2 Chronicles 7:14

Almost everyone I know is concerned about the future of South Africa

• Some are totally negative and say that it can’t and won’t get better
• Some say it can get better, but it is going to take a long time
• Some are trying to be as positive as possible in the hope that it will influence things getting better sooner rather than later

What do Christians think about SA and what can be done?

It depends on which Christian you ask. You will find Christians taking each of those viewpoints.

Perhaps the most popular view held by Christians on what can be done is found in a very popular bible passage 2 Chronicles 7: 14.

That is, if Christians in SA will humble themselves and seek the Lord through prayer and repent of their sin then the Lord will hear them, forgive them and heal SA.

What exactly a healed SA will look like seems to differ depending on who you talk to, but whatever it is it will be way better than now.

That sounds amazing! Who wouldn’t want that? And if that is what God wants, let’s sign up.

But I don’t believe that is what 2 Chronicles 7: 14 is saying. And to say it is, is to not understand what the passage is about and how it fits into the unfolding plan of God kingdom in the Bible.

I believe that the only geographical, historical land that this passage can refer to is the OT Israel in which Solomon was standing when the Lord spoke to him.

It does mean more than that for us, but not with reference to any other land on this earth.

Let me provide the biblical context to this passage to explain what I mean.

There is a very simple, biblical formula that helps us understand kingdom theology in the Bible.

The kingdom of God is God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing.

You see that throughout the Bible (God’s Big Picture [show]). I will give a simplified idea for the sake of our passage and time.

• Before the fall (the pattern of the kingdom):
  • God’s people: Adam and Eve
  • In God’s place: The Garden of Eden
  • Under God’s rule and blessing: God’s ruling word (Do this and that / don’t do this one thing) and perfect relationship
• Devastated by Fall
• The promise to Abraham about restoring the kingdom:
  • God’s people: Abraham’s descendants growing into a nation
  • In God’s place: Canaan – The Promised Land
  • Under God’s rule and blessing: to do what God says, be blessed and be a blessing
• Israel in the land:
  • God’s people: Israelites
  • In God’s place: Canaan (the land / Jerusalem / temple). This land back then held a special and unique place in God’s developing plan for establishing his kingdom here on earth … and the promise of our passage can only refer to that land (back then) as I hope to show you.
  • Under God’s rule and blessing: The Law and the King in the land flowing with milk and honey
  • None of this was ever fully fulfilled – removed from land into Exile
• After Exile, prophets prophesy about a new kingdom:
  • God’s people: The faithful remnant and now also the nations
  • In God’s place: A new place, a new creation, a new temple
  • Under God’s rule and blessing: A new covenant, a new King, great blessing
• Fulfilment firstly by Jesus (and from now on it would never be a physical land on this earth):
  • God’s people: Jesus Christ … the new Adam, the new Israel
  • In God’s place: Jesus Christ … the new place, the new temple (not a geographical land)
  • Under God’s rule and blessing: Jesus Christ, the new king, establishes the new covenant, obeying his words, rest

• After Jesus goes back to heaven:
  • God’s people: The new Israel – Jew and Gentile believers in Christ
  • In God’s place: the church – the body of Christ (all are in Christ) (not a geographical land – anywhere)
  • Under God’s rule and blessing: The new covenant and the indwelling Spirit
• After Jesus comes back, after judgement day (the perfect kingdom):
  • God’s people: Multinational family of God
  • In God’s place: new creation, new Jerusalem, new temple (this world, all lands, having been destroyed)
  • Under God’s rule and blessing: Throne of God and the Lamb there. Perfect blessing.

Now in this unfolding of God’s plan, our passage was linked to the actual land back then. Read 2 Chronicles 7: 11 – 14 and see literal meaning.

And remember that it never worked out in the end there.

God’s people never really kept their side of this promise.

Israel failed to seek God’s face and turn from their wicked ways. It got so bad that they were taken from the land (it was devastated – never to be healed again in the full sense that God envisaged).

And then (in God’s plan, as I have already said) the healing of the land in this passage finds fulfilment not in the faithfulness of people praying and repenting but in Jesus … the church / heaven / the new creation … and certainly not in any country on this earth.

And so, when we read 2 Chronicles 7: 14 today, we remember what God did then in his unfolding plan, and we praise God that it was fulfilled in Christ.

He doesn’t heal our land; he is our healed land. The place where we rest (the place of peace and prosperity), his body (the church) and eventually in the new creation.

Of course, we must pray that things change in this country. And we must work for that…

But neither this passage nor any other passage in the bible promises that if Christians do what they ought to do in their relationship with God that God will sort out their country.

That was the nature of the relationship that Israel had with God back then. That is not the nature of our relationship with God through Christ.

And if it were, what percentage of Christians have got to get it right before God heals our land? That doesn’t sound like the grace of the gospel to me.

And what about all the citizens of this country who are not God’s people (it is a very different situation to Chronicles – all citizens of Israel were God’s people under the obligations of this promise). So how will the way they live affect the healing of the land?

No. The people who are called by his name here in South Africa are much more than citizens of this land … they are citizens of heaven (that’s their true land) just passing through these lands, living for Jesus.

Sometimes it will go well in the countries we live in, in answer to prayer … and sometimes not (even if we seek him and repent of our sins) … because “it not going well” may amongst other things be part of God’s plan to spread the gospel.

Sometimes the hope of the gospel is best seen when it isn’t going well in the country, especially for Christians (China).

There is no biblical guarantee that if we live godly lives that things will go well in any country (it can, but there is no biblical guarantee).

So, as strangers and aliens here we seek first the kingdom of God.

And pre-eminently we live our lives for Christ and pray for people to respond to the gospel and enter the healed land, irrespective what happens in this land.

That is the true, everlasting blessing of this passage in God’s plan … not some temporary prosperity in a in a temporary country.

In Christ, we experience true prosperity and peace and then one day the full fulfilment of that in the new creation after this land and all other lands are destroyed never to be healed again.

That is the true comfort of this passage and is where God was going with it to Christ anyway.

Hebrews 11: 13 – 16 + 32 – 40

Biblical faith is not rooted in the lands of this world being healed any more but in the already healed land that is Christ, heaven and the new creation.

A much more comforting and eternal blessing.

Questions:

1. What did 2 Chronicles 7: 14 mean to Solomon and the Israelites?
2. Can it mean the same thing to Christians living in South Africa?
3. How is 2 Chronicles 7: 14 actually fulfilled in Christ and how does that affect your answer to question 2?
4. Is there anything Christians can do to guarantee that South Africa will become a “healed” land?
5. What can Christians do to bring about change for the good in South Africa?