Subject: explain II Chronicles 7:14 |
Bible Note: Hello Searcher and thanks for the input. Let me respectfully disagree with your position here. I did read your post to Hickory, however, it appears to be a post directed to me instead and doesn't really, in my opinion, begin to answer Hickory's question, and/or attempt to explain the verse. My thought is that you either missed the point entirely, or I failed to articulate it properly. In either case allow me to attempt to address and clarify my point. To begin with let me clarify by referrring back to my post; that I clearly stated that the words spoken by God in the verse in question was spoken to Solomon regarding Israel. So there should be no confusion there I hope. But the confilict appears to be your disagreement with my applying the content to Christians today and the church as a whole. To be clear, I never applied the passage to the US and would never attempt to do so. The US is not "God's people". But Christians certainly are (John 10:27-29 for example). God's choosing the nation of Israel and electing individuals to salvation (including you and me) are very definately two separate issues; the details of which are something for a separate topic perhaps. So to the clarification. Your point is reflected in your question to Hickory: "… has this ever happened to us? "If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people. My short answer is, yes. Many trials and tribulations are experienced daily by individual Christians as well as the larger church body. Please don't miss the point here, my response to Hickory was very focused. The message very clearly taught in the passage was/is that of fallen Israel's relationship with Creator God. The application, man's (our) fallen state, the need for acknowledgement of sin in humility, the requirement of repentance and the requisit of total dependence on God. It's about relationship my friend. It is not required that we specifically experience a drout (though we have and many individual Christian farmers have endured one of their life's biggest challenges) or pestilence (though we have been dealing with that world-wide for decades on a large scale). No, the message, and perhaps the purpose of it's inclusion for our benefit today is, God's holy and righteous standard regarding man's position before Him. So regarding your final statement "Even if we are His people called by His name, the context doesn’t allow this verse to apply to Christians..." I whole-heartedly, and respectfully disagree. In addition, you might also consider what the Scriptures give us (you and me and all Christians) to apply from the lesson of Job. To date, God has never allowed Satan direct access to inflict my body to be covered head to toe in oozing sores. Still, in what sickness I have endured, and that of loved ones, it is Job's story, more than any other, that I have drawn strength and faith in God. This is what I mean by application. Hope I made better sense in this post. Again, thanks for the input my brother, Jeff |