In 2 Chronicles 7:14 God left an open door for the Israelites to return to Him. King Solomon had finished the temple that was to be dedicated to God. This temple was something to behold for sure. It took many years to complete and Israel was going to be the caretakers so to speak. The people of God were Abraham's descendant's and were to be the example to the rest of the world as to how the human race was to live according to the law of Moses. Unfortunately because disobedience or should I say rebellion entered into mankind through Adam and Eve, everyone, including the Israelites had been contaminated with sin. Because of this not even the people that God chose to represent Him could live perfectly. So, God in His love for His creation made a way for mankind to return to His presence.
When you follow the progress of mankind through the scriptures we find just how God made a way for sins to be forgiven and man could worship God again. God, through His mercy and love told man that blood would have to be shed for forgiveness of sin to be obtained. This brought about the sacrifice of specific animals for this purpose. Everything had to be done according to Gods law and by His instructions. The Israelites found that because they could not go through life without committing sin, they would have to sacrifice many animals. The temple would be the place of many sacrifices and special times of gathering in the presence of God. The problem was that the Israelites just could not keep it together and because of their constant rebellion against God they had to be dealt with. Disciplining the whole nation would be the method that God would use to bring these people back into His presence. His discipline came in many forms. Animals would have to be sacrificed so the sins of the people would be forgiven, but God knew something had to be done to turn the Israelites back towards Him. It would seem that these chosen people were only going through the motions of the sacrifice and not the repentance part. Repentance required a change of heart and a turning from one direction and go another. It's not to say that at times they did not repent, because they did. The problem was they kept getting pulled back into the world system and walked away from their God. That is when God had to take some harsh action to let them know that what they were doing was wrong and they needed to come back to Him. Before God took any kind of action against His people He first sent them prophets to let them know what they needed to do. In most of these messages sent through the prophets God revealed His course of action. In other words He gave them fair warning and plenty of opportunity to turn back to Him.
When you read the Old Testament and look at the history of God's chosen people you will find there were many times God was very displeased with His people and many times the Israelites had to suffer some very hard times. One sure thing we can learn from the history of Israel is that God never abandoned them, even when He was displeased with their actions. So throughout the Old Testament times God showed mercy and forgiveness to His people. To return to God there were specific guidelines laid out for them to follow, if they followed God's instructions then God would meet with them and forgive their sins and place them back in the land He set aside for them. It's important to understand just how God dealt with the nation of Israel when they sinned against Him. What we learn about the nation of Israel and how God dealt with them gives us a clear picture of how He will deal with all of His children. God is a Just God and He is a merciful, loving and forgiving God. So when He allows or brings difficult times to fall on His children, rest assured, He has their best interest at heart. Let's look at an example of when God dealt harshly with His chosen people.
Looking at 2 Kings 16-17 we will find that some evil kings had been ruling Israel, but with intermittent good kings. The kings that were labeled as good though did not fully do away with the evil practices that their evil predecessor's left behind. As one looks into these kings and their practices we find a pattern that developed with the people, they went along with the king and went against the Lord their God also. There didn't seem to be much resistance to going against their God. Some of the practices that entered into the nation of Israel were in direct disobedience to God's commands. In 2 Kings 17:14-15 idol worship had become their preferred focus of worship. Also, from the king down the people began to follow the example of the nations around them which was in direct disobedience to the Lord's command not to imitate them, Deut. 18:9-14. As you study this one portion of scripture you must realize these actions and way of life did not happen overnight, many years of disobedience brought them to this point in the life of the people of Israel. 2 Kings 17:16-18 continues with the actions the people took concerning their way of worship, for instance, they rejected all of Gods commands concerning witchcraft, sorcery, worship of Baal and the forces of heaven which were the sun, moon and constellations. They sacrificed their sons in the fire as the customs of other nations were, they sought out fortune tellers instead of the Lord their God. The scripture says they "sold themselves to evil." Because of their continual evil acts and rebellion against God, The God who delivered them on numerous occasions caused them to be captured by the Assyrians and sent into exile.
Before I bring this into the present day let me share with you when the people called Israel became God's chosen people. We need to go way back and look at Genesis 12:1, this is where God promises Abram that he would become a great nation. God told Abram that He would bless him and make him famous, that he would be blessed and would bless other's. God would "bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you." The story you read about this nation God brought into existence through Abraham is a story filled with mystery, intrigue, murder, deceit, blessings and curses, marriage, and the ups and downs of a nation. Through the journey and making of this small nation God delivers them, disciplines them, blesses them and removes them. One thing that will be noted throughout the story is that no matter what these people did, God never abandoned them. He continually expressed His love for them even when they were bad.
Turning now back to 2 Chronicles 6-7:14 where the building and completion of the Temple that was now being dedicated to God for Him to dwell in among His people. In verse 14 of chapter 7 you have God responding to the prayer of dedication from Solomon the King of Israel at that time. review with me for a few minutes a recapping of what this nation had gone through up to this time. Look at 2 Chronicles 6:24-39 and you will find the dedication prayer King Solomon is praying. Summarizing it you may come up with something like this; "Victory does not come when sin dwells in the hearts of God's people, God will send drought to remind His people that sin dwells in their hearts, disaster will continue as long as sin remains in their hearts. Solomon interjects that foreigners are attracted to God when they hear and see what God is doing for His people when sin is not present in His people. Foreigner's may capture and take your people into exile when they have sin in their hearts, but during that exile your people might repent of their sin and pray to You and repent of their sin so that God will forgive them and return them to their land." Now we jump over to 2 Chronicles 7:12-16 and see Gods response to Solomon's prayer.
