Day Twenty Nine

2 Chronicles 7:11-22

11.) Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the LORD and in his own house he successfully accomplished. 

12.) Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. 

13.) 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, 

14.) 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. 

15.) Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. 

16.) For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart will be there for all time. 

17.) And as for you, if you will walk before Me as David your father walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping My statutes and My rules, 

18.) then I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'You shall not lack a man to rule Israel.' 

19.) "But if you turn aside and forsake My statutes and My commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 

20.) then I will pluck you up from My land that I have given you, and this house that 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.) And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?' 

22.) Then they will say, 'Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore, he has brought all this disaster on them.'"

         When the events of 9/11/2001 happened, the nation was shocked and grieving. What do people do when they are shocked or grieving? They turned to God. Forced out of the schools and government buildings, mocked by comedians who thought they were funny, ignored by politicians until elections and then used by those same politicians to gain votes among conservatives. After all of that, people turned to God. The churches filled up. The church I pastored at the time went to two services. Most pastors knew it wouldn’t last, but we decided to make the most of it while we could.

         One verse kept popping up all over. It was on mugs, on the walls at schools, on the lips of people. From the above passage, verse  fourteen; 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. Such hope, such assurance! If we call out, it will be OK!

         The problem was that folks were taking a verse out of context. Solomon has finished building the Temple and the palace. Great joy was among the people. And then the Lord spoke to Solomon. He told the king that there would be Spiritual rebellion and that the people would pay a price. Look at verse thirteen; 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,  The verse starts with the word ‘when.’ He already knew they would go into sin. He knew that He would send drought and locust and disease and He would send it as punishment. Verses twenty one and twenty two makes it clear that it is punishment; And at this house, which was exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, 'Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?' 

Then they will say, 'Because they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore, he has brought all this disaster on them.'" One verse taken out of context. Nothing was said about it all being punishment. That wouldn’t encourage the people of our nation.

         Was it punishment? As a nation we had turn our backs on God. We tried to use God as a cosmic Santa. Even Christians had put aside their most important job, which is sharing the Gospel with the lost, in exchange for being busy in other things around the church. Was it punishment?

         I believe so. I also believe we have not changed our actions and I believe the punishment continues. Churches are dying because they have left their mission. The country moves farther and farther away from God. People are more frightened by a tiny little virus more than they about falling into the hands of an angry God.

         Verse fourteen starts with; if My people who are called by My name humble themselves…..” This is not a verse that tells us it will be alright. It is a verse that we who are called by His name have a great responsibility. In the Old Testament they were called Israel, which means ‘Prince of God.” From the New Testament events and forward, we are called Christians. In both situations, those who have the very name of God in the overall name are called to stand up and stand for the Lord.

         The prayer for today is that Christians quit shrinking away and begin being the Warriors we must be to save our land.