Bible Promises

[Mommy2Kids]

For whatever reason I get irritated with people who claim promises God made to people in the OT. How do you know when a promise made to a single person, or to the nation of Israel, is a promise any person can claim? My husband and I have discussed this, and haven't really come up with an answer.

[dthatcher]

How about 2 Chr 7:14? I seriously hate when this gets trotted out and applied to America:
"if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

"heal their land" is very literal as it applies to times when the Lord stops the rain or sends pestilence to devour crops.
the entire passage:
"Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the 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 the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there forever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time."

The context is temple worship, and God is using the example of repentance to make the point that He will receive worship and prayer at the temple. Again, all of this is much more literal than Ameri-Fundies admit. Fast forward to Christ in Samaria, when he is discussing with the woman where one ought to worship, a very valid question prior to the cross. Christ indicates that there is coming a time where it will not matter where you worship but the heart you worship with. That time has now come. 2 Chr 7:14 is no longer applicable to anyone. In these days, Christ deals with His people, and moves world leaders through His providence, but does not deal with any people group on a national level. There is no "redeemer nation", there is no "Christian nation" special to God, there is no nation that has a special pact with God--apart from Israel, which has always and only held that status, whether constituted or in diaspora.
I thank the Lord that my church isn't into patriotic displays. Nothing even on the 4th of July Sunday, except the song leader couldn't help but to lead a round of America the Beautiful at the end. And there is an American flag at the back left of the platform.

[captain_solo]

Promises were given to specific people at a specific time in history, they are not all for everyone at all times, (thank goodness the promises of punishments aren't either) my main issue is how selective people are, as if they can adopt the ones they like and ignore the ones that make no sense.

Also, many people don't understand literary genres. Proverbs are generally true, they are truisms, they are not promises. Even if you bring up your child in the way he should go, when he is old, he makes his own decisions and just might go off the deep end whereupon you should not be blamed because you allowed him to watch the Lion King.

[Annie Moose]

(07-15-2011 10:06 AM)captain_solo Wrote:  Promises were given to specific people at a specific time in history, they are not all for everyone at all times

So very, very true. I think we can definitely learn from these instances--for example, the one dthatcher mentioned can teach us that God like it when we quit being proud idiots--but to try and say "this applies to us today"? That's a much harder claim to prove.