Biblical Revivals and Awakenings
So far in our series we’ve looked at thirty-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
- Nahum
- Zephaniah
- Josiah
- Jeremiah
- Daniel
- Ezekiel
- Zechariah
- Haggai
- Ezra
- Nehemiah
As we mentioned in the last part of our study, God used two prophets to help rebuild the Temple that the Babylonians had destroyed decades earlier – Zechariah and Haggai. They prophesied in Jerusalem during the latter part of the 6th century BC. The results were good, but turned out to be short-lived. Decades later God sent three other men to Jerusalem to revive His people again – a priest, a governor, and a prophet.
We looked at the revivals God brought to His people through the priest and governor in the last part of our series. We turn now to the last prophet of the Old Testament – Malachi.
The Prophet Malachi
The last writing in the English Old Testament is the Book of Malachi. Not so in the Hebrew Bible. It ends with Chronicles. Ezra/Nehemiah is the second to last Book in the Hebrew Bible.
The English Old Testament has 39 Books, while the Hebrew Bible has 24. It’s not that the English Old Testament has extra writings not in the Hebrew Bible. It’s because the English Old Testament was divided differently centuries ago.
For example –
- Hebrew Bible – Chronicles
- English Old Testament – 1 Chronicles & 2 Chronicles
- Hebrew Bible – Kings
- English Old Testament – 1 Kings & 2 Kings
- Hebrew Bible – Ezra/Nehemiah
- English Old Testament – Ezra & Nehemiah
- Hebrew Bible – The Twelve (minor prophets)
- English Old Testament –
- Hosea
- Joel
- Amos
- Obadiah
- Jonah
- Micah
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah
- Haggai
- Zechariah
- Malachi
You may learn that some Bibles include writings that are not in either the Hebrew Bible or many versions of the English Old Testament. Those writings are known as the Apocrypha. We’ll look at those in the next part of our series, but for now we’ll focus on the English Bibles with 39 Books.
Malachi is the last prophet listed in both the Hebrew Bible and the English Old Testament. That’s important for a number of reasons. Let’s look at those reasons that impact the revival of God’s people.
Malachi and Revival
The Book of Malachi begins with these words – “The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.” The Hebrew word translated “burden” is מַשָּׂ֥א (maśśā). It means “burden, bearing, load, lifting” and is the idea of something being heavy to lift. Dr. William Wilson, a Hebrew scholar, wrote that the word can mean “a judgment that lies heavy on a people,” or as an “oracle uttered as in Zech. xii.1, and Mal. i.1.” (William Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies, MacDonald Publishing, p 59)
Malachi’s name means “my messenger.” It’s believed that Malachi prophesied to Judah between Nehemiah’s first and second visits to Jerusalem. Nehemiah returned to Babylon in the “thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon.” Ezra the priest had passed away earlier, so the enemy was ready to attack Judah once Nehemiah left the country. A Samaritan leader, Tobiah, was allowed to live in the Temple, the priests were mistreated, the Sabbath was not being kept properly, and many Jews returned to the practice of marrying pagan wives. Nehemiah was grieved bitterly and cleaned things up physically and spiritually.
Malachi the prophet spoke what God told Him to say to His people. Here’s some of what Malachi said and wrote –
A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Malachi 1:6
You offer defiled food on My altar, But say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’ And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?’ Says the Lord of hosts. But now entreat God’s favor, That He may be gracious to us. While this is being done by your hands, Will He accept you favorably?’ Says the Lord of hosts. Who is there even among you who would shut the doors, So that you would not kindle fire on My altar in vain? I have no pleasure in you,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘Nor will I accept an offering from your hands. For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, And a pure offering; For My name shall be great among the nations,” Says the Lord of hosts. ‘But you profane it, In that you say, ‘The table of the Lord is defiled; And its fruit, its food, is contemptible.’ You also say, ‘Oh, what a weariness!’ And you sneer at it,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?’ Says the Lord. ‘But cursed be the deceiver Who has in his flock a male, And takes a vow, But sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished— For I am a great King,’ Says the Lord of hosts, And My name is to be feared among the nations. Malachi 1:7-14
And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart. Malachi 2:1-2
For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, And people should seek the law from his mouth; For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have departed from the way; You have caused many to stumble at the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Therefore I also have made you contemptible and base Before all the people, Because you have not kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law.” Malachi 2:7-9
Judah has dealt treacherously, And an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, For Judah has profaned
The Lord’s holy institution which He loves: He has married the daughter of a foreign god. May the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob The man who does this, being awake and aware, Yet who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts! And this is the second thing you do: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, With weeping and crying; So He does not regard the offering anymore, Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. Yet you say, ‘For what reason?’ Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.’ You have wearied the Lord with your words; Yet you say, ‘In what way have we wearied Him?‘ In that you say, ‘Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,’ Or, ‘Where is the God of justice?’ Malachi 2:11-17
Malachi’s prophecies, the “burden” of the Lord, sounded harsh with little hope for re-establishing a relationship between God and His people. Yet, Malachi begins with these words – “I have loved you,’ says the Lord.” God loves His people with an everlasting love. That’s important to remember as we pray and work for revival in our lives and the lives of our families, churches, and denominations.
So, what about Israel and Judah at the end of the 5th century BC? What would God do? We see an amazing promise in the second half of Malachi’s prophecy –
Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:1
God said that He would send His “messenger” (מַלְאָכִ֔י – mal’āḵî) to prepare the way before Him, and that the Lord would suddenly come to His Temple, “Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight.” That sounds hopeful for Israel and Judah, but read on –
But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire And like launderers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, And purge them as gold and silver, That they may offer to the Lord An offering in righteousness. ‘Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem Will be pleasant to the Lord, As in the days of old, As in former years. And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness Against sorcerers, Against adulterers, Against perjurers, Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, And against those who turn away an alien— Because they do not fear Me,’ Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:2-5
Malachi’s prophecy addressed the two comings of God to His people – through His Son Jesus Christ. The first coming would judge sin and Satan. The second coming would judge the nations and people of the world. We’ll learn more about that prophecy and its fulfillment in our study of New Testament revivals.
Malachi continued to exhort Judah to return to God and remember His Law. That included bringing tithes as evidence of repentance –
Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,’ Says the Lord of hosts,
‘If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. ‘And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,’ Says the Lord of hosts; ‘And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,’ Says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:10-12
God is always listening to His people. He loves His people and wants them to fear Him, repent, confess, change their ways, and remember God –
Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, And the Lord listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the Lord And who meditate on His name. They shall be Mine,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.’ Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him. Malachi 3:16-18
The final words of Malachi, the last prophet Judah would hear from for hundreds of years, are these –
For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,’ Says the Lord of hosts, ‘That will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this,‘ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse. Malachi 4:1-6
Those were the last words Judah heard from God for more than 400 years. What we see in Malachi is the promise of a great revival for God’s people, but one that would include harsh judgment on unbelievers. To those who fear God’s name, “The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings.” That healing will bring about a great revival without end.
[Podcast version of this study coming soon.]
Next Time
Before we look at the revivals of the New Testament, I’d like to see if there were any revivals between the end of the Old Testament period (late 5th century BC) and the beginning of the New Testament period (early 1st century AD). We’ll look at that in the next part of our special series, Revival – To Live Again.
Free eBooks
You can download a free eBook of the first six parts of this series to share with family and friends. Please click here for the PDF eBook.
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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