Sermon Tone Analysis

We have been in a teaching series called, “The Bible According to..Me: Misunderstanding Scripture” and throughout this series, at both of our campuses, we have been exploring some commonly misunderstood Bible passages.

Today, we are going to look at 2 Chronicles 7:14.

It says...

Pray.

If you are new to the Christian faith, this verse may not be that familiar to you.

But I see this verse pop up, especially on social media, often - especially when there is an election, or a crisis in the world.

Usually, I see it in an image like this one from the twitter account “Prayers for America”:

Some Christians, many of them very well meaning, have used this verse to promote a form of Christian Nationalism, as if God will bless the USA because it is a “Christian Nation.”

But it’s not just a struggle for our neighbours to the south.

It’s prevalent in Canada too.

I know Christians who have posted this verse in relationship to our country, taking it literally, without context as a promise for right now.

But how should we understand this passage.

In order for us to truly be able to learn what God is saying to 21st Century Canadian Christians, we need to look first at the historical context and the theological context and then we can pull out some principles that can help us grow in our faith and can transform our world.

First, let’s look at the historical context.

Historical Context

The Bible has a bunch of different genres within it.

Some of the writings are wisdom literature, some of it is poetry.

Some of it is written as prophecy, some of it as apocryphal.

And some of it, like the passage we are looking at today is what is called Historical Narrative.

It’s history, written in a story-based form.

So for us to understand what is being said, we need to know what the story is and how our passage fits into it.

King Solomon was the third King of Israel, having inherited the throne from his father, David.

At the end of 1 Chronicles, David wanted to build a temple for God, as a place for the Ark to dwell - a symbol that God had a special relationship with the nation of Israel.

He even drew up the plans for the temple but God said that he wasn’t allowed to build it because he was a warrior and had shed blood.

So God said to David that his son, Solomon, would be the one to build the temple.

The book of 1 Chronicles is about David and ends with his death and with Solomon installed as King. 2 Chronicles picks up the story with Solomon and in chapter 1, we see Solomon pray for great wisdom and gain an obscene amount of wealth.

In chapters 2 through 4, the building of the temple is described in great detail.

In chapter 5, Solomon has the Ark of the Covenant brought into the temple, they worship God and the temple was filled a cloud, representing the presence of God himself.

In chapter 6, Solomon dedicates the temple and in his dedication he prays.

This is what he prays:

That was Solomon’s prayer at the dedication and when he finished praying, fire shot down from Heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and sacrifices.

Super dramatic.

Now, let’s look at today’s passage within its immediate context:

Do you see it?

Do you see how our passage in 2 Chronicles 7 is God answering the prayer of Solomon in 2 Chronicles 6?

That means the conditional promise that God gives - to restore their land and forgive their sins IF they humble themselves, seek God and stop doing their sin - is a promise given only to Israel and is tied to the temple.

Solomon’s prayer was if people turned towards the temple and prayed because it was God’s house on the earth.

This passage is very much localized to a time and a place - a place that doesn’t exist anymore because the temple has been destroyed.

For us in Canada or the United States (or any other country, really) to take this promise from God as a direct promise to us goes against the historical context in which it was written.

Now, in addition to the historical context, we need to look at the theological context.

Theological Context

One of the major mistakes that many people make when reading the Bible is that they read it literally and not theologically.

What I mean is that they read a passage or a verse and apply it immediately to them, as if God wrote the Bible specifically for them.

But we have to read the Bible theologically, which means we interpret what we read through our understanding of God’s redemptive purpose, revealed in Jesus.

The Old Testament is the story of God’s choosing of, interaction with, and love for the nation of Israel.

They were His people - his chosen ones that he would pour out his love on, that he would protect and provide for.

He made a covenant with them and as long as they fulfilled their side of it, he would bless them richly and through them, he would reveal himself to the nations.

But they couldn’t keep their side of the covenant.

They continually slid into idolatry, evil practices and sin as a nation.

Everytime God intervened and they repented, within a generation they were right back at it.

So God came up with a permanent solution: Jesus.

With the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, all sin was permanently dealt with and God’s people could relate to Him directly.

Everything was different now.

Including who God’s people were.

In the OT, God’s people were the Israelites and those who joined them.

But in the NT, through Jesus, God invites all people to become his people.

Let’s look at some Bible passages:

Paul is calling those who believe in Jesus the “Israel of God.”

So while God has always kept a remnant of believing Jews that he calls “his people,” now gentile believers are added into that group.

We are the Israel of God - we are His people.

So now let’s look again at our passage in 2 Chronicles.

We’ve established we are the people of God and so we are the ones called to humble ourselves pray and repent.

But what is our land?

It can’t be Canada, or the US because believers are everywhere in the world.

God has moved beyond borders.

Our land isn’t the country we live in - our land is spiritual, not physical.

It’s the church.

So I think an appropriate application of this verse for Christians today is “If God’s people (us) will humble themselves and pray and seek His face and turn from their wicked ways, then God will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal the church.”

And boy, oh, boy - do we ever need healing.

We need healing from covering up injustice because we care more about our reputation than our character.

We need healing from dishonest and immoral leadership that seeks personal gain, not God’s glory.

We need healing from false teaching that is destroying our witness in the world.

We need healing from the judgmentalism that has been so prevalent in the church and has hurt thousands upon thousands of people.

The church may be filled with God’s people, but God’s people are also broken, sinful people.

But praise be to God!!

He is a God of forgiveness, of love and He is still refining us.

We may not be all we should be, but because of his grace and mercy, he hasn’t given up on us.

He is waiting for us to come to him and allow him to shape us as individuals and as a church body.

Now that we have looked at the historical context - that this is a promise from God that is for Israel and is connected to it’s temple worship - and we have looked at the Theological context - that people from all nations have been added to true Israel by their profession of faith in Jesus and that the land God will heal isn’t our physical country, but it’s our spiritual country; the church - we can move on to three principles that this passage teaches all believers everywhere.

Principles it teaches

The first principle that our passage teaches us is that God values HUMILITY.

God Values Humility

Many years ago there was a famous baseball player named Ralph Kiner.

At the end the season he asked Pittsburgh Pirate general manager Branch Rickey for a raise.

He refused.

"I led the league in homers," Kiner reminded him.

"Where did we finish?"

Rickey asked him.

"Last," he replied.

"Well," Rickey said, "We can finish last without you."

Humility is a crucial character trait for those of us who say we follow Jesus.

After all, Jesus defined humility.

Humility says that there is no task that is beneath you, no person undeserving of your time, compassion or forgiveness, and no position or esteem you are owed because of your talents, popularity or your situation.

God values humility.

That’s why in his response to Solomon’s prayers, one of God’s requirements to heal the land is that God’s people would humble themselves.

How do we humble ourselves?

I think we begin to acknowledge that we need Jesus.

I need Jesus to inspire me and help me preach each week.

I need Jesus to help me raise my kids so they become healthy, mature adults.

I need Jesus to help me forgive those who have wronged me and I need Jesus to show me who I need to seek forgiveness from.