Revival – To Live Again (Part Twenty Four)

Biblical Revivals and Awakenings

What can we learn about revivals in the New Testament? It covers a much shorter time period than the Old Testament, so do we find fewer revivals?

We saw the beginning of revival in Judea in the last part of our series. After 400+ years of prophetic silence, God speaks again to His people and they readily respond to the messenger God promised through the last prophet of the Old Testament. John the Baptist, the first prophet of the New Testament, prepared the way for “the Lord, whom you seek” (Malachi 3:1). Thousands of people came to John at the Jordan River to confess their sins and be baptized.

We saw John refer to Jesus of Nazareth as “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). We saw John baptize Jesus, who identified Himself with His people and because it was fitting “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). So, what’s next?

The Messenger of the Covenant

Christians often have a New Testament mindset, meaning they sometimes miss what Jesus did in the Old Testament. Jesus is the Son of God, and we see Him mentioned many times in the Old Testament. He was often referred to as –

Angel of the Lord
Mighty One
Redeemer
Glory of the Lord
Root of David
Branch
Lamb of God
Horn of Salvation
Cornerstone
Immanuel
Light of the World
Prophet
Morning Star
The Way
The Lord
Man of Sorrows
Alpha and Omega
Good Shepherd
Shepherd of Israel
Holy One of Israel
Judge of Israel
Lawgiver
Commander of the Army of the Lord
Wonderful Counselor
Prince of Peace
Desire of the Nations
Jehovah
God

Yes, Jesus is God in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. When you see God do or say something in the Old Testament, know that the Pre-Incarnate Son of God did it and said it.

The reason I mention this is because of the idea of Jesus being the Messenger of the covenant. The Old Testament speaks of covenants God made with several of His chosen people (e.g. Noah, Abraham, David). The New Testament speaks of an old covenant and a new covenant. It’s important to know that the Son of God is the Messenger of both covenants.

Each covenant has a special place in God’s Eternal plan. God told Malachi that the “messenger” (John the Baptist) would prepare the way before Jesus, “the Lord, whom you seek,” who is the “Messenger of the covenant,”

The Old Covenant

Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest who prophesied about God visiting His people to redeem them. Notice what he said about God remembering His holy covenant –

Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life. ‘And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:68-79

Thousands of people followed Jesus at different points during His earthly ministry. He made it clear from the beginning that He had come to fulfill the Law and Prophets –

Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18

Jesus also explained the Law and Prophets to people in the proper way. That’s because the religious leaders of the time were not teaching the Law and Prophets correctly. Jesus often said, “You have heard that it was said … But I say to you.” That’s because the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees were so often wrong in what they taught.

The New Covenant

However, Jesus came to bring a “new covenant” to His people. The only times Jesus said the word “covenant” were when He was addressing the “new” covenant. The reason was because the new covenant was about the “blood” that He would shed for His people –

For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. Matthew 26:28

And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Mark 14:24

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. Luke 22:20

The Apostle Paul, who Jesus selected specifically to take His message to the Gentile world, explained the difference between the old and new covenants in one of his letters to Christians living in Corinth –

And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious. Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3:4-17

The author of the Book of Hebrews wrote that Jesus Christ is the “Mediator of a better covenant” –

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Hebrews 8:6-13

Jesus Christ is the Mediator of a “better covenant.” That statement doesn’t mean the old covenant was a mistake. It simply means that the old covenant had fulfilled its purpose. The old covenant was supposed to make way for the new covenant. As Paul wrote in Galatians –

For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. Galatians 4:24-26

The old covenant from Mount Sinai “gives birth to bondage.”

Paul addressed this earlier when he told the Galatian believers that the old covenant, the Law, was given to teach (tutor) them that they needed the new covenant that had Jesus brought. The old covenant shows us we are sinful and in great spiritual need of God’s grace. The new covenant shows that we have received God’s grace through the forgiveness of our sins. That forgiveness is because of the shed blood of Christ.

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. Galatians 3:19 – 4:1-7

Another thing we see is that the Messenger of the covenant brought “A new covenant” and “made the first obsolete.” What is becoming obsolete and growing old “is ready to vanish away.” That’s what Malachi prophesied – “And the Lord, whom you seek, Will suddenly come His temple, Even the Messenger of the covenant, In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ Says the Lord of hosts.”

When we compare the prophecy of Malachi and the fulfillment of that prophecy through Jesus Christ, we can better understand Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 61 and why Jesus quoted from it at the Nazareth synagogue. Jesus came to bring comfort to His people –

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:1-3

Next Time

How did the citizens of Judea respond to Jesus Christ? Did they experience real revival under His ministry? If so, how long did it last? We’ll look at that in the next part of our special series, Revival – To Live Again.

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.

Here is the eBook for the parts seventeen through twenty-one of this series. Please click here for the PDF eBook.

Faith & Self Defense

Building Confidence Through Evidence

Revival – To Live Again (Part Twenty Four)

Biblical Revivals and Awakenings