2 Chronicles 7:14 – If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
So often verses like these are applied to America, and in doing so I believe we do a great disservice to our fellow citizens. When we view America the same way we view Old Covenant Israel, we think and act with a mindset that does not help our fellow citizens know the most urgent, life transforming solution to their greatest need.
2 Chronicles 7:14 clearly talks about God’s covenant people who have betrayed the covenant God made with them, and God responds by calling them back to the covenant relationship and its blessing through repentance and faith. In the Scriptures we see two examples of people in a covenant with God. First, we see the people of Israel, the Old Covenant. Through their rebellion they proved that there was no way for sinners to maintain their covenant with God. They needed a Covenant Keeper to save them. The New Covenant, the better covenant relationship with God in Scripture, is the everlasting relationship through faith in Christ and his completed work on the cross.
Often when people make comparative associations between America and Israel, they fail to realize that God never made a covenant with America, and to equate America with Israel is to treat America as God’s people without any concern for entry into the New Covenant through Christ alone.
In the Bible, Babylon is most associated with the nations of the world. God’s covenant people were under judgment and exiled to Babylon for 70 years. This historical reality seems to be a picture of how the New Testament church is seen in this world. In the Apostle Peter’s first letter, he writes to the church and explains that he is with “she who is in Babylon” (5:13). In Peter’s day Rome was the great nation that was comparatively associated with Babylon, so when Peter sent greetings from “she who is in Babylon,” he was sending greetings from the church (she) who was in Rome.
As you read First Peter, you find that Peter echoes the sentiments of the prophets of the Babylonian exile. He implores Christians to respect kings and governments, to honor unbelievers and contribute to their wellbeing, and to share with them the hope of Christ. Peter’s point is for us to live in Babylon and display a life that emanates Christ in the face of impending judgment for those who reject salvation. When Christians acknowledge Babylon for what it is, we truly live according to Christ’s great commission for the world.
When we view America as Israel, we treat it as if it has a covenantal relationship with God, and when we suggest that a nation is God’s people without the work of the cross, we eradicate any hope of salvation and consign ourselves to constant frustration with unbelievers. Instead of having compassion for “Babylonians,” we feel only disdain for a country that should be something other than what it currently is. Instead of demonstrating God’s love, we condemn others and separate ourselves. We long for a moralized society rather than regenerate people, and there is a profound difference between the two.
Because I value the Babylon that I have been graciously allowed to live in, I refuse to compare America with the Old Covenant Israel. I love Americans too much to muddy our view of this country and rob people of the grace of Christ that people so desperately need. We live well in Babylon because Babylon is our mission ground. Our main message must always be a compassionate plea for Americans to come out of Babylon and become exiles with us. We want every new exile in Babylon to look forward to the ultimate homecoming when we will be exiles no more.