How do Christians apply 2 Chronicles 15:13 today?

[Leah71]

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[ViaCrucis]

How do Christians apply the OT passage 2 Chronicles 15:13 today?

"and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman" (RSV)

Since Christians are not Israelites living 2500+ years ago during the time of the divided kingdom, when many living in the land were following after various Canaanite gods, who were called by the national covenant God made with them on Sinai that they should worship Him only...well then I'd say Christians don't really apply the passage.

Scripture is not always proscriptive, very often it is merely descriptive. This is one of those times.

It describes events and circumstances that are quite alien from anything today, under an entirely different covenant structure that has no relevance for Christians in any age. Christians don't have a national covenant, we don't own a parcel of land, there is no invocation for us to rule or govern a nation or enforce a set of covenant laws upon all living within the borders of such a kingdom, etc and so forth.

Christianity establishes Christians as aliens, foreigners, living in the nations of our birth and residence; our kingdom isn't ruled by kings or presidents but is ruled by Christ from heaven, invisibly upon the whole earth. We aren't part of the covenant established by God with the Jews at Mt. Sinai, thus we have neither an earthly kingdom nor a set of civil laws to run one. At Christ's coming, at the end of history, and the fulness of the kingdom comes there will simply be joy, peace, and justice everywhere and for all--forever. There will be no death, no putting of anyone to death, no suffering or pain or sorrow.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ebia]

How do Christians apply the OT passage 2 Chronicles 15:13 today?

"and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman" (RSV)

The instruction wasn't given today. It was given in and for another part of the story. My job is to live my part of the story as the coherent continuation of the story that included that which is told in 2 Chronicles, not to reenact 2 Chronicles over and over.

 

[football5680]

It isn't something that was binding forever. It was one command for a specific time. It is no longer relevant so we don't have to apply it.

 

[Eric Hibbert]

How do Christians apply the OT passage 2 Chronicles 15:13 today?

"and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman" (RSV)

The first thing we do is to look at the whole passage to see whether it applies to us.

 

[bling]

How do Christians apply the OT passage 2 Chronicles 15:13 today?

"and that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman" (RSV)

That was a fair and just punishment for the Jews, but like lots of the other commands it was too severe for the Jews to follow through on.

So what does that teach them and us today:

1. Intentional sins against God are extremely bad creating an unbelievable huge debt (a cruel death).
2. If one way salvation can be “earned” is by keep all of God’s rule perfectly (since they are just and fair), we need to look for another way that does not require “earning salvation”.
3. At some points in our lives we all deserve to be stoned, so I need to depend on a merciful Forgiving God to forgive me since I cannot do anything to undo the punishment I deserve.

 

[paul1149]

It wasn't even a command, it was something they took on themselves in their zeal, at a time when religion and state were tightly tied together.

Beyond that, coercion ("the leaven of Herod") has been explicitly overruled in the New Covenant, many principles of which you will find in the Sermon on the Mount, starting in Matthew 5.

However, if there is New Covenant analog to 2Chr 15.13, it would be shunning. Paul tells Timothy to watch out for fake Christians in the church. They will be "fierce wolves not sparing the flock" (Acts 20). He tells Timothy to fellowship with those who call on the name of the Lord from a pure heart. And in 1Cor 5 he tells the church to put out a man who is in flagrant immorality. There are other examples, such as the teaching on church discipline in Mt. 18.

 

[parsley]

You found quite a verse.

It wasn't even a command, it was something they took on themselves in their zeal, at a time when religion and state were tightly tied together.

You can read more about the story here:
http://www.studylight.org/desk/inde...ype=general&q1=2+Chronicles+15+&s=0&t1=en_nas

When something is written in the Bible, it is not necessarily the direct commandment and will of God. Much of the OT was written as historical record of God's intervention with people, with the intention that we would reflect on how people handled situations. Was it wise... was it God's will... there is no commentary.

If the verse were in any other context, I would also mention that "put to death" was assumed by the translator. The word used could also imply that people would die by natural consequence if they did not follow the guidance God gave them.

Search for: 2[bless and do not curse]Chronicles 15:13 - Strong's Interlinear Bible Search - Reference Desk - StudyLight.org

But since this situation shows the reactions of men, their zeal to please God, the verse shows their declaration. It is like the disciples in the middle of the incredible transfiguration moment, who said to Jesus, "I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

Peter didn't even wait long enough for the moment to be over -- he jumped right in with the human response, assuming that must be what God wanted.

How do Christians apply 2 Chronicles 15:13 today?

You would be hard-pressed to find any Christian today who would want to carry out that idea. Jesus taught about healing strangers, giving up things for others, praying for one's enemy, and turning the other cheek.

 

[Harry3142]

Asa, the king of Judah at this time, had just defeated Zerah the Cushite in battle. He credited his victory to the direct intervention of God himself on the side of the Hebrews, and as a result reinstituted the laws of Torah as the law of the land. At this time the worship of idols had divided their people. This worship was expressly forbidden in the Torah under penalty of death, so Asa enforced the laws that were already 'on the books'. In this way he unified his people and rid the land of those who were potentially treasonous.

But we cannot see this as vigilanteism. The Torah, which was their constitution, expressly forbade the worship of idols, and itself ordered that the penalty be death for anyone who violated these laws. So what Asa did was carry out the sentence which had already been passed on the violators by Torah itself.

 

[Leah71]

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[BluhdoftheLamb]

Kind of amazing how everyone's answer has the same common ground, isn't it? I would've given my answer, but it was already contained in the thread, repeatedly.

 

[Sketcher]

Christians in the New Testament didn't even apply it. Why? Because they had a new mandate from Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all people, making converts and disciples of them. You can't do that with a dead person. If the mandate to kill unbelievers was still in any way active and binding, the church would have formed death squads and killed the pagans and demon-possessed and even the faction of Jews that crucified Christ. But, as we see in the book of Acts, they delivered the demon-possessed, and they preached to pagan and Jew alike.

 

[parsley]

Also, you will find some of the more violent areas of the Bible associated with kings who had to defend their territories. In a situation where troops are invading the borders, sacking and pillaging, "put to death" uses a different inference.

 

[Philpy1976]

I would agree with everyone else.

In basic terms it is like reading one line from a set of instructions.

When installing a printer on my pc, one of the first instructions was "do not connect the printer via USB to the PC"
I was told that i must first insert the CD-Rom in order that i could install the software.
Once the software was installed I was then prompted to connect the printer.

Now, if i decided to continue following that one instruction (telling me not to), my printer will never work.

Hope this makes sense.....