A Dangerous Misrepresentation of Scripture
The Error of Misrepresentation of Scripture and the Sad Repercussion of Moral Laxity
Whenever people, including renowned ministers of God, quote 2 Chronicles 7:14, they somehow omit a vital part of the Scripture verse. Sometimes I wonder if this error is intentional because it has deceived the church. The erroneous quote is,
"If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
There is a major and crucial portion of this scripture verse missing, and it is emboldened below:
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 will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14, NKJV)
What the church has been missing from this verse is the portion that says,
"and turn from their wicked ways"!
Such omission of Scripture can lead to frustration when prayers are not answered. Also, people begin to wonder why their land is deteriorating despite their prayers. And the answer lies in the missing portion!
Correct Scriptural representation gives proper perspective
Indeed, we have been praying and humbling ourselves, and some have gone further to seek God's face with fasting. But we have not turned from our wicked ways—and this is the clincher! For without this, there will be no change in our situation.
The use of the conjunction "and" means that in addition to humbling ourselves, praying, and seeking God's face, we must turn from our wicked ways. Many Christians have been praying, fasting, and seeking the face of God, yet they do not see the kind of results that they expect when praying to God, who answers prayers and can do the impossible! The Lord is saying to them, "Until and unless you turn from your wicked ways, nothing will happen in response to your prayers."
We may see trickles here and there, now and again, but the torrent or avalanche that we are hoping for will not occur unless we turn from our wicked ways and begin to live as God expects us to.
The Origin of 2 Chronicles 7:14
The statement God made in 2 Chronicles 7:14 was in response to Solomon's prayer during the temple's dedication. At that time, Solomon prayed thus:
"When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows his own burden and his own grief, and spreads out his hands to this temple: then hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone know the hearts of the sons of men) (2 Chronicles 6:28-30, NKJV)
Please note the use of the words "whatever" and "anyone" by Solomon; with that in mind, let us now turn to 2 Chronicles 7:12-14, which is the account of God's full response to Solomon's prayer.
Then the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land. (NKJV)
Understanding Scriptural context gives proper perspective
In God's response, He qualifies who can pray and their attitude, thus giving perspective to and dismissing the use of the words "whatever" and "anyone". So, it is not whatever prayer or supplication or anyone who prays, but the attitude and nature of the praying person to God and His precepts.
Let us also note the conditional word "if" in v.14, which makes God's response to Solomon's prayer contingent upon fulfilling certain requirements. We ought to lay to rest the issue of who is praying? Are they humble? Do they seek God's face, or are they only after His hands? Have they turned from their wicked ways?
Fundamentally, all the changes that the church of God seek will not occur until and unless we turn from our wicked ways, even though we may have humbled ourselves, prayed, and sought the face of God! God says that all the conditions He has stated must be met before the changes we seek can occur!
The assumptions of those misquoting 2 Chronicles 7:14
Those praying must be the people of God, and they must humble themselves, pray to God, seek His face, and turn from their wicked ways. Sadly, there have been a lot of assumptions when it comes to meeting these conditions. First, the assumption that everyone who prays or attends church meetings is a child of God—that is, is born again and sanctified—is unfounded! Another assumption is that everyone who attends a church meeting is humble. And because someone genuflects as a show of respect to the pastor, we assume they are humble; yet they are pompous, arrogant, and care nothing for the pastor—their outward show is so that the pastor would pray for them and all will be well with them. Still, another assumption is that all who seek God's face are doing so rightly and for the right reasons. We must not forget Herod's statement to the Magis:
"Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also." (Matthew 2:8, NKJV)
But his real intention was to kill the young Child! So, not all who claim to worship are doing so for the right reason.
We also assume that righteousness holds sway among God's people. We generally do not believe that there can be wickedness in the church or among God's people. Yet God did not mince words when He said
"if My people … will … turn from their wicked ways …".
