Latest / The Bible Explained with Jenn Kokal / 2 Chronicles 6:22-42 - Why God Punishes His People
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Hi, faith listeners.
- 0:01Speaker 2: My name is Jen I am the host of this podcast,
- 0:03Speaker 2: and I am so excited that you are here to
- 0:06Speaker 2: share a delicious cup of coffee with me. We're going
- 0:08Speaker 2: to be discussing Second Chronicles, Chapter six today, finishing up
- 0:13Speaker 2: the prayer that Solomon gives dedicating the Temple to God.
- 0:17Speaker 1: Stay tuned.
- 0:25Speaker 2: Well, faithful listeners, I've got good news. The podcast is
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- 0:48Speaker 2: people were contacting me being like where are seasons one
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- 1:16Speaker 2: But faithful listeners, you know always feel free to contact
- 1:18Speaker 2: me if you would like to just introduce yourself or
- 1:22Speaker 2: tell me how you found the podcast, or tell me
- 1:24Speaker 2: where you live, or if you prefer coffee or tea,
- 1:27Speaker 2: or most importantly, if you have a prayer request. I
- 1:30Speaker 2: do read all of my emails and I will write
- 1:32Speaker 2: you down in my prayer journal for the week if
- 1:35Speaker 2: you have a prayer request for me, So please feel
- 1:38Speaker 2: free to always reach out if you would like for
- 1:41Speaker 2: me to pray for something for you. But before you
- 1:44Speaker 2: do that, let's go ahead and read Second Chronicles six
- 1:48Speaker 2: twenty two through forty two and finish up this prayer
- 1:52Speaker 2: that Solomon gives to God. As usual, I'll be reading
- 1:56Speaker 2: from the Web, but today I will be reading a
- 1:59Speaker 2: short passage from the NLT version as well. But mostly
- 2:03Speaker 2: I like to stick with the web version or the
- 2:06Speaker 2: World English Bible because that version of Scripture is public
- 2:10Speaker 2: domain and I won't get in trouble for using it.
- 2:13Speaker 2: So that is primarily why I use the web version.
- 2:16Speaker 2: If some of you guys were wondering about that, but yeah,
- 2:20Speaker 2: feel free to grab the version of the Bible that
- 2:21Speaker 2: you prefer this morning, and also your cup of coffee
- 2:24Speaker 2: or a cup of Tea once again. This is the
- 2:26Speaker 2: second chronicle six twenty two through forty two. Let's read
- 2:30Speaker 2: this together and give reverence to God's word. If a
- 2:35Speaker 2: man sins against his neighbor, and an oath is laid
- 2:37Speaker 2: on him to cause him to swear, and he comes
- 2:40Speaker 2: and swears before your altar in this house, then hear
- 2:42Speaker 2: from heaven, act and judge your servants, bringing retribution to
- 2:47Speaker 2: the wicked to bring his way on his own head,
- 2:50Speaker 2: and justifying the righteous to give him according to his righteousness.
- 2:54Speaker 2: If your people Israel are struck down before the enemy
- 2:57Speaker 2: because they have sinned against you, and they turn again
- 2:59Speaker 2: and confess your name and pray and make supplication before
- 3:02Speaker 2: you in this house, then hear from heaven and forgive
- 3:05Speaker 2: the sin of your people Israel, and bring them again
- 3:07Speaker 2: to the land which you gave them and to their fathers.
- 3:11Speaker 2: When the sky is shut up and there is no
- 3:13Speaker 2: rain because they have sinned against you. If they pray
- 3:16Speaker 2: towards this place and confess your name and turn from
- 3:18Speaker 2: their sin when you afflict them, then hear in heaven
- 3:21Speaker 2: and forgive the sin of your servants your people Israel.
