2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Eisegesis: 

”Let’s come together and pray for the nation so that God will forgive the sins of the nation and heal the land.”

Exegesis:   

The promise contained in this verse cannot be applied universally to all nations, but was a specific promise made to the nation of Israel.

There is no doubt that this verse is one of the most frequently quoted passages from the Old Testament, especially when it comes to speaking about national repentance or revival.

People often apply this verse universally to any nation, suggesting God would bless and heal the nation if its people would repent as he did with ancient Israel.

There is also another potential misinterpretation of this verse called “formulaic revival” meaning that we can generate a revival by simply following a formula.

While humbleness, prayer, seeking God, and repentance are vital to God’s work, He is not limited to formulas. Revival is a sovereign act of God’s mercy and grace.

Background of the text

There is an immediate context for this text in the dedication of Solomon’s temple (2 Chronicles 6), where Solomon prayed a lengthy prayer asking God to hear the people’s prayers under various circumstances (including when they would sin and later repent).

After a dedicated time of prayer, the Lord appears to Solomon at night and responds with a series of promises and conditions, among them is the verse in question.

Who is the verse speaking to?

This conditional promise is specific to Nation Israel – “the Land”.

The use of the phrase – “My people” in the verse refers primarily to Israel, who were God’s chosen people at the time. God made a covenant promise to the nation with specific conditions of obedience and repentance.

Solomon would have recognized this promise as a reiteration of Deuteronomy 28 where Israel had entered into a covenant with God to take care of them and prosper them if they obeyed Him and if they did not obey, He would bring curses upon them.

In light of this covenant relationship, obedience resulted in prosperity, while disobedience resulted in hardship.

The book of Judges illustrates this blessing and cursing under the Law. In Judges chapter 2 Israel fell into sin and God sends another nation to judge them. In response, Israel would repent and call upon the Lord and He would raise up a judge to deliver them. Unfortunately, after serving the Lord for some time, they would fall back into sin and the cycle continued.

In 2 Chronicles 7, the Lord simply reminds Solomon of the previous agreement. If Israel obeys, they will be blessed and judged if they disobey. The judgment was to bring Israel to repentance, and God promised Solomon that if they were humble, prayed, and repented, God would deliver them.

The misuse of this scripture

It is true that if ancient Israel (and perhaps even modern-day Israel) repents and returns to the Lord, He will rescue them, according to 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Nevertheless, many Christians insist that this verse can and should be applied to their own countries. Why is this problematic?

The first problem is that our nations do not have the same covenant relationship with God as ancient Israel did. Israel’s covenant was unique and exclusive (during a specific era in ancient history). Terms that applied to Israel cannot be co-opted and applied to a different nation.

A second issue, however, often goes unnoticed. When ancient Israel repented and sought the Lord, they did so en masse – meaning the whole nation repented. It’s obvious that not every Israelite repented and prayed, but it was still a national repentance. There was no indication that a small minority of the nation (a righteous remnant) could repent and pray and change the fate of the entire nation.

When 2 Chronicles 7:14 is applied to Christians in any other modern nation, it is assumed that those Christians are among the righteous remnant. But God never promised that if a righteous remnant repents and prays for their nation, the nation would be saved. It is possible that God would spare a modern nation if national repentance occurred, as He spared Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah (see Jonah 3) —but that scenario is not directly related to this verse..

Confession, repentance and prayer are never wrong: it is our duty as believers to continuously confess and forsake our sins, and to pray for our nation and leaders (1 Timothy 2:1–2).

It may be that God will bless our nation as a result of our prayers- but there is no guarantee of national salvation. Even if God used our efforts to bring about national repentance and revival, there is no guarantee that the nation would be politically, economically or spiritually saved.

As believers, we are guaranteed salvation through Christ (Romans 8:1), and we are also assured that God will use us for His purposes. As Christians, we are responsible for living holy lives, seeking God, praying, and sharing the gospel, knowing that all who believe will be saved, but the Bible does not guarantee the political, cultural, or economic salvation of our nations.