Biblical Revivals and Awakenings
So far in our series we’ve looked at twenty-three examples of revival in the Bible:
- Seth
- Noah
- Job
- Abram
- Joseph
- Moses
- Joshua
- Judges
- Naomi
- Ruth
- Hannah
- Samuel
- David
- Solomon
- Jehu
- Elijah
- Elisha
- Jonah
- Amos
- Hosea
- Isaiah
- Hezekiah
- Micah
The Assyrian army conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the prophetic ministries of Micah and Isaiah. What’s left? The Southern Kingdom of Judah. Several men prophesied during the last years of Judah. They include Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, and Obadiah. We’ll start with Nahum to see what we can learn about revival.
Nahum the Prophet
We know about Nahum from his writings, the Book of Nahum. We know he was an “Elkoshite,” though we can’t be sure of the location of ancient Elkosh. Some Bible scholars think it might be in Galilee, some in south Judah. It may be that archaeologists have not found the location yet.
We know from Nahum’s writings he prophesied from the middle to the late part of the 7th century BC. The kings of Judah during that time would have included Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah. However, none of those kings were mentioned in Nahum’s prophecies. He does mention Judah, but not the kings by name.
We know the primary subject of the Book from the first sentence –
The burden against Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. Nahum 1:1
The Hebrew word for “burden” is מַשָּׂא (massa’). It means “a load, burden, lifting, bearing,” and usually speaks of a threatening prophecy. When Isaiah prophesied against Babylon, it was called “The burden against Babylon” (Isaiah 13:1).
Nahum’s prophecy would be “against” Nineveh, the center of the Assyrian Empire’s power. The Assyrians had taken the people of Israel (Northern Kingdom) captive and replaced the land with people from other countries. The Assyrians were also intent on doing the same thing to the people of Judah (Southern Kingdom). Nahum prophesied against Assyria saying that God would avenge His people and bring an end to the armies of Assyria.
Keep in mind that Nahum the prophet saw this in a “vision” from God. As far as the kings and people of Judah were concerned, they saw the Assyrians as a powerful threat to their nation. They didn’t see what Nahum saw because God shows the future to His prophets and speaks to His people through them. That’s another lesson for revival. If you hear a true prophet of God, listen to what he says. How will you know a true prophet? They will speak only what God tells them through His Word.
Here’s what Nahum said –
God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; The Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies; The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, And will not at all acquit the wicked. Nahum 1:2-3
Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away. ‘Halt! Halt!’ they cry; But no one turns back. Take spoil of silver! Take spoil of gold! There is no end of treasure, Or wealth of every desirable prize. She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; Much pain is in every side, And all their faces are drained of color. Nahum 2:8-10
Behold, I am against you,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will burn your chariots in smoke, and the sword shall devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the earth, and the voice of your messengers shall be heard no more. Nahum 2:13
Woe to the bloody city! It is all full of lies and robbery. Its victim never departs. The noise of a whip And the noise of rattling wheels, Of galloping horses, Of clattering chariots! Horsemen charge with bright sword and glittering spear. There is a multitude of slain, A great number of bodies, Countless corpses— They stumble over the corpses— Because of the multitude of harlotries of the seductive harlot, The mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations through her harlotries, And families through her sorceries. Nahum 3:1-4
Your shepherds slumber, O king of Assyria; Your nobles rest in the dust. Your people are scattered on the mountains, And no one gathers them. Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, For upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually? Nahum 3:18-19
That’s how the Book of Nahum ends. The entire prophecy concerned God’s destruction of Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire, which happened within a short time after Nahum’s prophecy. How did God do that? Through a series of military defeats. The mighty Assyrian Empire was destroyed at the hands of the Babylonians, Medes, and Persians. Babylon rules over the Assyrian regions from the late part of the 7th century to the middle of the 6th century.
This history of Assyria is interesting when we remember what the prophet Isaiah wrote –
Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation,
And against the people of My wrath I will give him charge, To seize the spoil, to take the prey, And to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Yet he does not mean so, Nor does his heart think so; But it is in his heart to destroy, And cut off not a few nations. For he says, ‘Are not my princes altogether kings? Is not Calno like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria like Damascus? As my hand has found the kingdoms of the idols, Whose carved images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria, As I have done to Samaria and her idols, Shall I not do also to Jerusalem and her idols?’ Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Lord has performed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, that He will say, ‘I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks. Isaiah 10:5-12
God used Assyria to accomplish His judgment on Israel, then He punished Assyria – “the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his haughty looks.” It’s always good for us to remember that God is the Sovereign Creator of this world. He controls what happens through His will. That’s certainly an important lesson of revival. God may bring an unlikely opponent to His people to accomplish His will, but He will not leave that opponent unpunished.
Zephaniah the Prophet
Zephaniah was the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah. Zephaniah prophesied in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. Zephaniah began his prophesy against Judah –
I will utterly consume everything From the face of the land,’ Says the Lord; ‘I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, The fish of the sea, And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land,’ Says the Lord. ‘I will stretch out My hand against Judah, And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests— Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, But who also swear by Milcom; Those who have turned back from following the Lord, And have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.’ Be silent in the presence of the Lord God; For the day of the Lord is at hand, For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests. Zephaniah 1:1-7
God would stretch out His hand “against” Judah because of idol worship by the priests and the people. Zephaniah’s prophecy continued with what God would do to Judah –
- I will … punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, Nor will He do evil.’
