My plan when this week started was to write all three blogs for Matthew 6:33. However, this morning I felt as if I needed to write this one first before continuing. So, if you’ll pardon the interruption, I want to take a look at 2 Chronicles 7:14.
My exposure to this verse
Growing up, my parents had a habit of keeping the same cassette on a perpetual loop. Whenever we drove to church, I heard the same songs over and over. Truth be told, I didn’t think much of it back then.
Almost thirty years later, it’s funny to me how easily I can sing or remember these songs. They’re a permanent ear-worm leftover from my youth. One particular cassette was full of scripture songs. I learned 1 Peter 5:8 from this album.
In addition, I can still pretty much sing the tune to 2 Chronicles 7:14 to this day. Not necessarily on pitch, but at least with the same tempo from that old cassette.
My prayers today
History lesson aside, I sometimes see this verse posted online. My usual first reaction is “Ah, it’s one of those cassette songs,” followed by “Cool verse,” before moving on.
This morning, I was praying. It was a mix of praise and prayer, thanking God for His hand in our lives while also expressing my concerns about several things, both in our society as a whole as well as personally.
Out of the blue, 2 Chronicles 7:14 (the song version) began playing in my head. Unwilling to dismiss it, I began to meditate on the words.
Does this verse still apply today?
In a word, yes but I’m going to put a big asterisk next to my statement. We can learn lessons from the Bible even if they were written for a specific era or people group. I’m not saying that right or wrong changes. But, as far as I know, no one likes to embrace 1 Corinthians 11:5 but rather sees Paul’s era-specific teaching as something from which we can glean other spiritual concepts.
So, this verse is specifically written in the context of Solomon finishing the temple. Indeed, if you read the verse before, God lets Solomon know that there might be tough times ahead. This entire passage is an exchange between Solomon and our Heavenly Father.
But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t still call us to repentance today.
21st century humans
With some of these blogs, I plan to break down a verse word by word. That would be intense and might miss the overall point God wanted to make today.
Instead, I’m going to address the word Hebrew word ʿam. Every version of the Bible I checked wants to add the possessive pronoun “my” to the translation of this Hebrew word. I’m not saying that’s an inaccurate decision, and will explain how it applies in just a moment.
What I am saying is that, when I look at the original language by itself, my limited understanding of Hebrew simply sees the word ‘people’.
I think this starts to explain how and why this verse still applies today. “If people” — period. I want you to think about that. Jesus came so that all might be saved.
People. Not just Israel. All people.
What got me excited
I began thinking about how much of an affront it must be to God to know that it’s His will none would perish, yet so many reject him. When we feel the call of the Holy Spirit encouraging us to repent, that’s how the possessive “my people” becomes apparent.
We’re called. Often, Christians think of “the call” to refer to a missionary or a preacher. Instead, I want you to remember that we’re all called to be His children.
And that call is a pretty big deal. “By my name” carries weight, especially considering the reverence that Israel often showed for God’s name. He’s letting us know here that the very thing they’re afraid to say is, in fact, the very thing through which He’s called us.
God, Creator of the universe, has called us by His name. That’s almost mind-blowing when you think about it.
Pardon the interruption, but let’s talk about the rule of God
Now this is why I think God put this verse on my mind today. If you read my last blog, then you know I wrote about how the command to “Seek the Kingdom of God” meant to seek to be ruled by God. To let His dominion over our life be our driving force.
Guess what: once again, I struggled to find a version of the Bible that didn’t render bāqaš pānîm as “Seek my face.” Another way of translating pānîm was “presence.” Biblical authors used this word In Genesis 1:2, which is the follow-up to the first blog I wrote this year.
In other words, God wants us to seek Him. I don’t think I can say it any more plainly than that.
The rest of the verse
I’m just now halfway through the verse, but those pieces aren’t the point God wanted to make today. To remind you, it says:
This is the result we want, and we tend to pray for things that align with this desire. However, this verse opens with what I’ve recently learned is known as a “glue word.” Most translations start by saying “If” though my preferred translation adds the glue word “Then” before it.
Then if.
Another way of saying it: we need to seek God first before anything we pray has a chance of happening.
Kinda sounds a bit like Matthew 6:33…
How it applies to us
I wanted to close this with a curious observation. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is wedged between a lot of verses that can explain God’s heart, our sins, and His promises. There’s probably an entire series breaking down these verses. But, what jumped out at me was God’s holiness.
I don’t feel like a wicked person.
Do I measure up to God’s holy standards?
I barely touched on the word wicked, though it featured more prominently in my mental first draft (yes, I tend to write the blog in my head before I get started). Here’s where that portion of the verse applies to us: no matter how long we’ve been a Christian, we’re nowhere near as good as Him. Mark 10:18 confirms this.
Our ambition, our pride, and all of the vices that trip us up (Hebrews 12:1) mean that we’re a work in progress.
When we seek God, repentance from our human failures should be a part of those prayers. Remember, you’re called by God’s holy name to righteous living. That’s a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe.
Or, to paraphrase what I said earlier, it’s a pretty big deal that He calls us His children.