2 Chronicles 7:13 Made Simple

KJV ORIGINAL

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;

Close to the original. Clear modern English.

✦ MADE SIMPLE

If I stop the rain from falling, or if I send swarms of locusts to destroy the crops, or if I send disease among my people,

⚡ THE BOTTOM LINE

God is explaining that He has control over natural disasters and can use them to get His people's attention when they turn away from Him.

📚 Historical Context

This verse is part of God's response to King Solomon after the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem, during the prosperous era of the united kingdom of Israel around 950 BC. It reflects the ancient Near Eastern understanding that God controls natural elements as a means of enforcing covenant obedience, warning of potential disasters like drought or pests if the people strayed. In the broader biblical narrative, this fits into themes of divine judgment and mercy seen throughout the Old Testament.

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Deuteronomy 28:42

Locusts will devour all your trees and the fruit of your land.

Joel 1:4

Whatever the swarming locusts didn't destroy, the hopping locusts finished off. And whatever the hopping locusts missed, the destroying locusts devoured. Then the stripping locusts came through and ate whatever was left.

Exodus 10:15

The locusts covered the entire land so completely that it looked dark. They ate every plant in the country and all the fruit on the trees that had survived the hailstorm. Nothing green was left anywhere, not on the trees or in the fields throughout all of Egypt.

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