I will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:12-14)
August 15th 2015, 1s the 70th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonization. We were under the rule of Japan for 36 years, from 1910 to 1945. And in 1945, about 70 years ago from today, Japan surrendered during World War 2, and our nation was liberated. It isn’t as long as you think. It has been 70 years. But the thing is, we are no longer celebrative on this 70th anniversary. As a matter of fact, we were only really grateful for the first year since the liberation. Now, I am sure that you are all knowledgeable of the Korean history. We were liberated in August 15th, 1945. Everyone waved their flags and rejoiced in the fact that our nation was once again free. But shortly after, our nation was torn in two: North and South. The US enforced democracy in the South, and Russia set up a communist country in the North. What happened after that?
In just mere 5 years since the separation into two parts, we went through the Korean War in June 25th 1950. We commemorated the 65th anniversary of that tragic period in June 25th. It is a painful part of our history. Ever since the armistice in 1953, Korea is still divided in two, with our guns still pointed at each other. Even though we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of Korean Liberation, we are still not united, the North and the South. The people of Korea are fighting each other for longer than the 36 years that Korea was under Japanese rule.
As we are celebrating the 70th anniversary, there is much research going on in regards to how the two Koreas can become one in a true sense of liberation.
In 1945, when Korea was torn in two, North Korea was much better off than the South. Pyongyang was so full of Christians that it was once called the 2nd Jerusalem, and it was a richer city than any in the South. But how is it now, after 70 years?
No one can believe in Jesus in the North. Anyone who confesses their faith is punished. Those who are keeping to the faith confessed 70 years ago, must do so in secret, in hiding. If you confess your faith publicly, you will be executed immediately. And how difficult is life in North now? Many people are defecting from the North just to survive. There is not enough food in the North. There is no medical service to speak of. There is no freedom; everyone is under surveillance at all times.
In contrast, how is the South?
Anywhere you go, you are sure to find a church. There are over 10 million Christians. There is abundance in food. There is freedom. It is known as a nation of bright future, and people from all over the world come to seek out their dreams.
How can the North and the South become one again?
Now, in this world, there are 3 nations that went through division:
Germany, Vietnam, and Korea.
Germany was divided into East Germany and West Germany after World War 2. And in 1980, it was reunified. It was a peaceful, bloodless reunification.
Vietnam also became reunified, but through a war. North and South Vietnam fought each other bitterly, and many nations participated in this war. North Vietnam won, and it was reunified under communist government.
And now, in this earth, there is only one nation that is still divided: Korea.
How can we become one again?
It has been 70 years since the division, and despite so much effort in reconciliation, there is no progress to be seen.
Now, I want to ask you: What must we do as Christians for peaceful reunification of the two Koreas? Is there nothing that we can do? Must we only look on helplessly?
The Bible tells us how we must live in all situations. And in such hopeless situation, a situation that seems to get worse and worse, there is something that we must seek out: The Word of God.
2 Timothy 3:17 clearly tells us that God’s Word enables the servant of God to be thoroughly equipped for every good work. It is the perfect book to enable us to do good work.
1. We must pray to God
It is our duty as Christians to pray. The scope of our prayer is vast. Prayer has the power to move God to action. In today’s passage, we see King Solomon dedicating the temple to God, and how God responds to him.
God appeared to Solomon at night, and expressed His joy, and blessed Solomon.
And in verse 13, He spoke of things to come.
When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain…
When I command locusts to devour the land..
When I send a plague among the people…
Now, if there is no rain, and locusts devour the land, and there is a plague among the people, that land becomes a land that is difficult to live in. That land becomes inhospitable, a land devoid of blessings, a land of curses.
70 years ago, mountains in North Korea were full of trees. But now, they are barren.
70 years ago, the land was fertile and gave much in harvest, but now it is no longer true. And so, millions of people have died because there is no food.
It is no longer a land of blessings.
Now, take a closer look at verse 13, and you can read it a bit differently:
I can open up the heavens so that there is rain….on this land.
I can bring about a great harvest…on this land.
I can make sure no plague comes…on this land.
Isn’t it the same Lord who can shut the rain is the same who can soak the earth with plentiful rain? The same Lord who can command locusts to devour the land is the same who can cast away the swarm, and send in insects beneficial for harvest?
