If My People
Who Are Called By My Name...

- - America's Last Hope - -


Introduction

It is clear; It is concise... 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, who are called by my name, shall 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."

But as clear and concise as it is, we commonly hear this verse misquoted and misapplied. So first, we must avoid the mistake of misquoting the verse... we must not leave out important aspects of that which God requires... it is not JUST prayer.

There are actually four things mentioned for us to do and we usually only name one or two of them... and then expect God to heal our land. We as God's people need to memorize this verse, internalize it, make it a reality in our own lives and then spread the word!

Some beleive it is already too late for America, but tragically many don't even see the dangerous condition our country finds itself in. Make no mistake... the United States is quickly moving head long into tyrany and our political system is so hopelessly corrupt, there seems to be no hope of bringing us back to a Constitutional Republic... but there is always hope

"IF" is perhaps the biggest word in the passage... IF God's people, the church, will do FOUR things.

Look carefully... God requires FOUR things from His people:
  1. Humble themselves.
  2. Pray.
  3. Seek My face.
  4. Turn from their wicked ways.
And IF God's people will do these four things, THEN and only then will God do these three things:
  1. Hear from Heaven.
  2. Forgive their sin.
  3. Heal their land.
Oh God... how deparately our land needs to be healed! And how ignorant and apethetic we are as your people to understand and apply these four directives.

But before we examine the four directives, we must first answer the criticism that the passage only applies to the nation of Israel thousands of years ago. I considered ignoring the criticism, but I didn't want to alienate a portion of my audience before we tackle the meat of the passage.

Can 2 Chronicles 7:14 Apply to the Church?

It is true that many verses of the bible are restricted in their context to places and events of the time they were written. However many other verses are easily recognized for and should be considered general precepts and truths that apply to both the time they were written and beyond.

In fact, prophetic passages can sometimes apply to more than one event in the future (at least partially), but of course that doesn't apply here.

So let us examine the verse in question to see if it should be considered a general precept...
    "If my people"..... Can the church be considered to be God's people. Of course, Yes.
    "who are called by my name"..... Is the church called by God's name? Undoubtedly.
    "shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways".....
Are there any New Testament teachings that would indicate the church should not "humble themselves" or "pray" or "seek God's face" or "turn from our wicked ways"? Certainly not. These admonisions are ALL repeatedly taught throughout the NT epistles.

    "then will I hear from heaven" ..... Does God "hear" the prayers of Chritians? Yes.
    "and will forgive their sin" ..... Does God "forgive" the sins of Christians? Duh... 1 John 1:8
    "and will heal their land.".....
OK, this is how our verse ends and if there is a portion of the verse that might not qualify as a general precept, this would be it.

Why would I say that? Well certainly in the immediate context, the term "their land" would refer to the promised land of Israel. So the question becomes Can the term "their land" refer to the land of Christians? and if so, What land would it refer to?... the little plot of land my house sits on? or could it possibly be considered applicable to a land such as the United States?

And this leads to the obvious question of what it means to "heal" a land and if the term "land" could in fact be more appropriately applied to the heart or spiritual condition of the people of God?

Can it in fact mean that God can now restore His blessings upon a land whose people have returned to Him? THIS, I believe is the proper interpretation of the passage and if so, can in fact be applied to the nation of Israel, a family, a business, a church or even a country other than Israel.

And I believe this applies not only to a country like the United States that was founded by a Christian majority, but to any country (Christian or pagan) whose community of believers, small or large have truly reached out to the God of all creation in faith and repentance.

So, how do we do it? What are God's four requirements? What do they mean biblically? how do we apply them? and how can we reach out to like minded Christians?... spreading this movement to the churches near and far?

If we can do this... IF YOU can do this, a single child of God like you can make an eternal difference.

Chapter 1: Humble Themselves(FUTURE CONTENT)

Chapter 2: Pray(FUTURE CONTENT)

Chapter 3: Seek My Face(FUTURE CONTENT)

Chapter 4: Turn From Their Wicked Ways(FUTURE CONTENT)

Chapter 5: Spread The Word(FUTURE CONTENT)