Covenanted

2 Chronicles 7:15-18 – Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’

Nehemiah 1:5-6 – Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.

Isaiah 9:7 – Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Jeremiah 33:17-18 – For this is what the Lord says: ‘David will never fail to have a man to sit on the throne of Israel, nor will the Levitical priests ever fail to have a man to stand before me continually to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings and to present sacrifices.’”

Isaiah 55:4 – See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.

Micah 5:2 – “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Application:

• ·         A true sense of the awesome holiness of God reveals the depths of our own sinfulness.
• ·         God is like a jealous lover who will not abandon His people.
• ·         Jeremiah 33:17 is fulfilled ultimately in Jesus.
• ·         “Witness to the peoples” was a reference either to David, who exalted the Lord among the nations, or to David’s Son, the Messiah, who was a light to the nations.
• ·         The ruler over Israel will be ultimately Christ, who will rule for God the Father.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Turn From Their Wicked Ways

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 – “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Kings 17:13 – The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

Ezekiel 18:32 – For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Isaiah 57:18-19 – I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”

Malachi 4:2 – But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.

Application:

• ·         Israel not only violated the requirements of the Sinaitic covenant but also spurned the words of prophets the Lord had graciously sent to call His people back to the covenant.
• ·         The Sovereign Lord takes no pleasure in the death of anyone. Repent and live!
• ·         God will forgive and restore His people.
• ·         Christ is the “rising sun” from heaven.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Glory Of The Lord

2 Chronicles 6:41-7:1 – “Now arise, Lord God, and come to your resting place, you and the ark of your might. May your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, may your faithful people rejoice in your goodness. Lord God, do not reject your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David your servant.” When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

Psalm 2:2-3 – The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”

Psalm 26:8 – Lord, I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells.

1 Kings 8:58 – May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in obedience to him and keep the commands, decrees and laws he gave our ancestors.

2 Chronicles 5:13-14 – The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

Application:

• ·         To rebel against the Lord’s anointed is also to rebel against the One who anointed him. Anointed refers to the Davidic king and is ultimately fulfilled in Christ. The English word “Messiah” comes from the Hebrew word for “anointed one”, and the English word “Christ” from the Greek word for “anointed one”.
• ·         God’s glory dwelling in the tabernacle and later the temple assured Israel of the Lord’s holy, yet gracious, presence among them.
• ·         Solomon asks for a divine work of grace within his people that will enable them to be faithful to the covenant.
• ·         The glory cloud represented the presence of God.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Change Of Heart

2 Chronicles 6:36-40 – “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you. “Now, my God, may your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

Jeremiah 24:7 – I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

Nehemiah 1:5-6 – Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you.

2 Chronicles 5:13-14 – The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.

Application:

• ·         “They will be my people and I will be their God” was the classic statement of covenant relationship.
• ·         A true sense of the awesome holiness of God reveals the depths of our own sinfulness.
• ·         The glory cloud represented the presence of God. It had guided Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness and was present above the tabernacle.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

No One Who Does Not Sin

2 Chronicles 6:32-39 – “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name. “When your people go to war against their enemies, wherever you send them, and when they pray to you toward this city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.

2 Chronicles 20:20 – Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.”

2 Chronicles 25:7 – But a man of God came to him and said, “Your Majesty, these troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel—not with any of the people of Ephraim.

1 Kings 8:46-49 – “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

Ecclesiastes 7:20 – Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Romans 3:22-24 – This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

2 Kings 17:7-8,13 – All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced…The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”

Application:

• ·         “Have faith in the Lord your God and…in His prophets” was a particularly apt word for the Chronicler’s contemporaries to hear from this son of David—at a time when their only hope for the future lay with the Lord and the reassuring words of His prophets.
• ·         “Troops from Israel must not march with you” was another instance of the Chronicler’s condemnation of alliances that imply lack of trust in the Lord.
• ·         “No one who does not sin” was a striking acknowledgment that sin is universal.
• ·         “No one on earth who is righteous” is a sober Biblical truth.
• ·         Wickedness must not be allowed to take root in one’s heart.
• ·         The glory of God is what God intended humans to be.
• ·         “Worshiped other gods” was a violation of the most basic obligation of Israel’s covenant with the Lord.
• ·         Israel not only violated the requirements of the Sinaitic covenant but also spurned the words of prophets the Lord had graciously sent to call His people back to the covenant.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Fear You

2 Chronicles 6:22-33 – “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence. “When your people Israel have been defeated by an enemy because they have sinned against you and when they turn back and give praise to your name, praying and making supplication before you in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to the land you gave to them and their ancestors. “When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Teach them the right way to live, and send rain on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when enemies besiege them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of their afflictions and pains, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive, and deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know the human heart), so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors. “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

Deuteronomy 28:53 – Because of the suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege, you will eat the fruit of the womb, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you.

Deuteronomy 6:13 – Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

Isaiah 56:6-7 – And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

Zechariah 8:22-23 – And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “In those days ten people from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, ‘Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.’”

Zechariah 14:16,20-21 – Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles…On that day holy to the Lord will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls in front of the altar. Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord Almighty.

Application:

• ·         The repetition of the clause “suffering your enemy will inflict on you during the siege” emphasizes the distress that the Israelites would suffer if they refused to obey the Lord.
• ·         For this reason, to take an oath in the Lord’s name was a key sign of loyalty to and trust in Him and of the rejection of all other gods, even an implicit denial that they amounted to anything or even existed.
• ·         Solomon may have anticipated “house of prayer for all nations” in his prayer of dedication for the temple.
• ·         “Powerful” means “numerous”; anticipates a fulfillment of the promise of Gentile blessing in the Abrahamic covenant.
• ·         True godliness attracts others to the Lord.
• ·         Of the three great pilgrimage festivals, perhaps Tabernacles was selected as one for representatives of the various Gentile nations because it was the last and greatest festival of the Hebrew calendar, gathering up into itself the year’s worship.
• ·         HOLY TO THE LORD was engraved on the gold plate worn on the high priest’s turban as a reminder of his consecration to the Lord’s service.
• ·         Even common things become holy when they are used for God’s service.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV

Will God Really Dwell?

2 Chronicles 6:17-23 – And now, Lord, the God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David come true. “But will God really dwell on earth with humans? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! Yet, Lord my God, give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence. May your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, this place of which you said you would put your Name there. May you hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. Hear the supplications of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place; and when you hear, forgive. “When anyone wrongs their neighbor and is required to take an oath and they come and swear the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty and bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.

Revelation 21:3 – And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.

Isaiah 66:1 – This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?

1 Kings 8:37-40,46-49 – “When famine or plague comes to the land, or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israel—being aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands toward this temple—then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Forgive and act; deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors…“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause.

Application:

• ·         “His people…their God” was the deepest expression of the intimate fellowship that God had promised to those in covenant relationship with Him.
• ·         Solomon realized that God could not be localized in a temple built by humans, magnificent though it may be.
• ·         “Aware of the afflictions of their own hearts” means conscious of their guilt before God, with an attitude of repentance and the desire for God’s forgiveness and grace.
• ·         “Deal with everyone according to all they do” was not to be viewed as a request for retribution for the wrong committed, but as a desire for whatever discipline God in His wisdom may use to correct His people and to instruct them in the way of the covenant.
• ·         Fear you means honor and obediently serve you.
• ·         Solomon knew that stubborn disobedience would lead to exile from the promised land.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV