Your vehemence against II Chronicles 7:14, seems to deprive you of a wonderful blessing of Scripture. You shouldn’t let dispensationalist bogeymen cause you to toss it into the trash heap:
I am supposed to be blessed by embracing bad theology? This is the heart of my objection to your proposition.
First of all, OT Israel, was a chosen people in so far as God's promises of an inheritance to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3;Lk 1:72 among many others). There are quite a number of remarkable differences between the united States and Israel outside of the fact the latter was a chosen race and the united States is one of many gentile nations. Israel had a much different government where they were governed by prophets and judges of God, and later, respecting the people's demand to "be like the other nations and have a king" (1 Sa 8:5) for God to give them Saul and later David. What possible point in common can you find in that paradigm when compared to an alleged Constitutional Republic?
Going into Covenant Theology, there are insurmountable differences between the united States and OT Israel in terms of the Land Covenant. In the 2 Chr Passage, "heal the land" actually means something in terms of the Covenant made with Abraham. It is impossible for you to find any analog of that in the united States - we have had been under no land covenant with God, there have been no promises made to Westerners who colonized North America by God, and thus God is not obligated to respect a land covenant with a people where no covenant was ever made.
It may serve you well to reacquaint yourself with Joshua 24 to see the incredible difference between the two nations and what would become the foundation for the 2 Ch passage.
Most important of all, is your rejection of the idea of citizenship in the heavenly Kingdom. For the Church of Jesus Christ (not the LDS) is also a chosen "holy" nation (1 Pe 2:9) and we are ambassadors of His kingdom (2 Co 5:20) to this world. We are not to love this world nor the things of this world (1 Jn 2:15; Jas 4:4). The LORD's kingdom is now (Lk 21:31) and is not of this world (Jn 18:36) and through parable he tells us to "Occupy till I come" (Lk 19:13). Therefore we as believers do not have a literal land covenant with God on this earth, our motivation to "humble ourselves" and "pray" should never be about changing secular government but as a response to what was done on the Cross and via the Paraclete's work of sanctification.
Then combining the Covenant teaching with the Land as a Type in the Old Testament we see that it stands for the "pilgrimage of faith" where the "better country" is the "heavenly one".
Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
So here in Hebrews the idea of "land" again points to our heavenly kingdom, not some cursed soil found in North American. I really don't know how to make it any plainer that the 2 Chr passage has absolutely nothing to do with the united States or secular government.
I also reject the idea that bad government is not God's government, for nation's rise and fall in accordance to God's Pleasure, not our convenience and comfort. Returning to the passage I provided from Jeremiah, look closer at 25:9 at how our LORD looks upon Nebuchadnezzar, one of the most ruthless and powerful leaders in all of human history.
Jer 25:9Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Again confirmed in Jer 27:6-7 and Dan 5:18-21. Isa 45:1-3 we read that God installed Cyrus, in 10:5-6 God puts in power the Assyrian King (whom God later destroys because that King didn't acknowledge that his power came from God) In Romans we read that Pharaoh was raised up by God for His Purpose to demonstrate God's power and might. (9:17). In Acts 17:26 we see that God sets up nations, kings, and defines boundaries of the nations according to a preappointed time. This is absolutely important to understand because God works according to His own time schedule and His own Purpose, not based on some critical mass of people in North American gathering together in a prayer circle.
As for tying this all together, if we were to stipulate that this generation is the one that will see the Parousia, then the irredeemable fall of the united States is certain. Let me [wildly] speculate here from a theologically harmonious standpoint. In the Olivet Discourse we are told that the world would be in an age of relative prosperity at the Parousia. Glenn Beck not withstanding, it is pretty obvious that the world is heading straight into a thousand years of Darkness and there appears to be no way out. Given that pessimistic view, one could argue along the lines of a theory of upper limits, that we are quickly approaching that time when a prosperous world similar to what we enjoy today will within a few years be lost for another millennium.
Given that as a template, the united States could be argued to have served the sole purpose of bringing about the economic and cultural conditions predicating our LORD's return and the Last Day. That would explain why the united States has been a historical anomaly, never seen before in human history, and never to be seen again since its brief lifespan was to give us the last cycle of global evangelism, and promote peace and prosperity to a world that never before knew it. Contrary to the FUD spread by the Dispensationalists, this generation is unique of all generations in that it has not known plague, famine, poverty and war on a global basis.
