Unwanted Locusts?

Sometimes a verse is quoted so often that it almost seems that it is freestanding, needing no interpretation or context. Such a verse is 2 Chronicles 7:14. It is often given as the antidote to the United States' departure from God and need for revival. "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." Certainly sounds like revival, doesn't it?

Assuming for the moment that the United States can lay legitimate claim to the title of "God's people who are called by his name," it seems that nobody ever quotes this verse with the one preceding. "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. . . ."

Put into that context, it seems that the prayer of the people is not so much for spiritual awakening and revival as it is for physical relief from God's hand of judgment. When God judged their land and caused drought to keep the crops from growing and locusts to destroy what remained, it should cause God's people to turn back to him. God would forgive the sins of the people and then heal their land (i.e., remove the locusts and pestilence and allow the rains to come again). Additionally, this promise was given to Solomon, the head of God's mediatorial kingdom, his chosen people, the nation of Israel.

So where does that leave us? While these verses do not promise the United States revival if Christians pray, I suppose they do teach us that repentance is necessary for God's restoration. I think the bigger lesson to be learned is that in hermeneutics, context is king.