Seek His Face, Continually

Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually ~ 

1 Chronicles 16:11

It is a crisp new morning. A heavy dew covers our wooden deck and sparkles on the blossom-bedecked Crabapple tree. The Cape Parrots make a noisy fly past across a clear, powder blue sky. New tender growth pushes through the leaf-covered ground and shows on the stark white limbs of Silver Birches. Spring is certainly in the air, but it is a subdued arrival this year. The normal exuberance of the season has been inhibited by an abnormal dry Winter in our mountain village. Dust hangs in suffocating clouds over our roads. Streams dry up and there is a mild panic in the air, as people realise that their once overflowing water tanks are empty and their taps may soon run dry. People gather to pray for the heavens to open, yet others call for rain dances to be performed, to appease the gods, ancestors,  or whoever they believe to be with-holding the live-giving water.

The verse that is often used by Christians when praying in a time of drought or upheaval in our country is 2 Chronicles 7:14 ~ "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." I thought to look briefly into the background, context and deeper meaning of this verse. I looked at a few references besides the Bible and Bible commentary, but have found www.gotquestions.org for biblical questions and answers very helpful. Therefore some of the following was taken more or less directly from this source.

The key to understanding any verse of Scripture is context. There is the immediate context—the verses before and after it, as well as the larger context of Scripture—how the verse fits into the overall story. There is also the historical and cultural context—how the verse was understood by its original audience in light of their history and culture. Because context is so important, a verse whose meaning and application seem straightforward when quoted in isolation may mean something significantly different when it is taken in context.

When approaching 2 Chronicles 7:14, one must first consider the immediate context. After Solomon dedicated the temple, the Lord appeared to him and gave him some warnings and reassurances. “The Lord appeared to him at night and said: ‘I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.’ When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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.”

The immediate context of 2 Chronicles 7:14 shows that the verse relates to Israel and the temple, and the fact that from time to time God sent judgement upon the land in the form of drought, locusts, or pestilence.

A few verses later God says this: “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshipping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’”

No doubt Solomon would have recognised this warning as a reiteration of Deuteronomy 28. God had entered into a covenant with Israel and promised to take care of them and cause them to prosper as long as they obeyed him. He also promised to bring curses upon them if they failed to obey. Because of the covenant relationship, there was a direct correspondence between their obedience and their prosperity, and their disobedience and their hardship. Deuteronomy 28 spells out the blessings for obedience and the curses for disobedience. Again, divine blessing and divine punishment on Israel were conditional on their obedience or disobedience.

We see this blessing and cursing under the Law play out in the book of Judges. Judges chapter 2 is often referred to as “The Cycle of the Judges.” Israel would fall into sin. God would send another nation to judge them. Israel would repent and call upon the Lord. The Lord would raise up a judge to deliver them. They would serve the Lord for a while and then fall back into sin again. And the cycle would continue.

In 2 Chronicles 7, the Lord reminds Solomon of the previous agreement. If Israel obeys, they will be blessed. If they disobey, they will be judged. The judgement is meant to bring Israel to repentance, and God assures Solomon that, if they will be humble, pray, and repent, then God will forgive them and deliver them from the judgement.

In context 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a promise to ancient Israel that, if they will repent and return to the Lord, He will rescue them. As the true church - His people who are called by His name - we are part of this covenant and God's dealings with Israel serve as an example to us. But it also means that the promises of this covenant are indeed conditional. There is a popular interpretation that if Christians humble themselves and pray for their nation that God promises to heal their land - often a moral and political healing is expected as well as economic healing. The question is whether or not this is a proper interpretation/application.

The first problem that the modern-day, “Westernized” interpretation encounters is that we do not have the same covenant relationship with God as a nation, that ancient Israel enjoyed.  Certainly, if a nation is in trouble, a prayerful and repentant response by Christians in that nation is always appropriate and part of what God calls us to do. However, there is another issue that is often overlooked.

When ancient Israel repented and sought the Lord, they were doing so en masse. The nation as a whole repented. It was national repentance. There was never any indication that a small minority of the nation (a righteous remnant) could repent and pray and that the fate of the entire nation would change. God promised deliverance when the entire nation repented.

