Has 2 Chronicles 7:14 Become a Twisted Scripture Verse?

Peter wrote of unlearned and unstable people twisting the Scripture (2 Pet 3:16). He meant that they incorrectly taught or misapplied God’s words. Is that what happens with 2 Chronicles 7:14?

In recent years, many sermons and teachings about the increasing sins of the American people and the American government suggest that 2 Chronicles 7:14 is the answer to changing our country.  But is it?  To understand what that verse promises, let’s consider it in the context in which God spoke.

2 Chronicles 7:14

“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.”

It is suggested that if Christians humble themselves, pray to God, and quit sinning, then God will listen to them, forgive them, and heal America.  

We should always humble ourselves, pray, and stop sinning.  But the second part is not a promise from God to Christians in America.  It was a conditional promise given to ancient Israel under the 0ld Covenant.  As Christians, we are not under that Covenant.  Our relationship with God is not governed by “if/then” conditions.  Grace flows abundantly under the New Covenant, not conditioned on our works but rather because of the work of Jesus.

Furthermore, if 2 Chronicles 7:14 is claimed as a promise to American Christians, we must also claim the rest of the passage.  The passage begins with the circumstances under which God gave the conditions and the promise.

2 Chronicles 7:13

 “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people,

God was speaking to Solomon after the Temple had been completed., circa 957 BC. Now, read verse 14 in that context.

2 Chronicles 7:14

“If My people [ancient Israel] 

who are called by My name [Jehovah, as God was revealed then] 

will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways [conditions set by God to merit His favor], 

then I will hear from heaven [a conditional response based on their works], 

and will forgive their sin [As Christians, our sins are not conditioned on our being humble, praying, etc.  They were paid for by Jesus on the cross, and all our sins — past, present, and future — were forgiven when we came to Jesus in faith, and He saved us. We need only to have ongoing sins washed away: Read  1 John 1:9 What is the Christian “Bar of Soap?”),

and heal their land.” [the land is ancient Israel, not the United States of America]

2 Chronicles 7:15-18

When American Christians claim 2 Chronicles 7:14, do they also claim the rest of the passage?

{15} Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place.  [Again, a conditional promise from God to His ancient people. God always listens to the prayers of His children — those who are in the family of God through adoption Rom 8:15, 17]

{16} For now I have chosen and sanctified this house [the Temple], that My name may be there forever. And My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.  [Our temple is our bodies, where the Holy Spirit dwells (1 Cor 3:16), not a physical building)

{17} As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, [again conditions or works]

{18}  “then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.’

Verses 17 and 18 are another “if/then” conditional promise based on the works of the people. Furthermore, no American Christian would ever claim that promise.  It is clearly a promise to ancient Israel.  David is not the father of America.  The promise is to the nation of Israel and a king in Israel (as stated in verse 18).

2 Chronicles 7:19-20

Pastors or Bible teachers that use 2 Chronicles 7:14 out of context — omitting 7:13 and 7:15-18, would never want to include verses 19 and 20.

{19}  “But if you [Israel] turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them,

{20}  “then I will uproot them [the people of Israel] from My land [Israel] which I have given them; and this house [the Temple] which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

This is another “if/then” conditional promise. God promised He would dispere the people and destroy the Temple, if they failed to to be obedient and live godly.  And He did just that in 70 AD.  Let’s finish the chapter

2 Chronicles 7:21-22

{21}  “And as for this house [the Temple], which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house?’

{22}  “Then they will answer, ‘Because they [Israel] forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them [Israel].'”

Can you now understand why it is wrong to “grab” 2 Chronicles 7:14 and preach or teach it as a promise to Americans?  God is not promising to heal America if we humble ourselves and pray.  His promise was given to corporate Israel based on their good works and faithfulness and under the Old Covenant.  As Christians under the New Covenant, God’s promises are to individuals based on Jesus’ good works and God’s faithfulness.  

Stop Misapplying Scripture Out of Context

I’ve written on this before, quoting a well-known evangelist who erroneously taught this verse out of context and with the wrong application.  Read what he said, the problems with what he taught, and the application for Christians in this verse.

It’s a good verse, and we can learn from it (Rom 15:4). But it’s not about us, nor is it a promise from God to us.

So, what can we learn from 2 Chronicles 7:14?  Read how we can apply that verse in the lives of Christians (spoiler alert: it’s not about healing America).

>>>>Take a minute to read: If we do as 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, will God heal America? An “if/then” Proposition?

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Misinterpreted, Misunderstood, or Misused Bible Verses and Passages

Has 2 Chronicles 7:14 Become a Twisted Scripture Verse?
If we do as 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, will God heal America?
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Eph 4:15 - What Does “Speaking the Truth in Love” Really Mean? 
Heb 10:26 - How Should We Understand the Willful Sin of Hebrews 10:26?
Matt 5:48 - Did Jesus Really Mean "Be Perfect?"
Hebrews 6:4-6  Can Salvation Be Lost?
Hebrews 10:26 How Should We Understand Willful Sin?
Jer 17:9 - Is My Heart Deceitful Above All Things? (Jer 17:9) Don’t I Have a New Heart?
Matt 18:20 - Does There Need to be Two or Three Gathered Together for Jesus to be Present?
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Heb 9:27 - Does the resurrection of Lazarus contradict Hebrews 9:27?  
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