Blog
“The Promise To Heal Our Land – Part 3”
The Promise To Heal Our Land – Part 3
Wade Webster
“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” (2 Chron. 7:14). In previous installments of this study, we considered the requirements and the recipients of this promise. As we conclude this study, we will consider the rewards of the promise.
The Rewards - “…Then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”
The “if…then” construction is very clear in this passage. It is crucial to understanding the promise that this passage contains. If we will respond as God has specified, He will respond as He has promised. He promises to do three things- hear, forgive, and heal.
- Hear - Sin keeps God from hearing/answering our prayers. Isaiah wrote, “Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:1-2). When we are willing to acknowledge our sins and abandon them, God will again hear our prayers.
- Forgive - God stands ready to forgive. He is abundant in pardon. We read, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You” (Psa. 86:5). No matter how great our sin may have been, He remembers it no more. Though they were as scarlet, they are now as white as snow. Through Isaiah, God declared, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor;Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the LORD, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land;” (Isa. 1:16-19).
- Heal - Long before Jesus walked the earth healing all kinds of disease, God was pictured as a physician capable of healing man and matter. The fact that both the people and the land were sick with all manner of ailments was not a commentary on God’s inability to heal. It was a reflection on their refusal to repent and take the medicine that God prescribed. This point is made abundantly clear in the prophecy of Jeremiah. We read, “For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. I am mourning; Astonishment has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, Is there no physician there? Why then is there no recovery For the health of the daughter of my people?” (Jer. 8:21-22). There was a physician- God. There was a balm - the word of God in the mouth of His prophets. They simply wouldn’t go to the doctor or take the medicine that He prescribed.
God is faithful (Deut. 7:9-11). He always keeps His promises (Num. 23:19; 1 Kings 8:56).
As we have noted before, Old Testament Israel and modern-day America are very different. Yet, it remains true that God is a Faithful Creator (1 Pet. 4:19). He watches over and cares for the whole creation. He rules in the kingdoms of men and gives power to the one that He wants (Dan. 4:17). However, the best parallel again is to the church. God has made exceedingly great and precious promises to us (2 Pet. 1:3-4). If we will humble ourselves before Him and seek Him, He will hear, forgive, and heal us. John wrote, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:7-10).
Although the promise under consideration in this lesson was to those who lived in the Old Testament, there are clearly lessons that we can learn from it and comfort and hope that we can draw from it (Rom. 15:4). God is every bit as ready and willing to heal our land today as He was theirs in the long ago. The problem then and now was not God. It was and is man.