- 3:24Speaker 2: When you teach them a good way in which they
- 3:26Speaker 2: should walk, and send rain on your land, which you
- 3:29Speaker 2: have given to your people for an inheritance. If there
- 3:31Speaker 2: is famine the land, if there is pestilence, if there
- 3:34Speaker 2: is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar, if their enemies
- 3:38Speaker 2: besiege them in the land of their cities, whatever plague
- 3:41Speaker 2: or whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer and supplication is
- 3:45Speaker 2: made by any man, or by all your people, Israel,
- 3:48Speaker 2: who will each know his own plague and his own sorrow,
- 3:51Speaker 2: and shall spread out his hands toward this house, then
- 3:53Speaker 2: hear from heaven your dwelling place, and forgive and render
- 3:57Speaker 2: to every man according to all his ways, whose heart
- 3:59Speaker 2: you know. For you even you only know the hearts
- 4:03Speaker 2: of the children of men, that they may fear you
- 4:05Speaker 2: to walk in your ways as long as they live
- 4:07Speaker 2: in the land which you gave to our fathers. Moreover,
- 4:10Speaker 2: concerning the foreigner who is not of your people, Israel,
- 4:13Speaker 2: when he comes from a far country, for your great
- 4:15Speaker 2: name's sake and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm,
- 4:18Speaker 2: when they come and pray toward this house, then hear
- 4:21Speaker 2: from heaven even from your dwelling place, and do according
- 4:24Speaker 2: to all that the foreigner calls to you, for that
- 4:27Speaker 2: the people of the earth may know your name and
- 4:29Speaker 2: fear you, as do your people Israel, that they may
- 4:33Speaker 2: know that this house which I have built is called
- 4:35Speaker 2: by your name. If your people go out to battle
- 4:38Speaker 2: against their enemies by whatever way you send them, and
- 4:41Speaker 2: they pray to you toward this city which you have
- 4:43Speaker 2: chosen and the house which I have built for your name,
- 4:46Speaker 2: then hear from heaven their prayer and their supplication, and
- 4:49Speaker 2: maintain their cause. If they sin against you, for there
- 4:53Speaker 2: is no man who doesn't sin, and you are angry
- 4:55Speaker 2: with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that
- 4:57Speaker 2: they carry them away captive, to a land far or near. Yet,
- 5:01Speaker 2: if they come to their senses in the land which
- 5:03Speaker 2: they are carried captive, and turn again and make supplication
- 5:07Speaker 2: to you in the land of their captivity, saying we
- 5:09Speaker 2: have sinned, we have done perversely and have dealt wickedly.
- 5:13Speaker 2: If they return to you with all their heart and
- 5:15Speaker 2: with all their soul in the land of their captivity
- 5:17Speaker 2: where they have been taken captive, and pray toward their
- 5:20Speaker 2: land which you gave to their fathers, and the city
- 5:23Speaker 2: which you have chosen, and toward the house which I
- 5:25Speaker 2: have built for your name. Then hear from heaven even
- 5:28Speaker 2: from your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions, and
- 5:32Speaker 2: maintain their cause, and forgive your people who have sinned
- 5:35Speaker 2: against you. Now, my God, let I beg you your
- 5:39Speaker 2: eyes be open, and let your ears be attentive to
- 5:41Speaker 2: the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore, arise,
- 5:45Speaker 2: Yahweh God, into your resting place, you and the ark
- 5:49Speaker 2: of your strength. Let your priests, Yahweh God, be clothed
- 5:53Speaker 2: with salvation, and let your saints rejoice in goodness. Yahweh God,
- 5:58Speaker 2: don't turn away the face of your anointed. Remember your
- 6:00Speaker 2: loving kindness to David, your servant. Today we finish up
- 6:06Speaker 2: this prayer that Solomon gives in dedication of the temple.
- 6:10Speaker 2: The temple has just been finished, and God's presence was
- 6:13Speaker 2: now in the temple in the form of a cloud.
- 6:16Speaker 2: So God actually accepted the temple that Solomon had built,
- 6:20Speaker 2: and the cloud was so thick that the priests weren't
- 6:24Speaker 2: even able to enter the temple because of God's amazing presence.
- 6:28Speaker 2: So everybody is standing outside of the completed temple, and
- 6:32Speaker 2: Solomon then addresses the people with this speech and also
- 6:36Speaker 2: gives a prayer to Yahweh. In fact, Solomon was up.
- 6:40Speaker 1: On this stage.
- 6:41Speaker 2: He made this like bronze platform that was essentially a stage,
- 6:45Speaker 2: and he kneels down on it with his hands up
- 6:48Speaker 2: to Heaven, and he begins to pray publicly in front
- 6:51Speaker 2: of all of the people. And he starts the prayer
- 6:53Speaker 2: out by giving thanks to God for all of the
- 6:56Speaker 2: promises that God had kept, and also general thanksgiving for
- 7:00Speaker 2: making him the king. And then he also tells God
- 7:04Speaker 2: how great he is and how this little temple can't
- 7:09Speaker 2: possibly contain all of God, that heaven isn't even big
- 7:14Speaker 2: enough to contain God. So what is this tiny little
- 7:16Speaker 2: temple that God would accept? Basically, so, he had some
- 7:20Speaker 2: humility in this prayer and some thanksgiving and some praises
- 7:23Speaker 2: to God. And so now today in verse twenty two,
- 7:27Speaker 2: Solomon begins the part of the prayer where he's asking
- 7:30Speaker 2: God for blessings on Israel, specifically the blessing of forgiveness
- 7:36Speaker 2: when Israel eventually sins. Here's what Solomon prays in verse
- 7:41Speaker 2: twenty two to start. If a man sins against his
- 7:43Speaker 2: neighbor and an oath is laid on him, that causes
- 7:46Speaker 2: him to swear, and he comes and swears before your
- 7:48Speaker 2: altar in this house. Then hear from heaven, act and
- 7:51Speaker 2: judge your servants, bringing retribution to the wicked to bring
- 7:55Speaker 2: his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous
- 7:58Speaker 2: to give him according to his righteousness. I find it
- 8:01Speaker 2: very in character for Solomon to start his prayer with
- 8:07Speaker 2: asking God to judge righteously. You know, Solomon himself was
- 8:14Speaker 2: the wisest man on earth. He was a very, very
- 8:17Speaker 2: wise judge, and justice to him was extremely important, as
- 8:22Speaker 2: you can see with a lot of what Solomon did
- 8:25Speaker 2: in his lifetime. So of course he's going to ask
- 8:28Speaker 2: God first and foremost to judge righteously. Now, what Solomon
- 8:33Speaker 2: is talking about here is actually a law from Exodus
- 8:37Speaker 2: twenty two, verses nine through eleven. And here's what this
- 8:41Speaker 2: law says. For every matter of trespass, whether it is
- 8:44Speaker 2: for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for
- 8:47Speaker 2: any kind of lost thing about which one says this
- 8:50Speaker 2: is mine, the cause of both parties shall come before God.
- 8:55Speaker 2: He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.
