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According To Prophecy Ministries & Evangelist Perkins, brings you articles from some of his colleagues in Ministry. He has also included the email addresses of the authors at the bottom of their articles, please email the authors and let them know what you think of their articles.
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"Solomon asks God to open His eyes and hear with His ears the prayers of the people; and he asks God to not turn His face away from those He has anointed."
How does God feel about Jerusalem?
“But I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name might be there;”
2 Chronicles 6:6
When King Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem, he asked God to forgive the people if they sinned against Him (2 Chronicles 6:24-25).
- 24. And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;
- 25. Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.
Solomon acknowledged that the people would be afflicted by God if they sinned. Afflictions, or judgments, included drought, famine, plagues, crop failure, foreign invasion of enemies, and sickness (6:26-28).
- 26. When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;
- 27. Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.
- 28. If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:
Solomon then asks that God will forgive those who acknowledge their sins and ask for forgiveness (6:29-30).
- 29. Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:
Moreover, he asks that God will punish those who need punishment
- 30. Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
- 31. That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.
People, who are not of Israel, but are foreigners will be accepted in Israel if they honor God and pray to Him (6:32-33).
- 32. Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;
- 33. Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.
Solomon prays for deliverance from Israel’s enemies if war occurs (6:34-35).
- 34. If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;
- 35. Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.
And he prays that if they are carried away into captivity, that God will forgive them if they will turn to Him (6:36-39).
- 36. If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;
- 37. Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;
- 38. If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:
- 39. Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.
Solomon asks God to open His eyes and hear with His ears the prayers of the people; and he asks God to not turn His face away from those He has anointed.
- 40. Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
- 41. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
- 42. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
In chapter 7:12-16, God answers Solomon:
- 12. And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice.
- 13. If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
- 14. If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
- 15. Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
- 16. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Where are God’s eyes and His heart today? “Forever” and “perpetually” are His eyes and His heart in Jerusalem. The glory of God has not been there since He departed from the Temple (Ezekiel 10:18), but His heart is in Jerusalem always.
God has always, throughout history, saved a remnant of the Jews who would be faithful to Him. Today, there are events taking place that have not existed for almost 2000 years (since 70 A.D. when the Temple was destroyed).
The architects to rebuild the Temple have been selected. The Sanhedrin has been re-established. A man has now been selected to be the high priest. According to God’s commands, he must be a Levite. The vessels to be used in worship have been made. The priests’ garments have been made. There are now “red heifers” (Num. 19:2) for the first time in many years. The last I heard, there were three red heifers. It is absolutely a prerequisite that there be a red heifer sacrificed before Temple worship can be established. It is a “cleansing ritual” for the priests.
The ultra-orthodox Jews believe in the soon coming of the Messiah so much so that they are preparing. Are we, as Christians, as well prepared for the return of Christ as the Jews are for the Messiah?
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Your comments and suggestions are welcomed.
Mrs. Melba Stiner, writes for her magazine, "Are These The End Times"
Isaiah 58:6 -11, Inc.
You can email Mrs. Stiner: isaiah58611@aol.com
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