Biblical Revivals and Awakenings
So far in our series we’ve looked at twenty-seven 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
- Nahum
- Zephaniah
- Josiah
- Jeremiah
God used the Assyrian king and his army to remove the Jewish people of Samaria (Northern Kingdom of Israel) and deporte them to other countries. The Assyrians then moved Gentiles from other nations into Samaria. That happened about 722 BC.
God used the Babylonian king and his army to remove the Jewish people Judah (Southern Kingdom) and deport them to Babylon. The Babylonian army finally destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple about 586 BC. The prophet Jeremiah personally witnessed the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians even as he continued to prophesy. Jeremiah was eventually taken by force to Egypt where he continued to prophesy what God told Him to say (Jeremiah 43 – 44).
God told Jeremiah to tell the people of Judah that they would serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. The land of Judah would be “a desolation and an astonishment” during that time. God said that after the seventy years were completed, He would punish the king of Babylon and the nation. God would also bring some of His people back to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple (Jeremiah 25).
What can we learn about revival from the time the Jews lived in Babylon? We turn to two prophets who lived there during that time: Daniel and Ezekiel. We’ll begin with Daniel.
Daniel the Prophet
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god. Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. Daniel 1:1-4
King Nebuchadnezzar took the people of Judah captive over a period of several years.Notice that “the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand.” God had warned the people of Judah for hundreds of years to repent of their sins and return to worshiping Him alone, or He would send them captive into a foreign land. The time had come. Nebuchadnezzar and his army came against Jerusalem in the third year of the reign of Judah’s king Jehoiakim. The Babylonians took many young people captive and deported them to Babylon. Daniel was one of those young people. The year was about 605 BC.
This was not an unusual thing to do in ancient times. Conquering kings would take the best and brightest young people captive and prepare them to serve the king. Daniel’s name was changed to Belteshazzar. The idea was to change the way captives viewed their nationality and religion – a type of forced assimilation into a new country and culture. The Babylonians wanted the children to think of themselves as Babylonians and forget about their Hebrew culture and religion. That would also include their diet.
Daniel’s name was Hebrew and meant “God is my judge.” The suffix “el” is one of the names for God (Elohim). The name Belteshazzar was Babylonian and means “Bel protects his life.” Bel was the chief god of the city of Babylon and the national god of Babylonia. Changing Daniel’s name to Belteshazzar was an attempt to change the young child’s religious beliefs. The Babylonians also changed the names of three of Daniel’s close friends: Hananiah became Shadrach, Mishael became Meshach, and Azariah became Abed-Nego.
The plan didn’t work for Daniel or his friends. The Babylonian steward wanted all of the young captives to eat delicacies from the king’s table. Daniel wisely suggested a test where he and his friends would eat only vegetables and drink water for ten days while the other young men ate “the portion of the king’s delicacies.” Daniel said that the steward could examine him and his friends’ appearance and compare that to the other young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. The steward agreed to the test and examination.
And at the end of ten days their features appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who ate the portion of the king’s delicacies. Thus the steward took away their portion of delicacies and the wine that they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. Daniel 1:15-16
God blessed Daniel and his friends. He gave them knowledge and skill “in all literature and wisdom.” God also gave Daniel understanding “in al visions and dreams.” The king examined the young men and was very impressed with Daniel and his friends – “And in all matters of wisdom and understanding about which the king examined them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers who were in all his realm. Thus Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus.” Daniel 1:20-21
Daniel – Dreams and Visions
King Nebuchadnezzar had dreams in the second year of his reign that bothered him. He called together the magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to tell him about his dream. However, they were not able to tell the king what he had dreamed or what it meant. The king was very angry and gave the command to destroy all the wise men of Babylon, including Daniel and his friends.
Daniel asked the captain of the king’s guard why the king’s decree was so urgent. The captain explained and Daniel went to the king and asked him for some time to tell the king the interpretation. The king agreed. Daniel went to his house and told his friends what the king had said about killing all of the wise men of Babylon. They prayed for wisdom from God. God revealed the king’s dream to Daniel during a night “vision.” Daniel’s response to God’s blessing is another insight into revival.