- 8:58Speaker 2: So back in these days, when somebody lost something, there
- 9:02Speaker 2: was no finders, keepers, losers, weepers, they were still the
- 9:06Speaker 2: owner of it, and that person could actually go to
- 9:09Speaker 2: a judge and be like, hey, I lost this thing,
- 9:12Speaker 2: and the judge would look into this case and potentially
- 9:15Speaker 2: find that thing, whatever it was, and the person who
- 9:18Speaker 2: ended up finding it would have to give it back
- 9:21Speaker 2: to the man that lost it. But of course the
- 9:23Speaker 2: person who found it could always claim, oh, no, I've
- 9:25Speaker 2: had this thing from the very beginning. This has been
- 9:27Speaker 2: mine the entire time, and the judge would have to
- 9:30Speaker 2: look into this case and be like, did this guy
- 9:34Speaker 2: always own this thing? Or did the guy who claimed
- 9:37Speaker 2: to have lost it always own this thing? In matters
- 9:39Speaker 2: like that, the judge would ask God for help, and God,
- 9:43Speaker 2: it actually says, would reveal the true owner of this
- 9:48Speaker 2: piece of property. It says that both parties shall come
- 9:51Speaker 2: before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to
- 9:55Speaker 2: his neighbor. So that's clear enough. But actually this law
- 9:58Speaker 2: goes even further. In verse ten, if a man delivers
- 10:02Speaker 2: to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or
- 10:04Speaker 2: any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured
- 10:08Speaker 2: or is driven away no man seeing it, the oath
- 10:11Speaker 2: of Yahweh shall be between them both. He has not
- 10:13Speaker 2: put his hand on his neighbor's goods, and its owner
- 10:16Speaker 2: shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. But
- 10:20Speaker 2: if it is stolen from him, the one who stole
- 10:22Speaker 2: shall make restitution to its owner. So that's talking about
- 10:27Speaker 2: if an animal gets lent out to a neighbor, like say,
- 10:31Speaker 2: a neighbor down the street doesn't have enough oxen to
- 10:34Speaker 2: plow his field, and he goes and asks his neighbor, hey,
- 10:37Speaker 2: can you lend me your ox for.
- 10:39Speaker 1: A few days. Well, the neighbor accepts, and the ox
- 10:42Speaker 1: goes with the guy.
- 10:43Speaker 2: But if that ox goes missing or dies or is
- 10:47Speaker 2: injured or gets sick under the care of the guy
- 10:52Speaker 2: who lent it, and no one saw it and knows
- 10:54Speaker 2: what happened, well, then it says that the oath of
- 10:57Speaker 2: Yahweh shall be between them both, meaning God is going
- 11:02Speaker 2: to judge the case. He's going to reveal if the
- 11:05Speaker 2: man stole the oxen or did something derelict to actually
- 11:08Speaker 2: hurt that oxen purposely for whatever reason. So God will
- 11:13Speaker 2: judge the case. And this is what Solomon is referring
- 11:16Speaker 2: to in Second Chronicle six twenty two and twenty three.
- 11:20Speaker 2: He asks God to be the good judge. He says,
- 11:23Speaker 2: if a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath
- 11:26Speaker 2: is laid on him to cause him to swear, and
- 11:28Speaker 2: he comes and swears before your altar in this house,
- 11:30Speaker 2: then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants,
- 11:34Speaker 2: bringing retribution to the wicked, to bring his way on
- 11:37Speaker 2: his own head, and justifying the righteous to give him
- 11:41Speaker 2: according to his righteousness. So Solomon asks God to be
- 11:44Speaker 2: the good and righteous judge, specifically when people come to
- 11:48Speaker 2: the temple for disputes such as this. Then he continues
- 11:52Speaker 2: in verse twenty four. If your people Israel are struck
- 11:55Speaker 2: down before the enemy because they have sinned against you,
- 11:58Speaker 2: and they turn again and confess your name and pray
- 12:01Speaker 2: and make supplication before you in this house, then hear
- 12:04Speaker 2: from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel,
- 12:07Speaker 2: and bring them again to the land which you gave
- 12:09Speaker 2: to them and to their fathers. This shows that Solomon
- 12:13Speaker 2: had a lot of wisdom. We already know that he did,
- 12:15Speaker 2: because he was the wisest man on earth, as scriptures say.
- 12:19Speaker 1: But he understood that.
- 12:22Speaker 2: Israel was going to sin against God, and that nations
- 12:26Speaker 2: as a result, would rise up against Israel. If your
- 12:29Speaker 2: people are struck down before the enemy because they sin
- 12:31Speaker 2: against you, but they turn again and confess your name
- 12:34Speaker 2: and pray and make supplication before you in this house,
- 12:37Speaker 2: then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people.