When 2 Chronicles 7:14 is applied to any modern nation, it is usually with the understanding that the Christians in that nation—the true believers in Jesus Christ who have been born again by the Spirit of God—will comprise the righteous remnant. God never promised that if a righteous remnant repents and prays for their nation, that the nation will be saved. Perhaps if national repentance occurred, then God would spare a modern nation as He spared Nineveh at the preaching of Jonah (see Jonah 3)—but that is a different issue.

Having said that, it is always appropriate to confess our sins and pray—in fact it is our duty as believers to continuously confess and forsake our sins so that they will not hinder us (Hebrews 12:1) and to pray for our nation and those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1–2). God in His grace will bless our nation as a result—but there is no guarantee of national deliverance. Even if God did use our efforts to bring about national repentance and revival, there is no guarantee that the  nation will be politically or economically saved. As believers, we are guaranteed personal salvation in Christ (Romans 8:1), and we are also guaranteed that God will use us to accomplish His purposes, whatever they may be. It is our duty as believers to live holy lives, seek God, pray, and share the gospel knowing that all who believe will be saved, but the Bible does not guarantee the political, cultural, or economic salvation of our nation.

So how do we then pray for deliverance, whether from regional or national drought or political/economical/moral crises? We know from the above that God judges individuals and areas, but that there is also a judgement of nations. That is how we know that we cannot scorn our responsibility to pray for our country and it's people. No one can really prescribe to another how to pray, whether it is for our country, brothers and sisters in Christ, family, friends or those who do not know or wish to know Jesus. It is in humble submission and drawing closer to Jesus, that the Holy Spirit will help us to pray sincerely and powerfully.  It is also in this place of surrender and reliance that we will experience the Lord's peace, grace and strength, in the midst of His judgement on our nation as a whole. 

But 2 Chronicles 7:14 is not only a call to prayer, it is call to repentance, for a people and individuals to "get right with God". It suggests responsibility on the hearer's part. God was saying to Solomon, "You are the man to carry my flame into the world." And, to the nation of Israel, "You are the people. The responsibility of proclaiming my forgiveness and healing is yours."  At the start of the chapter, at the dedication of the temple a fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offering (which was rather substantial) and the "glory of the Lord filled the temple". (The temple symbolised commitment to worship and partnership with God.) So there they were, amidst a huge bonfire that simply fell from heaven, the smell of burnt meat all around them. If there was one or two who were not on their knees by now, the glory of the Lord would have brought them face-down with awe and trembling from head to toe. God has always used fire to identify His presence and to purify His people. 

People who are right with God are separated from the world. They are sanctified and made holy. Jesus himself prayed that all his followers would be separated from the world, "I am not praying that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. I sanctify Myself for them, so they also may be sanctified by the truth" (John 17:15-19). Jesus used the word sanctify three times. It means to set apart for sacred use or make holy. Remember what Peter wrote, "but, as the One who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:15-16).

A person who is right with God is a person made holy. They have separated themselves from the world. They have distanced themselves from sin. They have detached themselves from evil. It shows in how they live, how they talk, and how they think.

A law of physics states that two objects cannot occupy the same space. That is also true regarding our hearts. God and sin can never occupy the same space. 

People who are right with God, who have fallen in love with the God of the universe, meet Him in his consuming glory. They long to meet God in worship and prayer. They know that worship and prayer is not a means to an end, it is an encounter with the living God and part of an ongoing relationship with Him.

People who are right with God are humble. They know that their Saviour Jesus, once humbled himself ultimately on the cross, so that we could be  "made right" with our God. They know that there is nothing that we can do to save or sanctify ourselves. We do what we do, out of obedience and for the glory of God, any other reason would be conceited or for our own gain. He longs for us to "seek His face" constantly, spend time with Him, long to know Him and seek the truth in His Word. He does not say "seek my hand", as we so often just want a helping hand, rather than a personal encounter.

The last "condition" that God gives Solomon in this verse, is to turn from their wicked ways. It shows the direction of our walk, away from our sins, towards our God. Repentance literally means to turn around, to change the direction in which the heart is inclined. It is a change of mind that calls for a change of way. It is an act of the will, not just a "saying sorry" or a feeling.

Be encouraged by the knowledge that we serve a God who does not merely want lip service from His children. He wants an all-consuming, ongoing love-relationship with us. He wants to be the fire that cleanses, the fire that sets us aglow for Him. He wants us to not only cling desperately to His hand, but to look for His beautiful face, for there and there alone will we find His perfect presence, His perfect will, and His joyful response to our worship and prayer.