Stories of Revival- April

The Road to Revival

II Chronicles 34

What is revival? Said one Christian author, “Revival is a sovereign act of God that renews God’s people through repentance and a fresh baptism in the Holy Spirit with major affects on the whole community, or communities where it starts; the fire of the Spirit then spreads out consuming all in its path! For God’s people it’s a fresh discovery of Jesus and a fresh baptism of Holy Spirit fire, yet it is also God’s response to the heart cry of his people in prayer for their nation, their cities, their towns, their villages, their local communities, their neighbours and their unsaved family!”

Revival is not send down from earth to Heaven; it is sent down from Heaven to earth!

Revival is in the heart of God, but it is our heart that God is reading.

II Chronicles 16:9: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him...”

One of the greatest revivals in the Bible took place near the end of the empire, for in the days of Josiah, the Lord renewed His people. For 5e7 years, the land had suffered under the reigns of Manasseh and Amon. The law of the LORD had been forsaken and ignored. Idolatry had become rampant. Child sacrifices in the valley of Hinnom was a regular occurrence. Gone were the days when Israel worshipped Jehovah in the Temple. Now, they not only worshipped false gods in the groves and high places, for paganism was promoted in the temple itself!

With the birth of Josiah, we are less than fifty years from the final ruination of the nation of Israel. Josiah was 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for 31 years.

Before him,

JOSIAH’S HERITAGE:

his father’s name was Amon- 33:21-25-

he sacrificed unto the idols

he did not humble himself

reigned for 2 years from Jerusalem

his grandfather’s name was Manasseh- 33:1-20-

he reigned for 55 years

he did evil in the sight of the LORD

he built high places

reared altars for Baalim

made groves

worshipped all the host of heaven

he built altars in the house of the LORD

he built altars for all the host of heaven in the courts of the house of the LORD

he caused the children to pass through the fire to Moloch

he used witchcraft and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards

set a carved image in the house of God

he made them to err and to do worse than the heathen (33:9)

After him,

his son, JEHOAHAZ, reigned for 3 months

then came ELIAKIM/JEHOIAKIM- he was a puppet king of Egypt who reigned for 11 years

next, JEHOIACHIN reigned for 70 days- he was taken captive to Babylon

next, JEHOIACHIN reigned for 70 days- he was taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar was later rebelled against him. II Kings 25 tells us that he fled to Jericho but was captured by Nebuchadnezzar’s men. He was brought to Riblah where his sons were killed and then his eyes put were out— the last thing he saw was the death of his sons.

This was the end.

The Babylonians came three times— 605 BC, 597 BC and 586 BC. But you can go all the way back to Jehoiakim to see the first invasion. IN OTHER WORDS, less than 15 years after the death of Josiah, the hammer started to fall. A great revival took place right before ultimate judgment would come.

Could it be that a great revival will come before the end of days?

Road to Revival

the land was purged of false gods and false things (34:3-7)

at the age of 16, Josiah began to seek after God

at the age of 20, Josiah began to purge the land

the temple became important again (34:8-13)

HE FILLS THE VACUUM LEFT FROM THAT WHICH HE DESTROYED IN THE LAND

This is an important statement about revival. It is not about what you have taken out of your life that brings revival. It is what about you put into your Christian life that determines where you are with Christ.

the law of God was found (34:14-17)

this was the law of Moses— inspired scripture

II Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

II Peter 1:20-21: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

the law had also been preserved

Psalm 119:89: “LAMED. For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.”

Psalm 12:6-7: “The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

the law had not been lost; it had been neglected

revival will come in our lives as we rediscover the power of God’s Word and give it its proper place in our lives!

the knowledge of sin was revealed (34:18-21)

II Chronicles 34:21: “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.”

God’s judgment was made known (34:22-25)

older brother Israel has now been in captivity for over 90 years

God has been warning Judah for hundreds of years to repent and to return unto Him

II Chronicles 34:25: “Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.”

God’s judgment was withheld (34:26-32)

because Josiah was,

tender of heart

humble of spirit

II Chronicles 32:26: OF HEZEKIAH: “Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.”

II Chronicles 33:12: OF MANASSEH: “And when he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,”

II Chronicles 33:19: OF MANASSEH: “His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sin, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers.”

II Chronicles 33:23: of AMON: “And humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more.”

II Chronicles 34:27: OF JOSIAH: “Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.”

8. national renewal (34:33)

i. the people served the Lord (33)

ii. the passover was kept (35:1-19)

His Hair Began to Grow Again

Judges 16

The Power of a Vow

Nazarite Vow

Judges 13:7: “But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.”

From time-to-time in the nation of Israel, God would raise up holy people to harken the people to the holiness of God. Amos noted, “And I raised up of your sons for prophets, And of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? saith the Lord. But ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink; And commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not.”