- 12:41Speaker 2: Bring them again to the land which you gave to
- 12:43Speaker 2: them and to their fathers. So he asks God, God,
- 12:48Speaker 2: When your people sin and make you angry, and you
- 12:51Speaker 2: allow the other nations to come into Israel and to
- 12:55Speaker 2: make wars with Israel, please forgive your people. When they
- 12:59Speaker 2: finally turn toward you again, forgive them and bring them
- 13:03Speaker 2: back into the land safely as they were before. Then
- 13:07Speaker 2: in verse twenty six and twenty seven, when the sky
- 13:09Speaker 2: is shut up and there is no rain because they
- 13:12Speaker 2: have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place
- 13:15Speaker 2: and confess your name and turn from their sin which
- 13:17Speaker 2: you afflicted them, then hear in heaven and forgive the
- 13:20Speaker 2: sin of your servants, your people, Israel, when you teach
- 13:23Speaker 2: them the good way in which they should walk, and
- 13:25Speaker 2: send rain on your land, which you have given to
- 13:28Speaker 2: your people for an inheritance. The sin of Israel didn't
- 13:31Speaker 2: always mean war. It did a lot of times, but
- 13:34Speaker 2: not always. Sometimes God would send a drought or a
- 13:38Speaker 2: famine on the land to get the people to turn
- 13:42Speaker 2: from their sins once again. So Solomon begs God, God,
- 13:47Speaker 2: when your people's sin and you punish them, if they
- 13:49Speaker 2: turn again toward your name and stop sinning, then I
- 13:53Speaker 2: beg you to hear from heaven forgive them, and make
- 13:56Speaker 2: the rain come down once again. And same for famines
- 14:01Speaker 2: right here in verses twenty eight through thirty. If there's
- 14:03Speaker 2: a famine in the land, if there's a pestilence, if
- 14:06Speaker 2: there's a blight or mildew, or locust or caterpillar, or
- 14:09Speaker 2: if the enemies besiege them in the land of their cities,
- 14:12Speaker 2: whatever plague or whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer and
- 14:16Speaker 2: supplication is made by any man, or by all your
- 14:19Speaker 2: people Israel, who will each know his own plague and
- 14:22Speaker 2: his own sorrow, and shall spread out his hands towards
- 14:25Speaker 2: this house, then hear from heaven your dwelling place, and
- 14:28Speaker 2: forgive and render to every man according to his ways.
- 14:32Speaker 2: You know, this is really interesting. I just read something
- 14:34Speaker 2: very similar to that in the Book of Job. You know,
- 14:37Speaker 2: the entire premise of the book of Job is why
- 14:40Speaker 2: does God allow suffering? After Job's life is completely destroyed,
- 14:45Speaker 2: he has all of these questions and complaints about God,
- 14:49Speaker 2: and he basically is questioning the entire book, why would
- 14:54Speaker 2: God allow this in my life? I haven't done anything
- 14:58Speaker 2: worthy of all all of this destruction that just happened,
- 15:02Speaker 2: So why does God allow this suffering? And there are
- 15:05Speaker 2: a few friends there with Job who are listening to
- 15:08Speaker 2: his complaints. They weren't very helpful. But there was one
- 15:11Speaker 2: man who was also there, not really part of Job's
- 15:13Speaker 2: friend group, but friends of one of the other friends
- 15:17Speaker 2: that came to visit Job. And this man, Ali, who
- 15:20Speaker 2: listens to all of Job's complaints. And here's what he
- 15:23Speaker 2: says to Job in response. This is Job thirty three,
- 15:28Speaker 2: starting in verse twelve from the NLT version, Ali, who
- 15:32Speaker 2: says to Job, you are wrong, and I will show
- 15:34Speaker 2: you why. For God is greater than any human being,
- 15:38Speaker 2: So why are you bringing a charge against him?
- 15:41Speaker 1: Why? Say?