The same Lord who can send plague on the people is the same who can bring health to the people?
I believe it is one and the same Lord who can do this.
Let us read verse 14 together. It is a precious verse.
if my people, who are called by my name, will 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.
What catches your eye in this verse? What phrase hits your heart?
“And I will heal their land.”
I love this part. It is a great inspiration for me. That He will heal the land.
I believe that our God is a God who can heal that land.
He can heal South Korea. He can heal North Korea.
Broken land, barren land, cursed land, inhospitable land, He can heal all of them.
He can heal a land that is soaked in blood from wars and fighting, to a peaceful land.
Remember this verse: 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Our God heals lands.
We must pray that God will heal the land in North Korea.
Now, in order for God to heal this land, it cannot just happen with well-wishing. God has clearly stated to us: pray and seek my face.
It is to pray.
That is how we can seek God’s face.
And He will rejoice in us, and hear our prayer, turn His face toward us, and heal this land.
Now, we cannot know how God will do this.
No matter how much we confess to know God, we cannot possibly claim to know God fully. We cannot fathom how God will act, or even when He will act.
Only that He will act, and do as He has commanded us to do.
And God has told us, Christians, what we must do: believe and pray.
Now, have you really prayed to God to heal the land in North Korea? I haven’t either. We must confess our sins in this.
It is the 70th anniversary of liberation, yet all we have been doing is griping that it is impossible politically, or economically, or even diplomatically. We just think that it is impossible, and have done nothing to change it.
But God has given us a very precious Word. He is the One who heals that land. Amen.
So we must pray diligently, seek His face so that He will personally go and heal that land.
Toward the end of World War 2, 33,500 British soldiers were surrounded by the Germans. There was no way out for them. During that time, Winston Churchill was the Prime Minister of UK. All the senators met in one place for this.
The senators asked Churchill: Must we sit here idly while the 33,500 British soldiers are surrounded by the Germans?
Churchill gave no answer.
A senator questioned him: Are you asleep, Prime Minister?
Churchill replied: No Senator, I was not asleep. I was praying. I was praying to the Almighty God.
Everyone became silent, the bickering ended, and decision was made to ask the entire nation of UK to pray for the soldiers.
Something strange happened: The sky poured rain, and the German tanks were stuck in mud, and the entire region was engulfed in thick fog, through which the British soldiers escaped unscathed.
When the leaders repent and pray, there is great effect. When the entire nation pray together, God will surely hear.
God heals lands.
2. Whose prayer does God listen to?
In verse 14, it says: If my people who are called by my name, will turn from their evil ways, humble themselves and pray, God will forgive their sins and heal their land.
Pay close attention to verse 14.
Whose prayer does He listen to?
My people, who are called by My name.
But what happened to this people? They are in wicked ways.
Because they are in their wicked ways, God will not send rain, locusts will devour, and plagues ruin the land.
We must leave our wicked ways.
If we are still in our wicked ways, our hearts cannot be humbled.
If we are still in our wicked ways, we cannot pray to God.
We cannot seek God’s face.
We must leave our wicked ways.
Now, according to verse 14, even those people who are called by God’s name can fall into evil ways.
This is something that we must fear.
Even God’s people can fall into evil ways.
If that happens, God will strike the land.
This is the Word of God.
But how can those who are called by God’s name, the people of God, fall completely into evil ways? This may seem strange to you, but such things happen often in this world.
The one person that started the Korean War, Kim Il-Sung, was a Christian. His grandfather, Hyng-wook Kang, started a church in Chilgol called Hari Church, and served there as elder. Kim Il-Sung’s father, Hyung-jik Kim, became a deacon when he believed because of his wife, Shin-Hee Kang, and even went to a Christian school.
Kim Il-Sung’s mother, Shin-Hee Kang, was such a devoted believer that Nelson Bell, the father-in-law of Billy Graham, while serving in Korea as a medical missionary, changed her name to Ban-suk Kang. Even to this day, Kim Il-Sung’s mother’s name is listed as Ban-suk Kang.
Kim Il-Sung followed his mother to Sunday School very faithfully, and at her deathbed in 1932, she handed him the Bible, and told him to never let go of it. She even told him to go throughout Korea after liberation, and evangelize.
Kim Il-Sung went to church faithfully during his jr. High years, and every Christmas, he would be cast as Jesus in Christmas skits.
