… when My people, over whom My Name is called, humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14, TLV
Humility, Repentance, Prayer, Then Watch What Happens! King Solomon dedicates the beautiful new Temple to GOD. What an auspices moment in history! When ADONAI appears, the high priests can’t even enter the Temple because His presence is so powerful (vs. 2). GOD has accepted the Temple and the offerings (vs. 1). He has placed His Name in Jerusalem forever.
Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this House so that My Name may be there forever. My eyes and My heart shall be there perpetually. (vss. 15-16, TLV)
On one of our trips to Israel, our guide prepared us to visit the Kotel — what is known as the “Wailing Wall”. He explained that the wall was but the foundation of the great Temple, the Temple itself had been destroyed in 70 A.D. He didn’t want us not to inadvertently offend the locals or make serious mistakes in how we approached the wall and what we did at the Wall. Then he smiled and said, “By the way, your calls to heaven are now local calls.” Clearly he referred to GOD’s promise that His Name, eyes, and heart would be there forever.
Fortunately, we don’t have to make a “long-distance” call when we pray to our Heavenly Father. As redeemed children, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, our Messiah, we have His Holy Spirit residing in us. All calls are local, in fact we can converse any day at any time.
A serious message
Today’s verse carries a serious message to the Jewish people — and to us. GOD understands our frail humanity, because He created us and we blew it in the Garden. We carry that tendency to fall away or depend on our ways and not seek Him first.
If I shut up heaven that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people … (vs. 13, TLV)
GOD’s warning is that if there are natural and unnatural disasters that come to the Land of Israel, then something is off — out of balance — in the people’s relationship with Him. He knows what is coming. What the people will do. Yet He provides a means to be forgiven and heal the Land.
Notice, not once did He say sacrifice any animals or give offerings. Our Father wants their devotion, repentance — a true relationship. The sacrifices were necessary until Yeshua became our eternal sacrifice.
As many of us prepare for Yom Kippur, the Holy Spirit may be convicting our hearts of sins and behaviors contrary to followers of our Messiah. Our “land” is not bearing fruit as it should and we feel barren and dry. Perhaps, it’s time to heal the “land” in us.
Heal our land
We all know things are out of balance in this world, and relationships with our Heavenly Father have grown cold or are non-existent. How do we tackle the impossible feat of telling people to repent and turn from their evil ways? Unless GOD has called you to stand on a platform and cry out this message, we don’t. What we do is this, we:
- begin at home — with our temples (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
- humble ourselves to admit that while we may not be doing “big sins,” no doubt we’ve been sinning
- seek our Father’s face in true repentance
- turn away from our sin — that means don’t do it again
Then He will hear us and respond.
Will this change the world? Maybe not all of it, but definitely our part. Really, the best result is that our relationship is back in sync with our Father. Let Him deal with the rest. I suppose if more of us do this, change will happen — and that would be good. But really, it’s about our relationship with Him no matter what evil goes on around us. A beautiful relationship — Father to child. Ultimately, that’s what every heart wants.
L’Shana Tovah!