- 15:42Speaker 2: He does not respond to people's complaints. For God speaks
- 15:45Speaker 2: again and again, though people do not recognize it. He
- 15:49Speaker 2: speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep
- 15:52Speaker 2: sleep falls on people as they lie on their beds,
- 15:55Speaker 2: He whispers in their ears and terrifies them with warnings.
- 16:00Speaker 2: He makes them turn from doing wrong. He keeps them
- 16:03Speaker 2: from pride. He protects them from the grave, from crossing
- 16:07Speaker 2: over the river of death. Or God disciplines people with
- 16:10Speaker 2: pain on their sick beds, with ceaseless aching in their bones.
- 16:15Speaker 2: They lose their appetite for even the most delicious food.
- 16:19Speaker 2: Their flesh wastes away, their bones stick out. They're at
- 16:23Speaker 2: death's door. The angels of death wait for them. But
- 16:27Speaker 2: if an angel from heaven appears a special messenger to
- 16:30Speaker 2: intercede for a person and declare that he is upright,
- 16:33Speaker 2: he will be gracious and say, rescue him from the grave,
- 16:37Speaker 2: for I have found a ransom for his life. Then
- 16:39Speaker 2: his body will become as healthy as a child's, firm
- 16:42Speaker 2: and youthful again. When he prays to God, he will
- 16:45Speaker 2: be accepted, and God will receive him with joy and
- 16:48Speaker 2: restore him to good standing. He will declare to his friends,
- 16:52Speaker 2: I sinned and twisted the truth, but it was not
- 16:55Speaker 2: worth it. God rescued me from the grave, and now
- 16:58Speaker 2: my life is filled with life. Yes, God does these
- 17:02Speaker 2: things again and again for people. He rescues them from
- 17:05Speaker 2: the grave so that they may enjoy the light of life.
- 17:09Speaker 2: So that whole passage, which is absolutely fascinating, explains why
- 17:15Speaker 2: God allows and sometimes afflicts people with suffering. It's so
- 17:21Speaker 2: that their lives will be changed, so their lives will
- 17:24Speaker 2: be filled with light, so they will see how they
- 17:27Speaker 2: were sinning and turn away from those sins. Notice what
- 17:31Speaker 2: this man, who is on his deathbed said after God
- 17:35Speaker 2: redeemed his life. He declares to his friends, I sinned
- 17:39Speaker 2: and twisted the truth and it was not worth it.
- 17:42Speaker 2: God rescued me from the grave, and now my life
- 17:44Speaker 2: is filled with light. And that is why God allows
- 17:49Speaker 2: suffering and even afflicts suffering at times, because God wants
- 17:54Speaker 2: us to turn away from the darkness that is sin.
- 17:58Speaker 2: Earlier in the book of job Ali, who says something
- 18:01Speaker 2: else that was really good, he says, job you can
- 18:05Speaker 2: sin and sin and sin, and none of those sins
- 18:09Speaker 2: are going to affect God. Because God is sitting up
- 18:12Speaker 2: in heaven in absolute perfection. Our sins don't affect him.
- 18:17Speaker 2: They only affect us individually. So when God punishes us
- 18:22Speaker 2: for our sins, he's not doing it because our sins
- 18:26Speaker 2: somehow affect him. He's doing it because he knows the
- 18:30Speaker 2: danger of sin. He's doing it because he loves us,
- 18:34Speaker 2: because he knows how bad sin actually is for us individually.
- 18:40Speaker 2: And that is what Solomon alludes to here in this prayer.
- 18:44Speaker 2: He says, God, when you punish your people Israel because
- 18:48Speaker 2: of their various sins, forgive them when they turn back
- 18:53Speaker 2: to you again, when they finally see the light, see
- 18:56Speaker 2: the error of their ways, and they turn towards you again,
- 19:00Speaker 2: Listen to them from heaven and forgive them. And whatever
- 19:04Speaker 2: problem afflicted Israel, remove it. Make the cities healthy and
- 19:10Speaker 2: well again. Build the cities back up, make the farms
- 19:14Speaker 2: produce lots of food again, and heal the people from
- 19:17Speaker 2: their sicknesses.