The Hebrew term for “Nazirite” comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to separate” (נזר, nzr). Numbers 6 presents the distinguishing features of the vow as

abstaining from anything related to grapes and/or alcohol

refraining from cutting one’s hair

avoiding dead people (even family members)

Though the vow was typically short-lived, two men in the Bible were said to have taken the vow in a permanent way: Samson and Samuel (I Samuel 1:11: “And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no rasor come upon his head.” )

John the Baptist *may* have been the last Nazirite to appear in the Bible. Though the Bible does not explicitly mention the term in connection to John, he does live the life of a holy one. Luke 1:15 says of him, “For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb.” [Could it be that John is not noted to be a Nazarite, because he was the way-maker for one from Nazareth whose way he was to prepare???]

For the believer, the Nazarite vow-principle is taught in the New Testament. Paul notes in Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Because this vow symbolized the need to be separate unto God, the spirit of the vow is instructive to modern-day believers.

II Timothy 1:9: “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,”

I Peter 1:15: “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;”

WATCH THIS:

Judges 13:25: “And the Spirit of the Lord began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.”

Judges 14:6: “And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done.”

Judges 14:19: “And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them, and took their spoil, and gave change of garments unto them which expounded the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.”

Judges 15:14: “And when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him: and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands.”

The Principle of Samson’s Hair

Samson accomplished some amazing feats— superhuman feats of strength!

he killed a lion bare-handed (14:5-6)

he slew thirty Philistines (14:19)

he caught 300 foxes and tied torches to their tails (15:3-5)

he broke heavy bonds (15:14; 16:9, 12, 14)

he slew 1,000 men with the jawbone of a donkey (15:15)

he carried the gate of the city of Gaza (16:3)

He was super-human in his strength! Yet, it did not appear quite obvious what made Samson so strong! How could a man do what Samson could? I did not seem obvious to anyone. It is clearly not his physical strength, for if it were there would be not secret to his power. His power did not come through anything, or anyone, other than God AND the commitment to the Nazirite vow.

Here is where the paradox of Samson’s life become apparent.

Warren Wiersbe notes that although Samson was a “winner” in the world’s eyes, he was a “loser” at certain points in his life.

he lost his respect for his parents (14:1-20)

he incrementally violated his Nazirite vow (14:5-9)

he lost control of his tongue (14:10-18)

he lost his temper (14:19-20)

The message of the life of Samson is that strength of the body is not always equal strength of the soul!!!

Paul notes in II Corinthians 4:16: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

However, what was the secret of Samson’s strength? Well, the harlot of Gaza devoted herself to finding out!

1st test: Judges 16:6-7: “And Delilah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee. And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.”

2nd test: Judges 16:10-11: “And Delilah said unto Samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.”

3rd test: Judges 16:13-14 “And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound. And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web. And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.”

Daily tests: Judges 16:15-17: “And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth. And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a rasor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.”

The principle of Samson’s hair is this: power in the Christian life comes from obedience to God’s law. As the prophet Zechariah noted, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, Saith the Lord of hosts.” (14:6)

Now, watch this:

Judges 16:20: “And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him.”

The Regrowth of Samson’s Hair

Solomon is devastating in several ways. We see a sad and broken down man in Judges 16:21: “But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.”

Of this text, a thousand preachers have said,

SIN TAKES YOU FURTHER THAN YOU WANTED TO GO

IT KEEPS YOU LONGER THAN YOU WANTED TO STAY

IT COSTS YOU MORE THAN YOU WANTED TO PAY

How true! Samson, one would think, has lost it all. He has forfeited the mighty power of God. He will not see his potential. He will not deliver God’s people from the Philistines, but rather the Philistines have taken advantage over him.

Yet, Judges 16:22 stands out in the Bible as one of the great revival passages in all of Scripture. “Howbeit the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaven.”

If there is not a forgiving God…if there is not a restoring Savior…if there is not a re-viving Life-Giver…explain the inclusion of that note in the sacred text— however, there IS A GOD WHO FORGIVE AND RESTORES!

Why, though, would God do this? Rob Green wrote, “Samson’s final burst of strength is not a reward for Solomon’s faithfulness of what he was given. Instead, the symbol returned and God kept His vow because God always keeps His vows.”

Hebrews 11:32: “And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:”

Who are these people? They are the ones who come to know that strength and power belongs to God!

Conclusion:

God is able to revive those dead things in our lives. As sprigs of hair, He is able to restore what has been lost or stolen. This is our God!

Joel 2:25: “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, The cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you.” It is no wonder his story ends with this epitaph: Judges 16:30: “And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.”

David’s Confession to God

II Samuel 12 | Psalm 51