II Chronicles 7:14
(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
I have explored this verse, II Chronicles 7:14, in five Gems over the years (I’ll list them so you can bring them up with the Search Posts option):
- The Key – I (July 5, 2013).
- The Key – II (July 8, 2013).
- Is This The Finger Of God? – II (July 4 2020).
- What God Says Matters (October 17, 2020).
- “If…” – (August 28, 2021).
II Chronicles 7:14 has become the chief focus of our church’s early morning prayer meetings, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – from 6:30 to 8:00 AM. I made a banner of this verse on a movable frame, four feet high and twelve feet long!
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble them-
selves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will for-
give their sin and will heal their land.
We are praying for REVIVAL! This is the answer for the restoriation and healing that our nation needs today!
I bring this banner out for display on these three early mornings, and I spend the first five minutes or so sitting, reading, and contemplating this Scripture. Lately I have discovered something new in II Chronicles 7:14!
- I used to think that God had laid out four things He calls us to do, and then three things that He will do! But I wondered, “Why does He give us four, and He reserves three to Himself…if we do the four?” After all, in the Bible three is a number associated with God as well as man!
✞ He reveals Himself as the Trinitarian God! While
this revelation is somewhat hidden in the Old
Testament, the Trinity is plainly seen in the New
Testament:
➔ Matthew 28:19 – “Go therefore and make dis-
ciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Spirit....”
➔ Luke 1:35 – “And the angel...said to [Mary]...
‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Highest will overshadow you;
therefore...that Holy One who is to be born
will be called the Son of God.’”
➔ Luke 3:21, 22 – “...when...Jesus...was bap-
tized...the Holy Spirit descended in bodily
form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came
from heaven..., ‘You are My beloved Son; in
You I am well pleased.’”
➔ II Corinthians 13:14 – “The grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the
communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Amen.”
✞ And He created a tripartite human being!
➔ Luke 1:46 and 47 – “And Mary said, ‘My soul
magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced
in God my Savior.”
➔ I Thessalonians 5:23 – “...may...God...sancti-
fy you completely; and may your whole spirit,
soul, and body be preserved blameless at the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
➔ Hebrews 4:12 – “For the word of God is living,
and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the division of soul
and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the
heart.”
- The ‘new’ that I discovered is this: Is God only asking us, His people, called by His name, to do three things? The fourth, “…and turn from their wicked ways…,” would then be a ‘catch-all’ covering the three before!
Let’s look closer at this idea, and see the logic in it:
- First, as discussed above, if we are made in the image of God, and we are, according to Genesis 1:26 and 27, would not it be more logical in II Chronicles 7:14 to have both God and humans be assigned three things to do, instead of man being assigned four?
- Second, if one humbles himself or herself, and prays, and seeks God’s face; would not they have already turned from their wicked ways?
✡ Just consider the third thing the LORD calls us to
do: “...and seek My face...,” they would have al-
ready turned from any and all wickedness, because
God is utterly holy!
➔ One [God] is 180 degrees away from the other
[wicked ways]!
➔ A human being cannot naturally look in two
opposite directions at the same time!
✡ So to “...turn from their wicked ways...” would be
redundant for they would have already turned to
“...seek My face...”!
What does it mean to seek God’s face?
- The website Compelling Truth (web address – www.compellingtruth.org/seek-Gods-face .html) has a good explanation of what this phrase means:
As the old saying goes, "the eyes are the window to the
soul." When we look someone in the face, we are better
able to gauge their mood and understand their thoughts.
We will probably be able to tell if they are happy or
sad. If we are looking someone in the face, we are pre-
pared to actively listen to whatever they have to say.
It is the same way with seeking God's face. When we talk
about seeking God's face, it means we are seeking to know
Him, understand His character, and hear His voice....When
we genuinely seek God's face, we will come to understand
His love and His holiness more deeply, and we will re-
flect His character more. When we seek God's face...we
approach God because we truly love Him and want to get
to know Him better. We want to learn His character and
behold His presence more than anything else....
- The Apostle Paul beautifully illustrates this seeking of God’s face in Philippians 3:7 through 12:
But what things were gain to me, these I have counted
loss for Christ. But indeed I also count all things
loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ
Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of
all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain
Christ and be found in Him, not having my own right-
eousness, which is from the law, but that which is
through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is
from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power
of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffer-
ings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means,
I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not
that I have already attained, or am already perfected;
but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which
Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Consider also how we are to seek God’s face:
- We are told in…
✞ ...Colossians 2:9 (speaking of Jesus) – “For in Him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily....”
✞ ...Hebrews 1:3 (speaking of God’s Son in verse 2) –
“...being the brightness of His [the Father’s] glory
and the express image of His person....”
✞ ...John 14:7 and 9 – Jesus said, “If you had known
Me, you would have known My Father....He who has seen
Me has seen the Father....”
✞ ...John 14:30 – Jesus told the Jews, “I and My Father
are one.”- So to seek God’s face, we must seek Jesus’ face, that is, to get to intimately know the Father through intimately knowing Him! We do this in at least four ways:
✞ The Word (the Bible):
➔ Jesus is the living Word, according to John 1:1
and 14: “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God....And
the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us....”
➔ The Bible is also the living Word, according to
Hebrews 4:12: “...the word of God is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword
....”
➔ Since the Bible presents Jesus Christ, (who He is,
what He does, how He thinks and communicates, how
He loves, how He will judge), is it any wonder that
Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of
Christ dwell in you richly....”
✞ Prayer is communication with God!
➔ Just as ongoing communication with another person
results in getting to know that one better, so
prayer will help us to know our God better!
➔ Remember, prayer is a two-way communication! We
tell God what is on our hearts and minds, and we
listen to what He wants to tell us!
➔ Habakkuk 2:1 is a good illustration of this: “I
will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart,
and watch to see what He will say to me, and what
I will answer....”
✞ Worship is actively giving praise and glory to the Lord!
While we can worship God by ourselves, it is of great
benefit to gather for worship with other believers!
✞ Fellowship – gathering together for sharing and enjoyment!
➔ We get to know one another through fellowship!
➔ We can better see Jesus in one another through
fellowship!
➔ We can be challenged to grow in Christ through
fellowship, as we get to know more mature Chris-
tians.And so I believe I have learned an extra truth by meditating on II Chronicles 7:14. And this truth I have shared with you!
Put II Chronicles 7:14 into practice!
It is the answer for the need of our nation to be healed!