Promises, Not Threats

Scripture: But if you turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will pluck you up from the land that I have given you, and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished and say, "Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?" 2 Chronicles 7:19-21

Observation: The Lord appears to Solomon after the completion of the temple and makes him this promise that Solomon records ... the Lord will continue his covenant with Solomon, but if the people ever forsake the Lord and worship other gods, he will punish them completely. That punishment will include both banishment from the promised land, and total destruction of the temple.

This must have been jarring to Solomon, who just spent 20 years building the temple and experiencing the supernatural events that surrounded its dedication. After all that, the Lord declares he will destroy it all if Israel strays. Solomon surely records this for the purpose of ensuring the people will never stray, knowing the promised consequences.

Of course, they will stray. At Solomon's death, the kingdom will divide and the northern kingdom will immediately build calf idols to worship. Solomon himself will adopt secondary gods by the influence of his wives. And thus, even taking the Lord at his word, the people stray.

Application: These words of the Lord were not a threat, they were a promise. The Lord wasn't just saying "do X and I'll punish you." He was instead saying, "I have blessed you, but if you choose to reject me that blessing and all evidence of it will be removed." This is a promise of relationship. It is evidence of the Lord's justice and mercy - in fact, of his love - that his interaction with us is based on relationship, and if we damage that relationship, he changes how he relates with us.

I am sincerely thankful that Jesus is now part of this relationship, because I cannot alone hold up my end of the relationship. Solomon couldn't do it when that relationship was the very definition of his life's work, and he was explicitly told by God himself what would happen if he failed. I have no hope of being the man the Lord wants me to be. However, I absolutely believe in Jesus Christ as messiah, my Lord and savior, the son of Yahweh the creator of heaven and earth.

This is now the criteria for the relationship, which is good news because it's the only criteria I could ever hope to fully achieve.

Prayer: Lord, I thank you for Jesus. I know I fail to behave as someone who fully loves you, but I do love you and I believe you know that. May your Spirit fill me every day, and set my feet upon your path. I will do wrong things today, but my goal is to walk humbly with you. Amen.