An Article from Pastor Paul Boutan
“If My people who are called by My Name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2Chronicles 7:14
I was recently asked a great question. I had posted this verse on FaceBook, in the context of all the mixed reactions that many Christians had to the results of the recent election, even to the point that there was a riot outside the United States Capital. In response to my post someone asked “Isn’t that promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14, exclusively a promise to the Nation of Israel alone?” You are absolutely correct.
The context of the promise to “heal their land” in 2 Chronicles is based on a covenant that God made with the Nation of Israel in Deuteronomy 28. Essentially, the promise goes as follows, God was saying that “If Israel the Nation called by God’s name obeys God, then He will bless them. However, if they disobey then God will judge them. That judgment could even include famine, pestilence, economic hardship and even slavery.” But the agreement God is making with Israel is that “if they repent, turn from their sins then God will ‘heal their land.’”
No other nation on earth was in this kind of covenant relationship with God therefore, this exact promise only applies to the Nation of Israel. The United States may have been founded on Christian principles, but we were never in this exclusive covenant relationship. So, it is correct to say that the “Promise” only applies to Israel. However, while the promise was limited to Israel, there are some principles that transcend to any Nation or people who call upon the Lord. Specifically, the principles of confessing and repenting of our sins. In Jonah 3 we see that Nineveh repented and were likewise spared God’s judgment. As a Nation I believe we are reaping what we’ve sown for generations, and that what we need more than a political revolt is spiritual revival.
Until we humble ourselves and repent of our own sins and pray and seek HIS face our land will NOT see healing. If there is going to be a REVIVAL it will not start in the Whitehouse, it starts in God's House. 1Pet 4:17 reminds us that "judgment begins in the House of God." It's easy for me to point out the sins of our Nation everything from abortion to racism, let alone all the sexual sin of our culture. But 2Chronicles 7:14 is not calling me to point out the world's sins, it's calling me to humble myself and repent of my own sin. I believe this kind of repentance will be the catalyst for REVIVAL.
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