WANTED: REVIVAL !
A Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies: "People and their leaders will come from all over to see what's going on. The leaders will confer with one another: Shouldn't we try to get in on this? Get in on God's blessings? Pray to GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies? What's keeping us? Let's go!" Zechariah 8:21 (The Message)
Based on 2 Chronicles 29-31, Dr. Joe Aldrich wrote:
"It hadn't happened in 250 years. Could a 25 years old Judean king pull off a spiritual summit at Jerusalem?... It was a daring dream planted by God in the heart of a newly crowned monarch named Hezekiah, the 13th king of Judah... In the first month of his reign, Hezekiah opened the doors of the temple of the Lord. No doubt it needed airing out.
It should not surprise us that God directed Hezekiah to begin the revival by consecrating the priests. These religious leaders had failed to maintain their own hearts and had neglected the disciplines of their faith and service. God's first priority was to cleanse His House and its leadership.
The Temple itself was unclean... Hezekiah's generation cleaned house, hauling off all that was unholy. In the process of cleaning the temple, all that was unholy was publically exposed.
God is to be worshiped in the beauty of holiness. Hezekiah had no other agenda. His goal wasn't even to "win" the nation. He felt burdened to restore the true worship of God. So worshiped, God will draw men unto Himself, and to each other.
So they carted away all that was an abomination to the God of holiness. They took the trash to the trash heap... They got rid of all that would hinder fellowship and worship. It took 16 days to get rid of the junk and prepare themselves and their neglected temple for worship.
The next order of their business was the sin offering, And sinned they had. They made no excuses. Humbled, they confessed (see 2 Chronicles 29:6). They must be confessed if God is going to release His blessing.
Notice that Hezekiah commanded that the sin offering be made for all Israel, not just Judah (2 Chron. 29:24). He didn't seek revenge, he sought restoration. He wasn't exclusive, he was inclusive. He desired the benefits of forgiveness to accrue to his enemies.
His home base now in order, he sent out invitations to the party. The invitation read: "Come as you are." The letter was a call to abandon their unfaithfulness, cease being "stiff-necked," and submit to the Lord.
As you can well imagine, the invitation received mixed reviews. "The couriers went from town to town.. but the people scorned and rediculed them" (2 Chron. 30:10). But thank God for the remnant of faith. Those who saw beyond the rubbish, the burned gates, and the destroyed relationships. Those whose hearts longed for unity. Those who understood the evangelistic implications of a lifestyle of unity. Those who longed for reunion.
"Neverthless, some men... humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem." (2 Chron. 30:11). Neverthless means "in spite of." In spite of the ridicule and scorn, some were big enough to sense the rightness of heeding the call to unity.
It is significant that Hezekiah's vision was not a call to a lectureship or a conference on unity... The problem, however, wasn't intellectual. Nothing less than a prolonged meeting with God in repentance, reconciliation, and worship had much chance of tearing down the walls of mistrust and hate.
Hezekiah's invitation was a return to the basics, a call to celebrate an ancient deliverance memorialized by the Passover Feast. It was a call to return to their roots, to come together around that which unites, to focus on their common deliverance from 400 years of slavery. It was a chance to raise Yahweh's banner out of the dust.
Hezekiah's Solemn Assembly was really nothing radical. God's original plan for His people was that they would come together in Jerusalem 3 times each year!
This "Solemn Assembly" was to be a time for doing business with God... Their systematic "coming togethers" were designed to send them back to their towns and villages united again around Yahweh and His plan for them.
Those who chose to return to Jerusalem are said to have "humbled themselves." They had to swallow their pride, go against public opinion, and perhaps face the ridicule of their peers. Undoubtedly part of their humiliation was an admission of their sin and their need to confess it and seek reconciliation.
Certainly the king's proclamation stirred up debate in virtually every town and village to which the couriers delivered their challenging invitation.
"Following the word of the Lord." The king simply implemented God's vision. It was God's idea! Despite those who scorned and ridiculed, "a very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread in the second month." (2 Chron. 30:13). As far as we know, they left their weapons home. That in itself was a step of faith. What a glorious scene it must have been!
The Lord knows we could use some wisdom in his plan:
1. The king's theological convictions inspired him to take a bold and risky chance... God witholds revival fires if leadership lacks vision, faith, humility, and courage. Pastor, what are you doing to bring about true unity in your community? Church leader, are you part of the problem or part of the answer? You say no one in your area has such a vision? Then why don't you be the first to "get it"? It has to start somewhere. Why not with you?
2. The revival began with geniune repentance on the part of Israel's leaders. In the same manner, contemporary reunitus begins with humbled and broken pastors who take holiness seriously (see 2 Chron. 30:15). As Francis Frangipane says, "Before God moves in power, it seems, He moves in holiness."
3. The refuse and garbage of the past was thrown out the temple. In like manner, churches full of rancor, strife, and division are filled with unclean things that need to be jettisoned... I suppose I'd be curious to see what was in that proverbial dumpster. Let's leave it at this: You fill your truck, and I'll fill mine. R.A. Torrey says the first step toward revival is for a group of people to get themselves thoroughly right with God. Dare we approach the temple mount without first carrying the idols of our lives to the Kidron Valley dump?
4. The true people of God, from all parts of the nation, strangled their pride and gathered for corporate praise and confession. Funny how pride keeps us from coming together around that which is substantial and essential. Tragic, isn't it, that denominational or theological pride often precludes believers from participating in God's call to maintain unity in spite of our diversity?... Thank God for those who do humble themselves and come to the party. There's no other way to attract the blessing of God. It's my observation that the ancient sin of pride is the major reason pastors minister in isolation from others of like, precious faith... Mark it well: Humility is the first step toward unity. Without it, unity is a pipe dream... When God's invitation comes, we have but two options: laugh and scorn, or humble ourselves, detour to the valley, and approach the holy mount - together.
5 The corporate gathering at Jerusalem precipitated an unprecedented outpouring of God's blessing. Here's the principle: Great healing is followed by great revival.
Lord, bring it on! If the church is to become what Jesus prayed for in John 17, it must happen."