Is There Healing for America?

Is there hope for our nation? America had serious problems before covid19 struck. We now have added both health and economic problems. What should we do? We pray for God to bless America. We sing that prayer. But will that prayer be answered? Can we expect God to heal our land? That last expression, “heal our land”, will bring a scripture to the minds of many Christians. It is a commonly quoted verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14, “ 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” A popular use of this verse applies “my people” to the church in America. “Their land” is then our nation. Thus, it is concluded that if the church repents and prays, God will heal America. But does this verse promise that? All scripture must be observed carefully to see what it says in its context, then interpreted to find what it was communicating to the original hearers, and only then applied to our own situation. Like many verses, 2 Chronicles 7:14 is quoted out of its context with little concern for the context. Let us look at it carefully in its context. Solomon had completed the temple in Jerusalem. Chapter 6 includes a long prayer of Solomon during the dedication. One night soon after dedicating the temple, God spoke to him in the night and responds to this prayer. Let me read the first part of God’s words, starting in verse 12 of chapter 7. 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 will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. In verse 13, God speaks of times of judgment on those He calls “My people”, types of judgments referred to in Solomon’s prayer. In chapter 6, God had spoken of “My people, Israel”. In his prayer, Solomon repeatedly spoke of “Your people, Israel”. Israel is the people referred to in our text. Furthermore, the prayers in chapter 6 were to be toward the temple in Jerusalem, and God speaks in chapter 7 of prayers offered in that temple. In chapter 7 verse 20, God speaks specifically of His land which He had given Israel, the same land mentioned in Solomon’s prayer (in 6:27,31). The meaning of the verse in context is very clear. “My people” is specifically the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. “Their land” is Canaan, the land promised and given by God to Israel. When Israel sins as a nation, they suffer punishment under God’s wrath. When the nation as a whole is humbled, prays to God and seeks Him, and turns from their sin in repentance, then God will hear them, forgive their sin, and heal the land of Israel from the judgments He had sent. But does this apply to the United States? One thing is immediately clear. “My people” is the nation as a whole. The verse is not saying that if a remnant in Israel repents, but if the nation repents. Even if the verse applies to us, it is not sufficient for just the church to pray. We need the nation, not just the church, to repent. But how much applies to us? How much of this verse applies any nation other than Israel? It is clear in scripture that God judges all nations for their sin. Take the first two chapters of Amos for example. Amos was warning the northern kingdom of Israel of judgment for their sin. To get their attention, he first gives a message of judgment in a set pattern to each of three pagan neighbor nations, Syria, Philistia, and Tyre. Then he brings it closer to home with three similar messages in the same pattern to nations more related to Israel: Edom, Ammon, and Moab. Some of his listeners may have grown uncomfortable when the seventh message in this pattern was against their brothers to the south in Judah. Then he hit home with the final message directed at Israel in exactly the same pattern. My point is that God pours out His wrath on all nations when they sin. This truth clearly applies to our nation. We have turned after things other than God: money, material possessions, power, prestige, position, status, comfort, excitement, and sexual pleasure. We have sinned in the areas of violence, alcohol, drugs, racism, greed, gambling, and dishonesty. America is due for judgment. We cannot be an exception. Is there hope for us in the context of our text? Was God only interested forgiving Israel? In Solomon’s prayer, he included a section on foreigners asking God to hear their prayers when they pray toward His temple “so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear you, as do Your own people Israel”. God cares for all peoples. As John 3:16 tells us, God’s love is for all the world, for all peoples. Jesus died so all have access to eternal life. God is not just interested in individuals. He cares for nations. We find a general principle expressed in Jeremiah 18:7, 8. There God says: If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. God forgives nations when they repent. But note again that the repentance must be of the nation as a whole. Also note that God goes on to say that His promises of blessing to any nation may be revoked if that nation does evil. But we have assurance here that the promise of God to Solomon of forgiveness and healing can apply to any nation. So, yes, we may apply our text to our own nation. And yes, repentance and prayer must begin with His church. We must pray like Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, and Daniel, repenting of the sins of our nation as our own sin. But we must not take 2 Chronicles 7:14 to mean that if the church has a prayer emphasis, all will automatically be well. The repentance may begin with us, but it must spread beyond the church. So, we must pray that our leaders and the people of our nation of all ages and races be moved to humble themselves before God, confessing their sins and turning from them to God, seeking God’s favor through faith in Jesus, and surrendering by faith to Jesus. We need a national repentance and turning to God and to faith in Jesus. Only that will heal our land. But that repentance does begin with the church. So, let us do our part and seek God. Don’t wave 2 Chronicles 7:14 like a magic wand but do let it give you hope and motivate you to seek God and witness for Jesus. Let us pray for America in accordance with His principles. And if you do not have Jesus as your Savior, that is where you need to start. Turn from your own sin and call on Jesus, asking Him to forgive you and transform you.