2 Chronicles 7
McGeeCHAPTER 7THEME: God’s acceptance of the templeIn the preceding chapter we have seen the dedication service of the temple. We have read Solomon’s message and his great prayer of dedication. In this chapter we shall see God’s response to it.
2 Chronicles 7:1
This is what happened, you recall, when Moses finished the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness. When he set it up, the glory of the Lord filled it (Exo_40:34-35). God accepts this temple that Solomon has built. Notice that fire from heaven consumes the sacrifice. This means that the judgment of God has fallen upon sin. God does not accept the temple because it is beautifuland it is that. He does not accept it because of the lavish expenditure of wealth. The basis of His acceptance is the fact that it is pointing to Christ. It is His sacrifice, actually, that makes this acceptable to God. The glory of the Lord filled the temple, as we have seen in the final verses of chapter 5, and now also fire from heaven consumes the burnt offering. These people had the visible presence of God. In the New Testament, in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, he answers the question: who are Israelites? He gives eight fingerprints of identification, one of which is that they had the glory. No other people have had the visible presence of God except the Israelites.
2 Chronicles 7:2
And, my friend, this is an expression that I trust will get into your vocabulary, and that you will say from time to time, “The LORD is good; His mercy endureth forever.” You recall that the psalmist said, “The LORD is good. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.” If you and I are not “say-so Christians,” nobody else will be. Nobody in politics will be saying how good God is; they will be telling us how great they are and what their party is doing for the country. Candidly, none of the politicians seem to be doing much good, by the way. But the Lord is good. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
2 Chronicles 7:4
These verses have caused a great deal of criticism by the skeptics of the Bible. They love to criticize on the basis of three issues: (1) They say this offering and sacrifice was an extravagance; (2) they say it would have been physically impossible to offer that many sacrifices on the altar; and (3) they say there was no necessity for all this slaughter of animals. I’m sure the members of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would protest this. Now let us look at these three issues from a biblical perspective. We need to look at things in the light of the Word of God. In the first place, although the temple was the center for all this activity, I do not think that every one of those animals was sacrificed on one altar. For this special occasion they probably had erected altars all over that temple area. It was not a physical impossibility. Now why was there all of this expenditure? Well, it was necessary in order for each area to have its own sacrifice. It was as when the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt and a lamb was slain for each home. There must have been literally thousands of lambs that were slain that night. It was not a needless waste for two reasons. The primary meaning of it is that it symbolizes the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And, my friend, it was Simon Peter who said that His blood was precious. “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1Pe_1:18-19). This is not a great expenditure because it is pointing to Christ. The second reason that it was not a “needless waste” was that the meat was used for food afterward. Although the “burnt offerings” were totally consumed by fire, other offerings, such as the peace offering, were eaten. This dedication of the temple was a time of great feasting and great celebrating. Let’s be fair with the Bible, my friend. I have observed the people who are always talking about the great extravagance of money spent for the Lord. It is an amazing fact that even Christian people are guilty of this kind of criticism. I knew a dear lady who was very much interested in Bible classes; she had one in her home. We had a Bible teacher come to our church. The people liked him, and they gave him a generous offering. He stayed with us for about ten days and the church gave him $500.00 plus his expenses.
This lady thought that was ridiculous; it was too great an expenditure. Also this lady was interested in music, and she was on the music committee of the town where she lived, and they brought a certain opera singer to town. He sang one night and they gave him $2,000.00. She thought that was wonderful. May I say to you, it is interesting that when something is being spent for the Lord it is just a waste, but when something is spent for the things of the world it is all right. To anyone who thinks they were slaying too many animals for sacrifice, how many animals are slain in this country every day? There are thousands of animals slain every day in the packing houses of our country. No one raises a voice or does anything to protest that. After all, that is to satisfy us. But when something is done for the glory of God, there will always be people who will object. I don’t know about you, but I’m on Solomon’s side here. I think he did the right thing, because the sacrifices were pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ, and He shed His precious blood for me.
2 Chronicles 7:6
I wish I could get God’s people to praise the Lord and to say that God is good and His mercy endures forever. Oh, how good God has been to me! Has He been good to you, friends? Well then, say so.
2 Chronicles 7:7
From the entering of Hamath to the river of Egypt means from the extreme north to the extreme south of the land.
2 Chronicles 7:12
GOD’S SECOND APPEARANCE TO SOLOMONI am going to spend time on this last verse because it has been so often used out of context without regard to its primary meaning. It has been quoted as a promise to us from God that if we do certain things, He will do certain things. This verse has been tailored to fit into any local situation. I don’t believe I have ever participated in an evangelistic campaign without someone at some time getting up and quoting this verse of Scripture and saying that he was resting on these promises. I believe that a careful consideration of this verse, its location and content and context, will prevent us from taking it like a capsule and swallowing it without some attention to its real meaning. We do violence to it by wresting it from its place.
Just because it seems to fit into our plans and says what we want to say, we ignore its primary purpose and rob it of its vitality. It becomes, actually, a meaningless verse as it is being used in our day. Now I want to speak very plainly to you. I am a dispensationalist. I think it is the only system that deals with the entire Bible consistently. It gives a literal meaning to the Word of God and gives it a real meaning. I am a graduate of a denominational seminary in which most of the Scripture was absolutely ignored because they had no interpretation for it. The way we were taught the Bible was sort of like going to a corncrib and taking out enough to feed the chickensand the rest you didn’t worry about.
