When the topic of revival comes up, the first thought that comes to mind is often from 2 Chronicles chapter 7, verse 14. We often refer to this passage as a map to revival in that it provides a step-by-step process that promises revival as a result.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV)
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.
This verse is part of the final part of 2 Chronicles chapter 7, which is God’s response to Solomon’s prayer for the dedication of the temple. It’s important to note that this particular verse has a set of conditions surrounding it in its context.
Starting in verse 12, God comes to Solomon and establishes the setting by answering Solomon’s prayer of dedication. God chooses the temple location and then commits to restore His people when the sin, under the following conditions:
- Humility
- Prayer
- Rededication
- Repentance
In return, God promises that the restoration process will include the following actions:
- Hearing the prayer
- Forgiving the people
- Healing the land
In the immediately following verses (2 Chronicles 7:15-18), God tells Solomon that He will honor the prayers of the temple, He will set the temple apart as His dwelling place – for His name, His eyes, and His Heart. The Lord goes on to tell Solomon that he would be honored as king so long as he leads in a manner similar to his father David and walks in a right way before God.
These promises sound really great. However, the promises are conditional. In other words, revival is not a permanent state. It’s more of a fragile state that should be handled with care. The care is to stay on track with regard to God’s will. God’s Word puts it this way in verse 17 of the passage, doing “all that I commanded thee.” Starting in 2 Chronicles 7:19, God issues the pending results for not keeping the conditions of revival – a condition that can best be called “the unravelling” – leaving a place of security and falling into a perilous state. It’s important to note that God addresses Solomon as the leader of the nation of Israel. However, it’s just important to note that not only does Solomon suffer for his turning away, but the people suffer significant loss as well.
As a result, the fragile state of revival unravels subtly and sometimes undetectably, leading to a dire state where the people and their nation need revival once again.
2 Chronicles 7:19-22 (KJV)
19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them;
20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.
21 And this house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every one that passeth by it; so that he shall say, Why hath the LORD done thus unto this land, and unto this house?
22 And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, and worshipped them, and served them: therefore hath he brought all this evil upon them.
From these verses, we can see the nation of Israel unravel in this way:
- Leadership turns away from God and resorts to human wisdom and knowledge over God’s guidance.
- Leadership implements devices that forsake God’s Word. The law of the land pleases people not God.
- The nation creates and adopts other gods as their focus and worships those gods in place of the one true God.
When the nation unravels, the promise of revival for the people changes to judgment:
- God takes back the land He gave to them. This is an important first indication of God’s judgment – when the gradual loss of sovereignty as a nation – whether by disappearing borders, infrastructure failure, or external forces – leads to diminished prosperity and enslavement to the gods that the people worship.
- The imagery of a once great nation will be only a remembrance, captured in legend, song and prose, eventually becoming insignificant.
- Other nations will recognize that the once great nation has fallen and lost its favor from God.
- The sins of the once great nation will be publicized and God’s judgment will be known to all.
As a result of this unravelling, the vision of the Lord vanishes and what was once a great godly nation is now a wicked, perverse and adulterous people… and the people perish.
It doesn’t have to end that way. The nation has a choice. The people can recognize God’s wonderful, marvelous grace and humbly repent. A new cycle of revival can start. In this age, we live under grace. We know that kingdoms and nations will rise and fall. But there is a kingdom that is everlasting with a King eternal. When a nation submits to His leadership, revival can come and prosperity freedom and security can be restored.