God affirms Solomon's prayer one night and says this; "I have heard your prayer and have chosen this Temple as the place for making sacrifices. At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. My eyes will be open and my ears attentive to every prayer made in this place. For I have chosen this Temple and set it apart to be holy, a place where my name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to my heart." As we all know, Israel is a type of the church to come, or of a people that God would consider His own.
Speaking now to the church today, and when I say church I am not talking about any one denomination of Christian church's, I am talking specifically about God's church or those who are true followers of His Son Jesus Christ. A true follower of Jesus Christ is one who believes in Him as Gods only begotten Son, repented of their sins and ask Christ to be the Lord and Savior of their life. They have placed their faith and trust in Him and Him only. That is a true follower of Jesus Christ. John 3:16 states this very well, and it is Jesus who said it. Also Christ made this statement in John 3:3, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." John 14:6-7 Christ tells Thomas, one of His disciples "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." Now I want us to look at something very enlightening and profound. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul tells Christ's followers that they are the Temple of the Living God. This particular verse refers more to the body of Christ or all of His followers. The New Living Translation says it like this; "Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?" This gives a very good indication that God dwells within His people and we are His Temple as a corporate body. Now look at 1 Corinthians 3:19, here you will see that this becomes very personal. Again from the New Living Translation; "Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself." Now stay with me, I'm going to tie this together shortly. Remember what I said about Israel watching over the temple and being an example as to how the rest of the world was to live according to Gods commands? Specifically this became the responsibility of Aaron and his descendants. In Numbers 18:1 (NLT) We find Aaron and his descendants were to be held responsible for any offenses related to the sanctuary and they will be held responsible for violations connected with the priesthood. The priesthood were the ones specifically responsible for the care of the Temple and sanctuary or the inner part of the temple.
Jump over to 1 Peter 2:5 where Peter is talking to Christian Jews who had scattered because of the persecution that came because of their belief in Christ. Peter tells them; "And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple. What's more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God." Peter goes on to talk about the corner stone of the building which is Christ and how that corner stone is of "precious value" to those who believe in the corner stone, but those who reject the corner stone "stumble over it because they are disobedient to the Word." Now in the 9th verse Peter says this; "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." Isn't that something, those who believe in God's Son Jesus Christ and put their faith in Him are considered in God's sight a chosen people who are the temple of the living God. Do you see the connection to 2 Chronicles 7:14? God knows that we are born into sin or rebellion against Him, but He had already made a way for His people to return to Him and be placed back in the land He set aside for His chosen people. When His people do not carry out their responsibilities as a child of God then God the Father will discipline those children. Israel suffered much for the rebellion and evil ways but God never abandoned them, He made a way back and that is through His Son Jesus Christ. Now here's the thing, we as followers of Christ have responsibilities. First of all we are to trust only in Christ, our faith should be totally in Him. If it is in something else like our government, our money, our friends, our own abilities, our wisdom, anything other than Christ, then we have sinned or rebelled against God. My point for this message is this, if God's own people are not doing the things God has set before us to do then we are a nation of people most miserable. How does this relate to restoring our land if we humble ourselves? When God's people fail their responsibility by disobedience then it is my belief that God will bring the same disaster's and plagues on the nation as a whole so that His people will return to Him.
In our nation today we have sin running rampant and it seems as if there is nothing to deter it. We live in a nation that pornography has taken over the minds of all ages, adultery is no longer considered a no, no. Fornication, lying, angry people every where, murder, stealing, slandering of our neighbor, sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatry's. In other words we have allowed the surrounding nations to influence us and we have followed their examples of idolatry and evil doing, basically we did as the Israelites of old had done, we sold our souls to evil. If you are offended by this just listen to the news media, read the newspaper, look around you, and then ask yourself this question, "what have I done to change the situation around me?" When God calls us to do a work for Him, what do we do, accept it or run from it? When the church does not speak out on evil then who will? When the church is silent concerning that which God called them to speak out against, then who will? To many local church's in our nation have sold out to evil and allowed the world around them to influence them as to how they should preach, teach and worship. It is time for the body of Christ to wake up and come alive again. It is time for the body of Christ to step forward and be counted as the light in a world of darkness.
The Body of Christ is to be a shining light on a hilltop for everyone to see, not a shaded lamp that does not dispel the darkness. We as believers in the Son of God are to share His love in a lost and dying world. We can do this by following God's command way back in Solomon's time, "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."
We have allowed our government and those opposed to the Gospel of Christ to tear down the ten commandments of God on which almost all of our laws are based on, in essence saying we don't need God's law. We have allowed prayer to be taken out of our schools and now our children are brought up without the knowledge that there is someone far greater than the school system. We are allowing our rights under our own constitution to be steadily taken away so that we no longer can teach and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have allowed our government to slowly take the place of God by letting them take care of us and tell us there way is better. My friends, God will not tolerate sin in the camp, He will purge it from the body and if that means hard times, then I hope we remember 2 Chronicles 7:14.
When you pray this type of prayer, do not take it lightly for God looks at the heart of the matter, not the words so much, Numbers 7:45, 1 Samuel 15:22, Psalms 40:6-8, and finally, and you should read this one for sure, Isaiah 1:10-20. There are three conditions that must be meant when we pray this kind of prayer, 1. We must come to Him humbled. 2. We must pray and seek God's face. 3. We must turn from our wicked ways. If we as a people called by God will do this then it says God will hear from heaven and will forgive our sins and heal our land. That is a promise from God we can stand on. Deuteronomy 28:10 says; "Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you."
There is one thing for sure, if we turn back to God and follow His ways, He said He would never abandon us or forsake us. He has never left us, but be assured He is disciplining us and we need to accept it and turn back to Him.
