a
modern nation as He spared Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah (see Jonah
3)—but that is a different issue.
Having said that, it is never
wrong to confess our sins and pray—in fact, it is our duty as believers
to continuously confess, (1 Jn 1:7-9), and forsake our sins so that they will not
hinder us (Hebrews 12:1) and to pray for our nation and those in
authority (1 Timothy 2:1–2). It may be that God in His grace will bless
our nation as a result—but there is no guarantee of national
deliverance. Even if God did use our efforts to bring about national
repentance and revival, there is no guarantee that the nation would be
politically or economically saved. As believers, we are guaranteed
personal salvation in Christ (Romans 8:1), and we are also guaranteed
that God will use us to accomplish His purposes, whatever they may be.
It is our duty as believers to live holy lives, seek God, pray, and
share the gospel knowing that all who believe will be saved, but the
Bible does not guarantee the political, cultural, or economic salvation
of our nation.'''
15 "Now My eyes will 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
"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.'
19 "But if you turn
away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set
before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them,
20
then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this
house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight
and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
21
"As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will
be astonished and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to
this house?'
22 "And they will say, 'Because they forsook
the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of
Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them;
therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.' "