God thus insinuated that His people were indeed wicked and needed to turn from those wicked ways! We make so many assumptions and end up with an infected gathering, which we call the church. Yet, we know that the church of God is to be holy as He is holy! (1 Peter 1:15-16)
The fruit of these assumptions
When misquoting 2 Chronicles 7:14, those commenting on the verse take all these assumptions for granted, and that explains why they leave out the portion, "and turn from their wicked ways"!
Based on these assumptions, many preachers speak in church meetings as though everyone gathered is born again and sanctified. They overlook many contents and contexts of the Bible and make no mention of sin in their sermons. Today, many preachers do not challenge their listeners to repudiate sin and sinful living and turn to God. Rather, they engage their listeners in messages that would suggest that all is well.
Indeed, the messages coming out of many pulpits are hollow and without substance and have no impact of eternal value on the listeners. Preachers declare, "It shall be well with you!" even when over half of the congregants are living in sin!
The rise of immorality and iniquity
With these assumptions intact as it were, we find people claiming to be born again engaging in all sorts of abominable acts, yet we generally believe that they do not engage in such acts because they say that they are born again! For instance, there are many spouses attending church meetings who are aware of the iniquity of their spouses, yet they act as though all is well. Some people live contrary to God's word yet preach from the Bible, and their congregants follow in their footstep, living hypocritical lives while quoting Scripture to unbelievers! What an absurdity!
There was a self-styled 'prophet' who had a wife in Nigeria and another in South Africa, and both women were aware of each other; yet continued to engage with this false prophet in ministry. The wife in the Nigerian branch is recognized as the 'mother' of the ‘church’ in Nigeria; the wife in the South African branch is the prophetess of the ‘church’ in South Africa! Both women were enjoying the perks of being the wife of a 'prophet'! Both women kept silent even though they knew about each other.
One day, this false prophet shamelessly announced to his 'church' in Nigeria that he was divorcing his wife in Nigeria. Afterwards, he carried on as though he had said nothing mind-boggling! What is intriguing is that people continue to flock to this false prophet. Even more intriguing is that he has a 'miracle' swimming pool in his house in Nigeria, and people still go there to fetch water for their deliverance for a fee! What a con!
The whole system is corrupt!
There is a prevalence of immorality and iniquity in the pulpit and the pews! Sadly, erring ministers of the gospel are not reprimanded by the regulatory bodies they subscribe to. They would not heed reprimand by anyone else including, God Himself! God said to Jeremiah:
"An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end? (Jeremiah 5:30-31, NKJV)
Did you notice the part where God said, "And My people love to have it so."? Such is the dynamic in the church today—the clergy live in sin and hypocrisy, and the congregants live likewise—each feeding off the other!
The Lord Jesus warned that we should test for fruit when people come to us looking like sheep, when they may, in fact, be wolves:
"Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned. (Matthew 7:15-16, MSG)
The fruit or characteristics of false prophets include immorality, unrighteousness, hypocrisy, deceit, and falsehood. Yes, they manifest the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21). Yet when Christians are challenged to look out for the fruit of the Spirit rather than miracles and vain words or ‘prophecies’, they retort, "And who is perfect?" So, we see that the "people love to have it so!"
The sad repercussion of misrepresentation of Scripture
When we fall for these assumptions and overlook the brazen unrighteous lifestyles of the clergy and congregants alike, we tolerate and perpetuate immorality and iniquity, not just in the church but in the world also. The whole church is filled with all sorts of people claiming that God has told them something, and the people swallow it hook-line-and-sinker! Such is the sad repercussion of the misrepresentation of Scripture on the church. Wickedness abounds in the church, yet we naively ask, “Can there be wickedness in the church?”
If we must push back against this narrative of unfettered immorality and iniquity in the church, we must stop taking people at their words! We must start to investigate people claiming to have a word from God. We must additionally know God’s word for ourselves and seek His face on every matter—especially those high-sounding 'prophecies'!
May the Lord help us!