“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.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14
A lot of people, even Christians think that what God promised before does not apply to our generation now. Many will just mock what the Old Testament said because they claim that it’s old news, or it’s expired, or some other sort. However, we have to understand that the key to understanding every verse of the Bible is its context. The coming of Christ and His salvation is proof that everything in the Bible is connected because Christ is the fulfillment of the prophecy.
Now, our verse today is such an important knowledge we have to learn because first, we have to understand that this promise of God also applies to our generation now. The verse talks about the promise of God to Israel that if the people who are called by the name of God will humble themselves, pray, seek Him, and turn away from wickedness (ask for forgiveness), He will forgive their sins. So, the context of this verse is all about the covenant of God and the people of Israel through Solomon. God is reminding Solomon that if the Israelites will disobey, He will bring the nation to judgment, but if they keep His commands, then He will bless them and forgive their sins.
With this old context, a lot of people now claim that we are not called on God’s name anymore and that covenant is old news. However, we have to understand that as much as we are modernized now and upgraded, the Word of the Lord endures forever and it remains the same from generation to generation. Some people even believe that our verse today is a covenant under the law, so it is not applicable now because we are under grace. Yet again, we must understand that the Bible does not contradict itself. We may think that unlike before, God will send locusts, droughts, and many more to judge a nation. Today, we know that what God and His chosen people’ agreed on remained the same.
If we do not confess our sins, pray to God and ask for forgiveness, we will really die. We are saved by grace through faith and through Jesus Christ’s death, we are pardoned. However, this salvation will manifest Christ. We will be able to acknowledge our sins and turn away from them if we truly accept Christ as our Lord and Savior. Therefore, this is just the same as the covenant that God had with the Israelites. If we call to Him, if we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and believe that He saved us, He will indeed forgive our sins and save us. Yet we must understand that the Word of God endures forever, and indeed the only way for us to be saved is through our God– through calling out to Him and asking for forgiveness– just like what God reminded Solomon before that if they call to Him, He will forgive them. Thus, we must always keep in our minds that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, it is the work of God, not ours.
