2 Chronicles 7:14 – If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Throughout the Old Testament we see chance after chance for the Israelites to pray, repent, and be restored to fellowship with God, including in today’s verse. Unfortunately, the Israelites were a stubborn bunch and usually didn’t listen. But they were really no worse than we are today. Sin is easy to do, otherwise we would not sin. It offers you something rewarding, or you wouldn’t find yourself engaging in it. People don’t like giving up what feels good or is pleasing in some way. The Israelites are the perfect example of that. Time and again prophets gave them warnings like in today’s verse, and they simply would not listen.
This verse was a promise to the ancient Israelites. They had the assurance that if they prayed and turned from their sins, their lands would be healed once more. God had a covenant with His chosen people and He wanted to uphold it, but the Israelites continued in their sinful ways, over and over again. They grieved the Lord with their choices, which shouldn’t have happened (Ephesians 4:30).
He promised that not only would there be healing for their lands, but He would hear them and forgive their sins.
Does this apply today? Whether we argue it does or it does not, the fact remains – God wants us to be holy and pure. We should not ignore how the ancient Israelites acted and what God promised. We should learn from Scriptures like today’s and humble ourselves before Him, praying for forgiveness and turning away from sin.
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