Isn't it funny that God's message and His purpose transcends, well basically everything. 2 Chronicles 7, is a powerful chapter where after Solomon and the Nation of Israel has dedicated the new temple, God has come down, made it his house and made a very public appearance of power in the temple to show that He was satisfied with the temple. He then appeared to Solomon, as the leader of the nation, and we find some instructions, encouragement and warnings. Most of the sermons and discussions that I have heard personally often concentrate on verse 14 alone, which is a great verse, however there is so much more packed into the latter part of this chapter.
I find it very powerful that God tells Solomon, "if my people, we are called by my name", here it is referring to the Nation of Israel, or "God's chosen people", but today, we are called CHRIST-ians, we are titled with the literal name of, or the name of one person of the trinity. I just think that is cool, it is a God thing.
So basically four things,
1) God will hold his blessings, he will cause disaster to fall on the earth in order to not only show his power, but remind us of our complete inadequacy, can you stop a hurricane? earthquake? swarm of locust? Can you make it rain? NO! This passage is very clear that God controls it, and can and will use it to, and see this, test the people, whom are called by his name. This is not a punishment for anything, this is God withholding blessing or causing calamity in order for the heart of those who call on Him to really come out. He knows our hearts, so he is not getting us to remember that He is God, and we are nothing in order for him to see how serious we are, but for what I believe is to show the unbelievers His power.
2) When God causes these things to happen, he has prescribed our reaction, humility and prayer. When calamity takes hold of our lives, how often do we accepted it? or do we drop our shoulders and tough it out. Our humility is confirmation of our allegiance to God, why? because if you truly know God, you know that he desires one thing, TO BE GOD! That means that when we encounter situations in our life that are beyond our control, our understanding of it should be, well since I am not in control, I had better focus on the one who is. How do we do that? We pray. So in recognizing that God is God, and we are nothing is humbling ourselves to realize that we have no control over the situation, and that we need God to direct us, and that leads us topray, more specifically communicate, not just throwing up words to the ceiling. Quick note, there is the turning from wicked ways included in this part, well are we not all wicked? I believe that this is not referring to rebellious sin exclusively, but to any behavior that would be hindering your walk with God, you will see what I mean below. Lastly, God came to Solomon alone with this information, a leader in the Nation, leaders this is important because we are to LEAD the flock to restoration, don't just assume that they are going to do it on their own!
3) In the above I submitted that the first part of these verses is God encouraging his people that he will test them, and when he does how they should respond. In the latter part of the chapter I would submit is the warning. If you turn away, I will ridicule you, this is the message that God has for His people. This is not an america come to Jesus message, I don't really think God really cares about country devisions, He cares about his church, regardless of where it is.
4) The reason that he will ridicule those who called on His name, and then rejected it, is not only to discipline us, but also to show the people around us, that He is serious about our affections, and does not tolerate our adultery as the church against God.
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