Biblical Revivals and Awakenings
So far in our series we’ve looked at twenty-nine 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
- Daniel
- Ezekiel
The Babylonians took thousands of Jews captive from Judah between the end of the 7th century BC and the early part of the 6th century BC. Daniel was taken captive in the first wave – about 605 BC. Ezekiel was taken captive in the second wave – about 597 BC. The third wave occurred when the the Babylonian army destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 586 BC. The prophet Jeremiah was in Jerusalem during the destruction and was taken to Egypt by fellow Jews. That’s what we’ve seen thus far in the last few parts of our series.
We read in Jeremiah 29 and Daniel 9 that God would return His people from Babylon to Judah after the seventy years of “desolation” of Jerusalem. Daniel, who was among the first Hebrew captives, was still alive and serving the Persian king Cyrus when the king made this proclamation impacting the Hebrew people –
All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up! 2 Chronicles 36:23
While this might seem like an amazing turn of events from a human perspective, it’s exactly what God had said would happen. Let’s see what we can learn about revival beginning with the proclamation of King Cyrus.
[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]
King Cyrus
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up! 2 Chronicles 36:22-23
Jeremiah didn’t mention Cyrus by name, but the prophet Isaiah did –
Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be built,’ And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.’ Isaiah 44:28
Isaiah also mentioned Cyrus in chapter 45 –
Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: ‘I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.‘ Isaiah 45:1-7
Cyrus would be an instrument of God to accomplish His will concerning the Hebrew people. God wanted Cyrus to know that He was the true God, so He named the king long before Cyrus was born. Isaiah received the prophecy concerning Cyrus more than a hundred years before Cyrus was born. Only God can do that. He knows the end from the beginning. There is no God besides Him.
That’s an important principle for revival. God knows the end from the beginning and does whatever He wants. He can use anyone or anything to accomplish His will. Even as things appeared to be hopeless after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, God was about to bring hope to His people. Revival brings hope to God’s people as they obey His Word.
The Return
God used King Cyrus to return some of His people from Babylon back to Judah and Jerusalem. Not only would Cyrus allow the Jews to return to Judah and Jerusalem, he said that God had commanded him “to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah.” That meant King Cyrus would provide supplies, funds, and protection for the building project. We see that in the first words of the Book of Ezra –
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem. Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods; and Cyrus king of Persia brought them out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and counted them out to Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah. This is the number of them: thirty gold platters, one thousand silver platters, twenty-nine knives, thirty gold basins, four hundred and ten silver basins of a similar kind, and one thousand other articles. All the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred. All these Sheshbazzar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem. Ezra 1:1-11
Ezra was a priest and scribe who returned to Jerusalem during the 5th century BC. Though he wrote about the events of the first Jews who returned to Judah from Babylon in 539 BC, Ezra wasn’t born until about 480 BC. He was an excellent historian and writer (scribe) who participated in a revival that we’ll share in a future article.
Some of the people who returned to Judah from Babylon had been taken captive. Some had been born in Babylon. The list of the first group of Hebrews to return to Judah are listed in Ezra chapter two. The people returned to their own cities in Judah, but a primary purpose of returning was to worship God and rebuild His Temple. Revival was just beginning.
Now in the second month of the second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the rest of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all those who had come out of the captivity to Jerusalem, began work and appointed the Levites from twenty years old and above to oversee the work of the house of the Lord. Then Jeshua with his sons and brothers, Kadmiel with his sons, and the sons of Judah, arose as one to oversee those working on the house of God: the sons of Henadad with their sons and their brethren the Levites. When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites, the sons of Asaph, with cymbals, to praise the Lord, according to the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: ‘For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.’ Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard afar off. Ezra 3:8-13
Imagine being taken captive to another country, living in captivity for decades, then returning to your homeland. Imagine your emotions as you saw something so precious to you being rebuilt, given new life. Revival was underway!
God Sends Prophets
Revival is usually opposed. That’s what happened when the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. Gentile leaders in Samaria (the former Northern Kingdom of Israel) didn’t want the Temple rebuilt, so they tried to trick their way in to subvert the project.
Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the descendants of the captivity were building the temple of the Lord God of Israel, they came to Zerubbabel and the heads of the fathers’ houses, and said to them, ‘Let us build with you, for we seek your God as you do; and we have sacrificed to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.’ But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel said to them, ‘You may do nothing with us to build a house for our God; but we alone will build to the Lord God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.’ Then the people of the land tried to discourage the people of Judah. They troubled them in building, and hired counselors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. Ezra 4:1-5
They sent a letter to a new king of Persia asking him to stop the Temple building project. The plot worked and the king ordered that work on the Temple cease. The work stopped until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia (a different Darius than in Daniel’s time).
There is no way to stop anything God wants to do. He sent two prophets to help with the Temple building project.
Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them. Ezra 5:1-2
The governor of the area, named Tattenai, sent another letter to King Darius complaining about the Jews rebuilding the Temple. They told the king that the Jews claimed that King Cyrus had issued a decree for the Temple to be rebuilt. They asked the king to search his treasure house in Babylon to see if Cyrus had issued such a decree. King Darius found the original decree from King Cyrus, and sent a letter to the Samaritans telling them to stay far away from the Jews and let them “build this house of God on its site.” The king also commanded that the cost of the building project would be paid at the king’s expense from “taxes on the region beyond the River.” The king told Tattenai to give the Jews whatever they needed to finish building the Temple, and that anyone who disobeyed his command should be hanged –
And whatever they need—young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem—let it be given them day by day without fail, that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king and his sons. Also I issue a decree that whoever alters this edict, let a timber be pulled from his house and erected, and let him be hanged on it; and let his house be made a refuse heap because of this. And may the God who causes His name to dwell there destroy any king or people who put their hand to alter it, or to destroy this house of God which is in Jerusalem. I Darius issue a decree; let it be done diligently. Ezra 6:9-12
God blessed His people through difficult times and brought revival through the rebuilding of the Temple and worship in it. Notice that the people prospered through the prophesying of the prophets. Obedience to the Word of God leads to revival –
Then Tattenai, governor of the region beyond the River, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions diligently did according to what King Darius had sent. So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius. Then the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites and the rest of the descendants of the captivity, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. And they offered sacrifices at the dedication of this house of God, one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel twelve male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. They assigned the priests to their divisions and the Levites to their divisions, over the service of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses … Then the children of Israel who had returned from the captivity ate together with all who had separated themselves from the filth of the nations of the land in order to seek the Lord God of Israel. And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the Lord made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. Ezra 6:13-18, 21-22
Calling Darius the “king of Assyria” is interesting in this context. The king of Assyria took the people of Israel away from the Northern Kingdom more than 200 years earlier. That was according to God’s will as revealed to His prophets. The king of Babylon defeated the Assyrians, then took the people of Judah away from the Southern Kingdom and destroyed the Temple and city of Jerusalem. That was according to God’s will as revealed to His prophets. The king of Persia defeated the Babylonians and allowed the people of Judah to return to their land to rebuild the Temple. That was according to God’s will as revealed to His prophets. When the Samaritan leaders opposed the rebuilding of the Temple, a new king of Persia commanded that the Temple be rebuilt without further delay. That was according to God’s will as revealed to His prophets.
Lesson for revival? Listen to God’s prophets and obey God’s Word. God has an Eternal plan and He reveals the details of that plan to His prophets. Remember what we read in Hebrews 1 –
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. Hebrews 1:1-2
God is now speaking through His Son Jesus Christ. Hear Him!
[Listen to a Podcast of this study by clicking this link.]
Next Time
What did the prophets Zechariah and Haggai say to the people of Judah? What can we learn about revival from their words? We’ll look at that in the next part of our series, Revival – To Live Again.
Free eBooks
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Here is the eBook for the parts seven through twelve of this series. Please click here for the PDF eBook.
Here is the eBook for the parts thirteen through sixteen of this series. Please click here for the PDF eBook.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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