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him. ‘I thank You and praise You, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might, And have now made known to me what we asked of You, For You have made known to us the king’s demand. Daniel 2:20-23
God knows everything and reveals wisdom and knowledge to His people as He wills. Rather than worry, we should pray and rely on our great God. Once we receive wisdom and knowledge from God, we are in a position to respond to our enemies in a way that brings glory to God. Here’s how Daniel responded to King Nebuchadnezzar –
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, ‘The secret which the king has demanded, the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, and the soothsayers cannot declare to the king. But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed, were these: As for you, O king, thoughts came to your mind while on your bed, about what would come to pass after this; and He who reveals secrets has made known to you what will be. But as for me, this secret has not been revealed to me because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but for our sakes who make known the interpretation to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your heart. ‘You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. This image’s head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold. But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold—the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.” Daniel 2:27-45
Here is how the king responded to Daniel –
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell on his face, prostrate before Daniel, and commanded that they should present an offering and incense to him. The king answered Daniel, and said, ‘Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.’ Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts; and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon. Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king. Daniel 2:46-49
Here are more insights into revival. King Nebuchadnezzar made a huge golden image of himself in the province of Babylon. The people were commanded to bow down and worship the image when they hear “the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery.” Anyone who didn’t fall down and worship the image would “be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.” (Daniel 3)
The Chaldeans, who were probably jealous of Daniel and his friends’ promotion, told the king that the Jews did not bow down and worship the image. The king was furious and had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego thrown into the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar was so angry that he had the heat of the furnace increased seven times more than usual. The Babylonians who threw the three Hebrew men into the furnace were killed by the flames because it was so hot. However, the Hebrews were untouched by the flames.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ ‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God … Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, ‘Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the province of Babylon. Daniel 3:23-25, 28-30
Here’s the revival lesson. Obey God first and always. Don’t give an inch when ungodly people tell you to disobey God. Even if you are threatened with the loss of your position, your property, or your life, do what God says. He always with us – even in a fiery furnace.
Daniel interpreted other dreams and saw visions of what God planned for the nations and leaders of the world. Daniel faced many trials, yet stood firm for God and His Word. He was faithful. That’s another lesson for revival. God is always faithful to His Word. We must be faithful to Him.
One of Daniel’s best-known interpretations concerned Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson, Belshazzar. He acted as co-regent of Babylon while his father Nabonidus was out of the country. Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords. He commanded that the gold and silver vessels his grandfather had brought from the Temple in Jerusalem be brought to his banquet. The king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from the Temple vessels. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.
It was then that the king saw the “fingers of a man” appear and write on the wall of the king’s palace. This deeply troubled the king, so he called for Babylon’s astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers to tell him what the writing meant.
The king spoke, saying to the wise men of Babylon, ‘Whoever reads this writing, and tells me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck; and he shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.’ Daniel 5:7
The king’s “wise men” were not able to read the writing or interpret it. That made the king even more troubled. However, the queen mother heard about the problem and went to the banquet room. Here’s what she told the king –
There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God. And in the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers. Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation. Daniel 5:11-12
It’s interesting to note how highly the queen mother respected Daniel. She used his Hebrew name and said that “the Spirit of the Holy God” was in Daniel.
Daniel was brought before the king. He read the writing on the wall and interpreted it for Belshazzar.
And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. Then the fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written. ‘And this is the inscription that was written: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; TEKEL: You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.’ Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. Daniel 5:23-31
The Medes and Persians captured Babylon that night and put Belshazzar to death. Darius the Mede made Daniel one of three governors over 120 satraps in the kingdom. Daniel, who was an old man by that time, distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, “because an excellent spirit was in him.”
The king was thinking about setting Daniel over the whole realm, so the other governors and satraps looked for a way to find a charge they could make against Daniel. They couldn’t find a charge or fault in Daniel because he was “faithful.” What do jealous people do? They lie and cheat. They tricked King Darius into signing a decree that anyone who petitions any god for 30 days would be cast into the “den of lions.”
These wicked men knew that Daniel prayed to God three times a day and would not stop doing that because of the king’s decree. They were right. Daniel continued to pray and petition God three times a day. The governors and satraps went to the king and told him what Daniel had done. Even though the king didn’t want to throw Daniel in the lion’s den, he went through with it because it was the decree he had signed was law and couldn’t be changed.
However, the king said something interesting to Daniel just before Daniel went into the lion’s den – “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” That’s exactly what happened. God sent “His angel and shut the lions’ mouth,” so they did not hurt Daniel. The king was “exceedingly glad” for Daniel and had him taken out of the den. Daniel had no injuries “because he believed in his God” (Daniel 6:23).
King Darius gave the command and all of the men who had accused Daniel, along with their wives and children, were thrown into the lion’s den. The lions quickly killed everyone of them. Then Darius wrote this for the entire kingdom to read –
To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, And steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, And His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. Daniel 6:25-27
That is a powerful testimony to God’s power and protection. As for Daniel, he “prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”
Daniel’s faithfulness in the face of many hardships and challenges is a wonderful example for all of us. Daniel spent most of his life in a foreign land. His words and actions spoke volumes to the leaders and people of those nations about the reality of God. May we follow the example of Daniel and experience revival in our own lives, that it might bring glory to God and impact the nations around us.
Next Time
We’ll learn more revival from the life of the prophet Ezekiel in the next part of our series.
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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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