Blessings and Curses?

This morning I am reflecting on a set of verses that are often quoted in our day, verses where God promises to hear if a nation turns to Him and prays.  I have included the whole section, for we are often only quoted part of the message from God.  Here are the verses - 2 Chronicles 7:12-22 NIV:

[12] "the Lord appeared to him at night and said: 

“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. [13] “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, [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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [15] Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. [16] I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 

[17] “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, [18] 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.' 

[19] “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, [20] then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. [21] This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, 'Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?' [22] People will answer, 'Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them---that is why he brought all this disaster on them.' ”

I have heard the first set of verses referenced many times as a call to our nation to repent and turn back to the Lord!  This can never be a bad thing, turning toward the Lord.   

However, today I continued reading and realized that it is a promise for blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience. I find that often times we like to lift a few verses out of context, and not include the whole word.  The question I have today, is do these verses match the further revelation of Jesus?  Do these verses faithfully represent the Father as Jesus presented Him?

We know that God is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8), but our understanding of God has been progressive in time. In our own lifetimes, our understanding of God has changed, and God is constantly revealing more of Himself.  In the life and history of the Church, God has been constantly revealing more of His unchanging self. In the Life of Israel, there was a constant revelation of God's character.  It seems to me that there will never be an end to this constant revealing, for it is impossible to fully know the infinite Godhead!  

The importance, for me, is that in all of this I must always read the Old Testament through the grid of understanding that is the Revelation of Jesus!  I can't just say, "this is truth, its in the Bible!"  The Jews of Jesus' time had the Old Testament and for the most part completely misunderstood the role of the Messiah, which was certainly one of the main points of the Old Testament!  I must read and ask for understanding, as Paul so wisely wrote in his letter to the Ephesians 1:17-23 NIV:

[17] "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. [18] I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, [19] and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength [20] he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, [21] far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. [22] And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

So back to the verses in 2 Chron, how do I understand these verses in light of Jesus?

First, I must understand that God perfectly embodies multiple characteristics that to me seem almost opposites.  He is perfectly just, and perfectly merciful!  He is jealous for me, and at the same patient and understanding.  He will judge sin, and He has offered forgiveness of sins to all!   

When I struggle to understand, I find it simplest to go back to how He describes Himself in Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV:  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Second, I must recognize that the Gospel of Grace is true!  I have been offered forgiveness for my sins, and Jesus has made payment of my debts, and has  taken the punishment required for those sins upon Himself. This is His free gift to me, and the only required action on my part is belief, and relationship.  Paul writes extensively about the Gospel of Grace and was this Gospel's greatest defender in the early church.  The struggle at that time was that all sorts of well-meaning people wanted to add to the Gospel of Grace, actions based on the requirements of the Law, or requirements that made sense to them (human thinking).  One of my favorite authors, Graham Cooke, says, "the Gospel is so good it sounds too good to be true, but it is!"

Thirdly, I must understand that God allows for man's free-will.  I was thinking about many of the different warnings God proclaimed in the Old Testament, even the one above, and many of them were really proclaiming the ramifications of bad decisions on the part of the leaders and people.  God constantly warned them, giving them opportunities to repent, to change their minds, to act differently and they constantly chose poorly, and suffered the ramifications of their bad choices.  In the case of Solomon above, He rejected the ways of God and his son Rehoboam, who ruled after him, saw no apparent reason to follow the ways of God.  He quickly lost the favor of the people, any allies and started to see the repercussions of his bad choices almost immediately, and thus began the downward spiral that would end in the destruction of Jerusalem, as promised by God.   I find it possible to ascribe this fulfillment of God's promise, not so much to God's active punishment of Israel, but more to the ramifications of bad choices that Solomon, Rehoboam and kings after them made.  It seems that God was prophesying to them what would happen if they disobeyed, what would be the ramifications of their bad choices, rather than telling them what He would do.

If I look at Jesus' life, again as a perfect representation of the Father (Heb 1:3), I do not see Jesus punishing anyone for disobedience, even for violence towards Him.  He clearly confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees, but He did not strike them down, and continued to engage them in conversation, warning them of things to come, but never enacting violence.  In fact on the Cross, after He was beaten, wrongly accused, abused and suffering incredible anguish He prays this prayer, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” ( Luke 23:34a NIV).  When He is raised from the dead, He does not reign destruction on those that killed Him. We are told that He died for the sins of all men (1 John 2:2), that included the Pharisees, and Sadducees, and all that had wronged Him, and the same offer of grace was available to His worst enemies, as we see later experienced by Saul, the lead persecutor of the early church (See Acts 9:1-31). 

One last thing, Jesus does talk about judgment, but it seems to me that He is always pointing to a final judgment.  In fact He says that though He could pass judgment He won't.  Here is a quote from John 12:47-48 NIV:  “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day."

Going back to the Scriptures first considered from 2 Chron. I find myself thinking about the blessings promised for repentance, which in reality is a deepening of relationship with the Lord, or in the case of an unbeliever, the establishment of relationship!  I find that the Lord is always waiting for me to turn back to Him, always welcoming me back to deeper relationship!  There is no threat of punishment for disobedience, for He has taken all the punishment for my sins upon Himself (Is 53:5).  This can be true for every single person on the face of the earth, for this is the Gospel of Grace!  This is the New Covenant, and the old covenant is no longer in play (Heb. 8:13), and any judgment in-line with the Old Covenant is no longer accurate, according to the revelation of Jesus.  

That there will be a final judgment, is understood (Matt 12, Rom 2, 2 Peter 2, and 1 John 4), and we still suffer the consequences and ramifications of bad decisions, but we live under the New Covenant, and relationship is available to all who cry out, and believe in the Lord!  Relationship with God does bring blessing and provision, healing, compassion and mercy.  

So today, I am encouraged to press into my relationship with the Lord, to repent of all of my sin, and turn towards Him at all times.  I am encouraged to call those in need to call out to the Lord, to turn towards Him and/or return to Him.  I am encouraged that the Lord has blessed me with the Gospel of Grace!

Amen and Amen!