Since the Peace and Prosperity from the united States is unique, and since it quite well set up the conditions described by our LORD characterizing the culture and environment of His return, go re-visit your interpretation/suggestion and see how that play out.
Lets say our LORD doesn't return in this generation and we share with billions of other people the evil, wickedness, lawlessness and despair that has characterized mankind since the Garden - will your joy be forevermore vanquished? Because that is what you are setting yourself up for in expecting a Land covenant with OT Israel to be transferable to the united states today.
I’m not sure how to start.
Again – thanks for your thorough, and well thought out comments. But I’m left scratching my head as to how a great deal of it applies to what I wrote. It almost seems like this is a boiler-plate that was used in past Dispensationalist battles of yore. Good content though – I just wasn’t sure how it all applied.
For example:
(1) I also reject the idea that bad government is not God's government, for nation's rise and fall in accordance to God's Pleasure, not our convenience and comfort.
How did you derive that from the Daniel 4 excerpt I posted?
Daniel 4:17c … that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
That is – ‘rejecting the idea that bad government is not God’s government’ is a strawman argument. I declare you victorious. We agree on this point.
(2)Most important of all, is your rejection of the idea of citizenship in the heavenly Kingdom.
Although the thread of logical deduction is a bit tenuous on this one, at least it exists (which I didn’t see anywhere in the first assertion). I believe the proposition you are making is: ‘if one is a citizen of their Nation, and if they care about their Nation, they have therefore rejected their citizenship in the heavenly Kingdom’.
I agree that one can turn their Nation into an idol (well did John exhort the Believers at the end of his first Epistle: ‘Little children, keep yourselves from idols’). We all need to be on guard of idol worship.
But to stretch that into not caring, or praying, for one’s Country seems to be at odds with our instructions to remain in this world, and not to remove ourselves from it (as you noted, ‘we are to occupy until HE comes again’). From giving ‘honour’ to one’s king (of the earthly variety), and from what is commonly called the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ - where HE instructs us to request from Our Father in Heaven our daily bread - It seems very appropriate to pray for one’s Nation, and leaders (and yes – I’ll use 2 Chronicles as a ‘model’ prayer) - that ‘the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified…’
3) “…expecting a Land covenant with OT Israel to be transferable to the united states today”.
I was a bit puzzled where this came from, but I believe the logic is: ‘applying 2 Chronicles 7:13-16 to today’s time must mean that I am equating the ‘Land covenant’ of Old Testament Israel with whatever ‘Land’ I happen to be residing in at the time. Because asking for the LORD to ‘heal our land’ is the same as substituting our current earthly Nation with Old Testament Israel…’
I follow the logical deduction. But I reject it. We certainly are sojourners in a strange land, with our eyes focused on our end destination in eternity. But while we are here we are to point as many people to the Saviour as we can, and to do that (that ‘the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified…’) - it is appropriate to pray for the healing that brings peace to the land; and to pray for leaders that promote (or at least protect) the proclamation of HIS Word.
Furthermore, if I follow this logical progression, should I not also say that the Ten Commandments – that is the moral Law – is only for the people of Israel? For the LORD spoke to them out of the midst of the fire. As Moses said:
Deuteronomy 4:32-33“ For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live”?
That is, the Ten Commandments were addressed specifically to the people of Israel.
But yet, the Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit tells us that the Law was our ‘school master’. The Apostle John in his first Epistle says:
1 John 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
And again:
1 John 5:2-3 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
And to what purpose was it that our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ kept the commandments perfectly? The commandments were only given to the Nation of Israel. Why rejoice in such glorious statements as that made in Romans 10:4?
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth (or, The end of the law is Christ for righteousness to the believing ones).
Clearly there is a message here that the Ten Commandments (the moral Law) is important to all of us – not just to those who were at Mt. Sinai. It tells us our utter failure. Our compete unworthiness before the Living God. It points us towards Christ – the one who did keep the Law perfectly – and by HIS perfection HE was the perfect sacrifice who alone could take God’s wrath and impute HIS perfect Righteousness onto HIS people.
I agree that one can err by taking verses out of their context. But on the other side of the coin, we can tie Scripture in a straight-jacket in our zeal to avoid the first error.
Anyways, thank you for your response. I don’t believe we are quite as much at odds as you suggest – however there are some points where we will remain at loggerheads. But that's OK - on this side of Heaven we'll never agree on all points. God Bless.