- 19:19Speaker 1: But he doesn't just.
- 19:20Speaker 2: Pray for Israel. He also prays for the foreigner as well.
- 19:24Speaker 2: In verse thirty two. Moreover, concerning the foreigner who is
- 19:27Speaker 2: not of your people, Israel, when he comes from a
- 19:29Speaker 2: far country, for your great name's sake, in your mighty
- 19:32Speaker 2: hand and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray
- 19:35Speaker 2: toward this house, then hear from heaven even from your
- 19:38Speaker 2: dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner
- 19:41Speaker 2: calls to you. For that all the peoples of the
- 19:44Speaker 2: earth may know your name and fear you, as do
- 19:47Speaker 2: your people Israel, and that they may know that this
- 19:50Speaker 2: house which I have built is called by your name.
- 19:53Speaker 2: I think that's really beautiful that Solomon includes the foreigners
- 19:56Speaker 2: that turn to God. He basically asks God, God, if
- 20:01Speaker 2: any foreigner turns toward your name, then listen from heaven
- 20:06Speaker 2: and bless them and give them anything they ask for.
- 20:09Speaker 1: That is what he says.
- 20:10Speaker 2: Right here, do according to all that the foreigner calls
- 20:14Speaker 2: to you, for that all the peoples of the earth
- 20:16Speaker 2: will know your name and fear you as to your
- 20:19Speaker 2: people Israel. Then, in verses thirty four through thirty nine,
- 20:23Speaker 2: Solomon in the same kind of format, asks God to
- 20:28Speaker 2: bring Israel back to the land after they've been exiled,
- 20:33Speaker 2: because Solomon just knows the reality of who Israel is.
- 20:37Speaker 2: If they sin against you, and there is no man
- 20:40Speaker 2: who doesn't sin, then you are angry with them, and
- 20:42Speaker 2: deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them
- 20:45Speaker 2: away captive to a land far off or near. Yet,
- 20:48Speaker 2: if they come to their senses in the land where
- 20:50Speaker 2: they are carried captive, and turn again and make supplication
- 20:53Speaker 2: to You in the land of their captivity, saying we
- 20:55Speaker 2: have sinned, we have done perversely, we have dealt wickedly.
- 20:59Speaker 2: If they return to you with all their heart and
- 21:01Speaker 2: all their soul in the land of their captivity, jumping
- 21:04Speaker 2: to verse thirty nine, then hear from heaven even from
- 21:07Speaker 2: your dwelling place, their prayer and their petitions. Maintain their cause,
- 21:11Speaker 2: and forgive your people who have sinned against you. He
- 21:14Speaker 2: essentially asks God, God, when your people eventually are led
- 21:19Speaker 2: captive away from the land of Israel, listen to them
- 21:22Speaker 2: when they are in the land of their captors, when
- 21:26Speaker 2: they turn again towards you, when they come to their
- 21:29Speaker 2: senses and realize how wicked they have acted, how their
- 21:33Speaker 2: sins have destroyed them, listen to them and forgive them
- 21:37Speaker 2: and bring them back into their land Verse forty. Now,
- 21:42Speaker 2: my God, let I beg you your eyes be open,
- 21:45Speaker 2: and let your ears be attentive to the prayer that
- 21:47Speaker 2: is made in this place. Now Therefore, arise, Yahweh God,
- 21:51Speaker 2: into your resting place and the arc of your strength.
- 21:54Speaker 2: Let your priests Yahweh God, be clothed with salvation. Let
- 21:58Speaker 2: your saints rejoice in gladness. Yahweh God, don't turn away
- 22:03Speaker 2: the face of your anointed remember your loving kindness to David,
- 22:06Speaker 2: your servant, and that is the end of the prayer.