That was because they had no interpretation for it. The problem was that no one wanted to come back for more because if you went into more sections of Scripture than just those few they taught, you might get into trouble. Although the dispensational interpretation has its problems, it solves more problems than any other interpretation that I have heard. Let me give you examples of the position I take. I recognize that the Sermon on the Mount looks forward to the time of the Kingdom and it will be the law of the Kingdom. However, I also believe that it has a message for us today. I think the way the Lord’s Prayer is used in a great many churches by an affluent society is absolutely meaningless. In the Great Tribulation that prayer will really mean something to people. Although I am a dispensationalist, I am not a hyper-dispensationalist.
I don’t exclude the Sermon on the Mount. I preach on it. It shows that man comes short of God’s standards. I find the Lord’s Prayer helpful. I pray it. I have written a little book on it entitled, Let Us Pray.
There is an interpretation of Scripturethat is one thing. Then there is an application of Scripture, which is something else. Remember the old adage that “all Scripture is written for us, but not all Scripture is written to us.” The interpretation of a verse of Scripture will teach what it means in its setting and context. It may not be written to us at all. We can think of many commands given in the Old Testament which are not commands given to us. However, the application of all of Scripture is for us.
God has something to teach us throughout the entire Scripture. Now let’s go back to 2Ch_7:14. The setting is at the dedication of David’s temple which Solomon had built. It is God’s Word to Solomon concerning that land in that day. At the dedication Solomon prayed this great prayer which we have seen. Now He remembers the prayers of His people, and He says to Solomon, “If my people, which are called by my name …” To whom is He talking? “My people, which are called by My name.” That is Israel. God is talking to Solomon about Israel.
Now, if these will humble themselves, if they will pray, if they will seek His face, if they will turn from their wicked ways, then God promises three things to Israel: He will hear their prayer, He will forgive them, He will heal their land. These were definite conditions that God put down for Israel, and their history demonstrates the accuracy and literalness of these specifics. Now when you come to the New Testament, you find that John the Baptist says, “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mat_3:2). And the Lord Jesus Christ repeated that, calling upon the nation to meet these conditionsso that the promises of God could be fulfilled. It was a legitimate offer. In our day, the people of Israel have been scattered throughout the world. They cannot have peace in that land because they have not met those conditions. This is a literal interpretation. Now there is an application. This verse has a message for me. I can’t toss it aside just because God did not direct it to me. It contains a formula for this hour. “My people"God has a people which we call the church or the body of Christ, those who have accepted the Savior, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Tit_2:14). I guess one could say a lot of us are peculiar people, but this means a people for Himself “Shall humble themselves"the flesh is proud but we are admonished to be humble. “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Eph_4:1-2). We are told in Gal_5:22-23 that longsuffering and meekness are fruits of the Spirit.
Humbleness is commended for the believer today. “And pray"certainly many, many times in the New Testament we are admonished to pray. The Lord Jesus told His disciples to watch and pray. The epistles contain numerous commands to pray. “And seek My face” is also a New Testament admonition: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Col_3:1-2). And turn from their wicked ways.” This also applies to us. God had a great deal to say about repentance for believers. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev_3:19).
Repentance is for the child of God. Now how about God’s part? God has promised that He would hear. “And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight” (1Jn_3:22). He promised to forgive: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn_1:9). “And will heal their land.” That does not apply to us. I can’t find anywhere in the New Testament where the Lord has promised to heal a piece of real estate. If God has blessed you in a business way, that is extraa blessing that He has not promised. Nowhere does God promise material blessing to us. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. We were aliens, enemies of God, and now we have been made the blood of Christ, and He forgives us our sins. Heaven is our home, and the New Jerusalem is our goal. We have been delivered from hell. These are our blessings. Nowhere are we promised a land or healing in our land. May I say to you that if you would wish to lift out verse 2Ch_7:14 and apply the entire verse to your present situation, then you must take verse 2Ch_7:15 along with it.
2 Chronicles 7:15
If you want to follow this particular injunction, then I suggest you board the next plane to Jerusalem and go to the temple site. You would find that the temple isn’t even therethe Mosque of Omar is there now, but if you intend to follow this passage, you must go to Jerusalem because that is where “this place” is. I don’t know why folk will lift out of context one verse of Scripture and claim it for themselves. It was never intended that way. This promise was given to Israel at the dedication of the temple. Although it has application for us, it is better to go to the New Testament and find God’s promises to us directly.
2 Chronicles 7:16
I stayed for a week in a hotel overlooking the temple area. When I would get up in the morning, I would walk out to the windowactually a big glass doorand look at this temple area. I thought, I am looking at a spot where God is also looking. This is a spot that is very dear to Him.
2 Chronicles 7:17
God has promised that in the Davidic line there would not be a time when there would not be a ruler. There is no ruler around on this earth today who can claim to be in David’s line. But there is One sitting at God’s right hand who is in David’s line, and He has been told, “…Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psa_110:1; see also Heb_10:12-13).
2 Chronicles 7:19
It certainly has become a byword today. It is no longer a sacred spotthe Mosque of Omar stands there.
2 Chronicles 7:21
That place today is where the Mosque of Omar stands. I stood there with several folk overlooking the temple area and one of them raised the question stated in this verse. “Why, this is where God’s house was supposed to be, and look at it today. There is heathenism and paganism here as much as there is anywhere on the earth. You’d think that since this is God’s spot He would not permit this kind of thing to happen.” Well, my friend, this is exactly what God said would happen.
2 Chronicles 7:22
I was privileged to tell that individual that the Word of God says very clearly that this would happen because Israel had forsaken the Lord God. I could show him that God is true to His Word.