Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;
II Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked way, then will I hear from the heavens and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
II Chronicles 12:7: “And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah saying, They have humbled themselves, therefore I will not destroy them…”
We probably all know II Chronicles 7:14 by memory. There are many who do not know it by heart. Israel was living in a “wicked way” which brought feminine in the land. There was no rain. The word “wicked” here is “ra’a.’” This is one of those “ra” words which mean evil. This “ra” word has two “ayins.” Hence this is a wickedness that comes from a brokenness as a result of abusing one’s office or power through greed and covertness. It is using God’s blessings to parlay that into a means to acquire more at the expense of others. This could be a governmental power or even a power in ministry or financial power. Years ago a famous TV evangelist was caught red handed giving $20.00 to a prostitute in return for her services. I wonder how many of his contributors thought: “Was that my $20.00 that I sacrificially gave, that I could have used to pay my electric bill? Was that my $20.00 that fell into the hands of this prostitute?” For whatever motive, the contributor gave his $20.00 to God, he consecrated it to God, he most likely prayed over it as he sent it in and it ended up in the hands of a prostitute. Ok, so the preacher has a duty of good stewardship, but how about us as individuals. Did not God give us our jobs? Does He not provide our health to go to that job, does He not give us wisdom to do our jobs? Then we spend that blessing from God to purchase things that will abuse our bodies, attend or purchase movies that will take our focus off God? That is “ra’a.’” That was the sin that Israel was committing. They were abusing the blessings God gave them. So God, simply, stopped the blessings. He turned off the faucet and cut off the rain and people were no longer prosperous. “Poof!!!, it’s gone.”
What was the solution to re-opening the “windows of heaven” and turning on the faucet? “If my people who are called by my name…” Name, “shem” means reputation. If this nation calls themselves a nation of God Jehovah and uses their prosperity to oppress others rather than feed them, to fund abortions, and hedonistic pursuits, the world will say: “Then this is what God Jehovah is all about.” Can you blame God for waiting to save his reputation?
These people are to humble themselves. The word humble here is “kana.” This is where the word “Canaan” comes from which means a merchant or prosperous city. Now you have to realize there are many words for humble. You have “daka” which is a humility by being broken. One who goes through a hard time and realizes his dependency is on God alone. There is “shuwach” which is just a display of humility such as bowing down. In oriental cultures when one greets a stranger they give a little bow, this is a shuwach, a protocol, a physical demonstration of humility whether it is heart motivated or not. Then there is “shapher” which is similar to it’s Aramaic cousin “sh@phar” which is a spirit that is humble. This is a heart expression of humility. Finally we have the word “kana.” That is the word used here, which is a humility by a voluntary surrendering all our resources to God. Sort of like being pinned down in a wrestling match and crying : “uncle.” It has been said that the expression of “cry uncle” was originally “cry humble.”
So the command to humble ourselves before God is to simply surrender all our resources or what is left of our resources to Him. We must recognize that all that we have and all that we are comes from Him, we are at His mercy. But soft, it is more than that, we must also seek His face, His presence. A husband would consult with his wife before any major purchase. After all the money he is about to spend belongs to her just as much as to him and she has every right to give her input into that purchase. So too, must we seek the presence of God before we use what resources He has given us. It ultimately all belongs to Him.
In II Chronicles 12:7 when the Lord saw that the people “kana” themselves, humbled themselves, or cried uncle and surrendered everything back to Him, then the Lord delivered them and re-opened the windows of heaven. We may be very blessed, but if we abuse those blessings, God can simply turn the faucet off and “poof!!!” it’s gone.
“The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21.
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