When the Bible teaches about a topic, it addresses a wide array of situations and has meaning on multiple levels of geometric measure.
Too often and sadly, so-called “Bible teachers” will say, “That Bible passage was in the context of [whatever Bible context], so you can’t claim that as any promise for your own life.”
Never believe it.
The ENTIRE Bible happened in a specific context for a specific time and place and audience. The miracle of the Bible is that those events have application today—and, not just the usual “I know history” application.
For example, God told Israel that if His people, called by Him, would humble themselves and pray, He would forgive them and restore their land. Some people claim, “That was only for Israel when God was taking them away as a punishment. Therefore, this passage only teaches us that God cares for Israel. If you think that promise applies to other countries, you misunderstand.”
This is the teaching of someone who doesn’t understand the Bible.
Other parts of the Bible make it clear that God welcomes anyone who repents. His promise to Israel comes in that greater context. If this passage teaches that national restoration and repentance are reserved only for Israel, then it would need to include something to that effect, but it does not.
When God promised to forgive and restore His people who repent, He continued His precedent to forgive and restore all people who repent. What God plans specifically for each nation and time differs, but the overall promise remains.
Never let any so called “context” Bible lesson abuse context to convince you to interpret the Bible against what the Bible says.
If God shows love to one person in the Bible, He can show love to you also. When the angel appeared to the shepherds to announce Jesus’s birth, he didn’t say, “I bring great news only in context,” he said, “I bring great news for all people.”
God would not have sent the angel to announce God’s plan to save all people through Jesus’s self-sacrifice unless God had His aim on opening His truth and His promises to all people from the very beginning.
Exodus 34:6-7, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 51:17, Luke 2:10