- 22:11Speaker 2: And really it's a very beautiful prayer. I mean, he
- 22:13Speaker 2: covers pretty much all the bases in this prayer except
- 22:17Speaker 2: for one base. He does not talk about himself at
- 22:22Speaker 2: all or the Kings at all. Instead, he mentions all
- 22:28Speaker 2: the people, He mentions the foreigners, he mentions the sins
- 22:31Speaker 2: of every single person except himself, and except for the kings,
- 22:37Speaker 2: he never talks about how the leaders might fall into sin.
- 22:42Speaker 2: And I don't know what happened there. I don't know
- 22:43Speaker 2: how Solomon missed that. But unfortunately Solomon didn't think to
- 22:48Speaker 2: pray for the leaders. And the leaders were some of
- 22:51Speaker 2: the biggest problems in Israel's history, especially going into the
- 22:55Speaker 2: Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was constantly trying to convince the
- 23:00Speaker 2: leaders of Israel that there were problems, and the leaders
- 23:04Speaker 2: just refused to listen. They're like, no, there's no problems here,
- 23:07Speaker 2: no problems whatsoever. We are going to keep doing whatever
- 23:10Speaker 2: we want to do. And Jeremiah, you're just a big
- 23:14Speaker 2: poopy face and we're gonna throw you into prison because
- 23:16Speaker 2: you're mean. And that's basically the entire premise of Jeremiah.
- 23:20Speaker 2: But yeah, the leaders needed prayer, and I don't know,
- 23:23Speaker 2: I think this might reveal that Solomon either had an
- 23:28Speaker 2: arrogance problem and just didn't think to pray for himself
- 23:32Speaker 2: or his sons or any king that would come after him,
- 23:35Speaker 2: or that Solomon did not consider that he could fall
- 23:41Speaker 2: into that type of sin. Just based on this prayer,
- 23:43Speaker 2: you can kind of see how Solomon thought himself to
- 23:48Speaker 2: be sort of above all of that, where he keeps saying, God,
- 23:51Speaker 2: I'm your anointed one, God, your servant. David was my father,
- 23:56Speaker 2: and you promised David all of these things that you
- 23:58Speaker 2: are fulfilling. You promise that David would always have a
- 24:02Speaker 2: son on the throne. And so personally, if I'm throwing
- 24:05Speaker 2: my two cents in there, I kind of think Solomon
- 24:07Speaker 2: believed he was sort of above all of this, that
- 24:10Speaker 2: he was not going to sin in this way. But
- 24:13Speaker 2: as we can see later on, Solomon does infect sin
- 24:17Speaker 2: in this way. Actually, he brings about some of the
- 24:21Speaker 2: biggest problems that Israel has through the idolatry that he
- 24:27Speaker 2: eventually does. Next week, we'll talk about the big party
- 24:33Speaker 2: that Israel has after the dedication of the Temple, and
- 24:37Speaker 2: it's a really fun chapter, not just because of the
- 24:38Speaker 2: big party, but also God appears to Solomon and gives
- 24:42Speaker 2: him a very special message, which I think would be
- 24:44Speaker 2: the second time that God gives Solomon a message directly.
- 24:49Speaker 1: So we'll get into all of that starting next week.
- 24:51Speaker 1: So I hope you guys.
- 24:52Speaker 2: Tune in then now tomorrow will be in the Book
- 24:55Speaker 2: of Second Thessalonians, probably getting close to finishing that book
- 24:59Speaker 2: up and Second Thessalonians. Like I said, it's been such
- 25:02Speaker 2: a fun book to discuss and research and talk about
- 25:06Speaker 2: with all of you guys.
- 25:07Speaker 1: So I hope you.
- 25:08Speaker 2: Guys tune in tomorrow for a great discussion from the
- 25:11Speaker 2: Book of Second Thessalonians. Faithful listeners, have a fantastic and wonderful,
- 25:16Speaker 2: wonderful rest of your day. I'll see you guys tomorrow,
- 25:19Speaker 2: bright and early for an episode from Second Thessalonians. Happy listening,
- 25:23Speaker 2: and God bless