God looks at the center of man, but we cannot. To any onlooker, Kim Il-Sung seemed like a man of faith, and a person of God.
But like in verse 14, this person of God, called by His name, fell into evil ways. He fell in deeply. Completely. To the point of no return.
When Kim ruled the land, the land of North Korea began to be sick. Once called the 2nd Jerusalem due to its many churches, Pyongyang now became seeped in sin. War began, and the land was seeped in blood.
His son inherited this land, and now, his grandson is continuing the sin.
In our human perspective, healing of this land seems impossible.
But our God is living. The Words that He gave to King Solomon, still stands to this very day. It is the immutable Word of God.
No matter in what shape or form, if the leaders and the people of that land will leave their evil ways, pray to God, and seek His face, God will heal that land. He will hear them from heaven above, forgive them and heal their land.
Now, even though we live in the US, because we are people of God, we pray for this.
Oh God, may the leaders of North Korea leave their evil ways.
May their hearts learn to fear You.
Let them realize their many sins.
Through your mighty act, may they humble their hearts.
As Christians, in the face of impossible odds in worldly perspective, we must turn to God’s way, and the way of the Word to pray.
To do things God’s way, and not the world’s way.
When God saw the wickedness of Nineveh, He decided in His heart to destroy them. He hardened His heart to do this.
He even set the date: after 40 days.
And He sent the prophet Jonah to proclaim this ensuing death.
Jonah fled however. He was afraid of the Ninevites, and thought them deserving of such judgment, so he fled far away.
Yet, God led Jonah to Nineveh, to proclaim their death after 40 days. To proclaim judgment.
Jonah never encouraged them to repent.
He merely proclaimed the oncoming judgment.
But what happened?
The king of Nineveh turned from his evil ways. He left the evil ways behind. He realized his sins.
He cast off his royal robes, and put on sackcloth, and turned to God. He asked God for his life. He sought after God’s face.
And our God did not rain down judgment upon them. Even though judgment was already decided and set, He relented.
And I pray for the miracle of Nineveh in the land of North Korea.
Our Church has funds for reunification of Korea. We have set up a CD at the bank at $80 a month, that is now at $1,600. It is still very lacking.
But as Koreans, as Korean Christians, if we do not do anything for the reunification of the Koreas, we are so ashamed in front of God.
You see, to pray is a command from our Lord Jesus.
To love our enemies is a command from our Lord Jesus.
To pray for our enemies is what He commanded us to do.
God, may there never be another war among the Korean people.
May the Christians in South Korea pray for the peaceful reunification of Korea.
Even though he is our enemy, let us pray for Kim Jung-un, and the leaders of North Korea, so that they may turn from their evil ways.
3. When we humble ourselves, God heals the land.
The leaders of North Korea does not know humility. I am not even sure if the dictionary in North Korea has the word ‘humility.’ The North Korean dictionary from the Center for Reunification does not have the world ‘humility’.
God loves humble heart, and blesses them.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God blesses the proud of heart.
The Bible tells us that ‘pride comes before fall’.
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
What does it mean to be humble of heart? It is to realize that you are lacking. To realize that we are all fundamentally sinners in front of God.
If you are humble, then you can treat others right. You can hear other’s opinions.
But such traits are not seen by the leaders of North Korea.
Without such humility, there is no blessings from God. Land ruled by such leaders will never be healed.
Just like how king of Nineveh put ashes on his head, if our Christians will pray to God earnestly, God will act and change their hearts to become humble, and He will surely heal that land.
And it is the same with us.
We must remember that Kim Il-Sung grew up in a Christian home, attended church faithfully, but fell into evil ways and in turn affected the entire people of Korea.
We must never sin in ceasing prayer.
We must always watch ourselves, whether we are proud, or lacking in humility.
God is never lax in His actions.
He blesses those who pray, and those who are humble.
In a few days, it will be the 70th anniversary of Korean Independence day.
Let us repent for our lacking in prayer for peaceful reunification.
Let us repent that we do not fully believe that God is the One who can solve the problem in Korea.
He taught us to love and pray for our enemies. It is the Word for us today.
Let us become His people who pray and serve to bring about peaceful reunification of Korea.
He heals our land.
if my people, who are called by my name, will 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.