Bible Survey: 2 Chronicles
The key verse of 2 Chronicles is one many Christians know by heart: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).
It is a promise with conditions. If God's people humble themselves, then He will heal, and if they will not, He will not. The verse was spoken to Israel, and it has one interpretation but many applications. We cannot make it mean America. But if God's people in a church humble themselves and souls begin to be saved, the effect can reach a whole nation.
The book opens with Solomon at his best. He and the congregation sought unto it, going to the place where God was. When God told him to ask for anything, he asked for wisdom: Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people (2 Chronicles 1:10). That is a prayer worth praying as a Christian, a husband, a father, and in whatever work God has given us. Having wisdom did not mean Solomon always used it, though, and in later years he turned away.
When the temple was dedicated, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house (2 Chronicles 7:1).
Then Solomon's son Rehoboam listened to his young friends instead of the old men, and the kingdom split in two. From there the book follows the kings of Judah down to the captivity, some good and many bad. Read their stories with 2 Chronicles 7:14 in mind, and you will see which kings humbled themselves and were blessed, and which would not.
Next in the series: Ezra.
Taught by Pastor Baxter, from Brother Barker's notes, in Sunday School at Naples Independent Baptist Church, July 19, 2020. Watch the lesson.
