Year 6, Day 306: 2 Chronicles 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Obedience

• Obedience: Genuine and satisfying obedience comes out of our identity.  Our true identity comes only from our Father.

Sometimes prayer is genuine communication with God.  Okay, in truth, all of prayer should be communication with God.  But sometimes prayer serves multiple purposes.  In fact, often when I am teaching a class and I pray, my prayers have multiple purposes.  The prayer is about talking with God.  But the prayer is often setting the tone and mood of the classroom.  The prayer is sometimes about teaching people or reminding them about something.  Sometimes the prayer is about giving caution.  My point is that prayer often serves multiple purposes, especially communal prayer.

When we read through 2 Chronicles 6, there is a clear sense that Solomon’s prayer to God is a prayer of multiple purpose.  Naturally, Solomon is praying to God and communicating with God.  But do you hear that Solomon’s prayer has more to do with the actions of the people and God’s response?  Does God need to be lectured about how humans react and how He should respond to us?  Of course not!  God is God.  He knows how to handle us and He knows what to expect from us.

So what is going on here?  Solomon is praying while reminding the people how to behave.  Solomon is reminding them that if they are unfaithful they need to turn and repent.  Solomon is reminding the people that God will hear them if they repent.  But Solomon is also reminding them that if they go against God’s way, then they shouldn’t be surprised if God pulls His protection and provision over them.  God’s not doing this to be mean-spirited or vengeful; God is doing this to get their attention!

Why would the Chronicler make sure to include this in his work?  The people have just returned from exile.  He wants them to see that God does listen when we repent.  He can restore us.  But he also wants the people to remember to be obedient as it was their fathers’ disobedience that led them into exile in the first place.

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