2 Chronicles 7 Commentary
There aren’t many points in scripture when fire from the LORD came and consumed the sacrifice in the manner we have seen here. It is yet another moment of that special combination of fire and the cloud. These are history-defining moments.
As reported in the Book of Kings, during Solomon’s lifetime, Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree. It is the point that this chapter references after the dedication of the temple. These are great times for the nation of Israel.
We have witnessed the summit of Israel’s prosperity, comparable only to the times of the patriarch Abraham, when he defeated the four powerful kings.
And finally, Israel can experience rest.
Yet Chapter 7 is famous for the following statement, “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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
There is a condition, and the LORD knows all things, present and future. Solomon would fail to keep the faith. And the prosperous nation would be scattered in installments. The prosperity and the rest would be temporal.
The saint can look back at these events with a mixture of hope and fear. Hope because there is a time the LORD makes His promises come good for his faithful servants. Fear because there is always a moment when the good times become bad. And we all know why.
But at an appropriate time, a King arose who never erred. He lived in perfect obedience to the Law. The LORD found him flawless. The LORD, therefore, established for him an everlasting kingdom. His subjects would live in everlasting prosperity – everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.
It is this King – the real shepherd-king who calls out: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
This chapter invites the saint to reflect on the rest that the LORD has given us in the Son. Yes, the son (Son) born to us with the government on His shoulders – whose government knows no end. Isaiah 9.
The rest has come with prosperity and an everlasting existence. But these terms are defined by the LORD God, and not by human dictionaries. We need to know the difference.
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