seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Chronicles 6:22 “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, 23 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.
24 “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, 25 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.
26 “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, 27 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.
28 “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, 29 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— 30 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), 31 so that they will fear you and walk in obedience to you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.
Hope....
This commentary is from Enduringword.com.
Hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants: Solomon asked the God who can see what man can’t -who knows the hidden heart of man - and to enforce from heaven the oaths made at the temple.
The old Puritan commentator John Trapp could not resist mentioning a fulfillment of this principle in his own day: “Anne Averies, who, forswearing herself, a.d. 1575, February 11, at a shop of Wood Street in London, praying God she might sink where she stood if she had not paid for the wares she took, fell down presently speechless, and with horrible stink died.”
When they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them, then hear in heaven: Solomon doesn’t take it for granted that God would forgive and hear His repentant people. God’s good response to our repentance comes from His grace, not from justice.
“It is not therefore to be wondered at that, when Solomon dedicated to the Lord the temple which he had built, his great petition was that God would hear every prayer that should be uttered in that place or toward that place. He wished the temple always to be to Israel the token that God’s memorial is that he hears prayer.” (Spurgeon)
This is from the easy English site.
Situation 1: A difficult legal problem
A person may do wrong deeds to another person but sometimes nobody has seen it. Then there would be no way to discover the truth. Then both people would come into the temple. There they would both insist in front of God that they are not guilty. Only God knows which person is speaking the truth. So Solomon asks that God will be the judge. Let God say whether a person is guilty or not guilty.
Situation 2: Defeat because of the sin of Israel’s people
If Israel’s people sinned against God then their enemies would defeat them. Then they may turn back again to the LORD their God. If they did so then they would pray to God in the temple. Solomon asks that God would forgive his people. Maybe they had gone into exile. Solomon asks God to bring them back to the country called Israel.
Situation 3: No rain because of sin
When the LORD brought the Israelites into their country, he warned them about false gods. He told them not to serve other gods. If they did that, then he would be angry with them. And he would stop the rain. Then their crops could not grow (Deuteronomy 11:16-17).
If Israel’s people sinned against the LORD, he would stop the rain. Maybe they would confess their sin and they would turn back to the LORD. Then they would look towards the Temple and they would pray to the LORD. Solomon asks the LORD in heaven to hear such prayers. He asks God to forgive them and to teach them how they should live. And he asks the LORD to send rain on the land again.
Situation 4: Disasters and diseases
Disasters and diseases may come to the Israelites. And enemies may attack their towns. Solomon knows that these things may happen because of the sin of the people (Deuteronomy 28:21-22). They will pray to the LORD, and their hands will point toward the temple.
Solomon asks the LORD to hear their prayers from his home in heaven. He asks that the LORD will forgive them. And he asks that the LORD will do good things on their behalf. Then the people will be afraid not to obey the LORD. And they will live in the country that the LORD gave to them.
Only the LORD knows what is in people’s hearts and in their minds (John 2:24-25). He knows people’s real attitudes. So he will know whether their prayers are sincere.
Why is it.... in all the other religions.... they defend their fake shiny little idol gods to the death..... and those of us who have access to the Only Living True God and Salvation.... hide Him from everyone? 