- Therefore their goods shall become booty, And their houses a desolation They shall build houses, but not inhabit them
- They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.
- The great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly.
- The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out.
- That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers.
- I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord;
- Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.
- Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the Lord’s wrath
- But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy
- For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land
Zephaniah next calls on Judah to repent, which is central to revival –
Gather yourselves together, yes, gather together, O undesirable nation, Before the decree is issued, Or the day passes like chaff, Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you! Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger. Zephaniah 2:1-3
Seek the Lord “before” the Lord’s fierce anger arrives. Seek righteousness, seek humility. “It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.”
The rest of Zephaniah 2 contains prophecies concerning other people groups. Examples –
- For Gaza shall be forsaken
- Ashkelon desolate;
- They shall drive out Ashdod at noonday
- Ekron shall be uprooted.
- Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast
- The nation of the Cherethites
- The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: ‘I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant.’
- Surely Moab shall be like Sodom
- the people of Ammon like Gomorrah— Overrun with weeds and saltpits, And a perpetual desolation
- You Ethiopians also, You shall be slain by My sword.
- He will stretch out His hand against the north, Destroy Assyria, And make Nineveh a desolation,
Nahum’s prophecy ends with woes on Jerusalem because of the wickedness of its people and their leaders. However, Nahum ends his writings with a prophetic promise from God concerning His people –
I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly, Who are among you, To whom its reproach is a burden. Behold, at that time I will deal with all who afflict you; I will save the lame, And gather those who were driven out; I will appoint them for praise and fame In every land where they were put to shame. At that time I will bring you back, Even at the time I gather you; For I will give you fame and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I return your captives before your eyes,” Says the Lord. Zephaniah 3:18-20
Josiah the King
Nahum and Zephaniah prophesied during the reign of a king named Josiah. He was eight years old when he became a king and ruled Judah for 31 years. I want to look at Josiah at this point because the prophecies of Nahum and Zephaniah may have encouraged the boy king to bring about a short revival in Judah.
The last good king before Josiah was Hezekiah. Hezekiah’s son Manasseh was an evil king. He ruled Judah for 55 years. It was a terrible time for Judah. Manasseh undid all the good that his father had done for the nation spiritually. Hezekiah tore down the high places where the people worshiped idols. Manasseh rebuilt the high places. Hezekiah threw out all of the idols in the Temple, caused the priests to sanctify themselves to the Lord, and repair the Temple. Manasseh brought idol worship back into the Temple and caused the priests to leave the Lord. Manasseh built altars “for all the host of heaven” in the two courts of the Temple. He made his son pass through the fire. He practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. Manasseh “did much evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger” (2 Kings 21:6).
Manasseh died and his son Amon became king. Amon was 22 years old when he became king and reigned for just two years. Amon “did evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done.” Amon served the idols his father had served, and worshiped them. “He forsook the Lord God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:22). Amon’s servants conspired against him and killed the king in his own house. The people of Judah executed all those who had conspired against King Amon. Then they made Amon’s son Josiah king in his place.
Eight-year-old Josiah (יאֹשִׁיָּה – Yah supports, Yah heals) was not like his father or grandfather – “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left” (2 Kings 22:2). Here’s what Josiah did in the early years of his reign in Judah –
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images. They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around, with axes. When he had broken down the altars and the wooden images, had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. 2 Chronicles 34:3-7
Josiah was more like his great-grandfather Hezekiah. He purged Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the wood images, the carved images, and the molded images. He had all of them destroyed. He even had the dust of the idols scattered on the graves of the people who had sacrificed to them. Josiah had the bones of the priests burned on their idolatrous altars. The king cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. Then, he had the same thing done in the northern cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, Simeon, and even as far as Naphtali.
We also read in 2 Kings 22 that King Josiah had carpenters, builders, and masons repair the Temple that his father and grandfather had allowed to fall into bad condition. Then something very important happened – something necessary for any revival. As repairs were being made to the Temple, Hilkiah the high priest found the “Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to a scribe named Shaphan who read the Book of the Law. Shaphan took the Book to King Josiah and read it to him. The king’s response?
Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Abdon the son of Micah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king, saying, ‘Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for those who are left in Israel and Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out on us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do according to all that is written in this book. 2 Chronicles 34:19-21
Hilkiah and the others went to a prophetess of God named Huldah. Huldah gave them a message from God –
Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah, because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath will be poured out on this place, and not be quenched.’ But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Concerning the words which you have heard— because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,‘ says the Lord. Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.’ 2 Chronicles 34:24-28
Huldah’s prophecy was accurate. God did bring destruction on Judah, but not in Josiah’s lifetime. King Josiah would die before the destruction of Judah began.
Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. The king went up to the house of the Lord, with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the Levites, and all the people, great and small. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand. So the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers. Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel, and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their God. All his days they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers. 2 Chronicles 34:29-33
Though the revival in Josiah’s time was short-lived, it was a true revival. The Word of God was heard and obeyed. Worship of the true God returned to the Temple. The king took a stand for God and God gave life to His people again – if only for a short time.
Keep in mind God’s Eternal plan – that the Seed of the woman would destroy the seed of the serpent. We find King Josiah mentioned in the lineage of the Seed, Jesus Christ –
Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. Matthew 1:11
Next Time
Things went very bad for Judah after Josiah’s death. We’ll see what happened, what prophets God sent to His people, and what we can learn about the potential for revival even during the darkest of times.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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