3/13/21 Nations Revived

Calvin

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Revival: Stronger Than Ever

The Book that Changes Nations

2 Chronicles 34-35

Intro/Welcome remarks –

Alright, let’s take out our Bibles and learn from God’s Word together today shall we?

Pray this with me: Lord Jesus, speak to me. Amen!

Our text these days is the book of Chronicles. Our teacher is the ancient and anointed Scribe, Ezra. He is walking us through lessons on how a nation can emerge from a national crisis.

And we are learning, aren’t we?

NEED

Six weeks ago, we began a journey together. A journey of becoming righteous, resilient, a people who remain

- strong in the midst of adversity,

- hope-filled in the midst of scarcity,

- and determined in the face of demonic opposition.

A significant technique Ezra is using to equip us for these things is to tell us the stories of Israel’s Revivals.

REVIVALS

The book of 2 Chronicles has been called The book of Revivals. Because from chapter 15 to chapter 35, Ezra records five revivals that each transformed the people and brought them back to God.

We’ve already walked through a couple of them together but here is a full list before we get to today’s teaching.

REVIEW

The first revival took place under King Asa. God let Asa know that the eyes of the Lord roam throughout the earth to strongly support those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.

Revival requires commitment.

The second revival took place under Jehoshaphat, who humbly admitted, “We do not know what to do, but we look to you.”

Revival requires prayer.

The third revival took place under King Joash who reinstituted the tithe and rebuilt the Temple with it.

Revival requires a place.

The fourth revival took place under Hezekiah, who when he discovered that God required the Jews to hold a feast called Passover every April.

So, the people gathered for the Feast and revival broke out.

Revival requires God’s people to gather for worship.

As the people gathered, they realized they hadn’t been serving the Lord faithfully. So they confessed and repented.

Revival requires repentance.

REVIEW

- Commitment

- Prayer

- A place

- Corporate worship

- And Repentance.

CONTEXT

People sometimes ask why God was so harsh in the Old Testament. Why did He punish people by allowing foreign armies to overtake them?

Let me read you a little bit about Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah from 2 Chronicles 33:2-6 says…

2 [Manasseh] did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, imitating the detestable practices of the nations that the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.

3 He rebuilt the high places that his father Hezekiah had torn down and reestablished the altars for the Baals. He made Asherah poles, and he bowed in worship to all the stars in the sky and served them. 4 He built altars in the Lord’s temple, where the Lord had said, “Jerusalem is where my name will remain forever.”

5 He built altars to all the stars in the sky in both courtyards of the Lord’s temple. 6 He passed his sons through the fire in Ben Hinnom Valley. He practiced witchcraft, divination, and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did a huge amount of evil in the Lord’s sight, angering him.

Passing your children through the fire was a way of worshiping the god of the underworld. The child was passed through the fire as a sacrifice to the god Molech. If the child died, it meant your sacrifice was accepted. No wonder God was angry with them.

...So Manasseh caused Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to stray so that they did worse evil than the nations the Lord had destroyed before the Israelites. 2 Chronicles 33:2-9

TRANSITION

King Manasseh reigned for 55 years. His son Amon succeeded him for 2 years. Amon was so wicked, the people assassinated him.

SEGUE/REVIVAL #5

Amon was succeeded by his son Josiah.

I told you that Israel experienced 5 revivals. The 5th revival comes during Josiah’s reign. It’s his story we want to learn from today.

So open your Bible to 2 Chronicles 34. And open your heart by asking the Lord to speak to you.

CONTEXT

At the time Josiah comes to power, the kingdom is at an all-time low.

- God is forsaken.

- Baal is worshiped.

- Witchcraft is practiced.

- Mediums are consulted.

All that is right is forsaken, and all that is wrong is exalted.

What does God do in situations like this? He sends revival. Listen to this:

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. 2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight and walked in the ways of his ancestor David; he did not turn aside to the right or the left.

Josiah’s Reform

3 In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still a youth, Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images.

4 Then in his presence the altars of the Baals were torn down, and he chopped down the shrines that were above them. He shattered the Asherah poles, the carved images, and the cast images, crushed them to dust, and scattered them over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He burned the bones of the priests on their altars. So he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

So, he cleared the countryside of idolatry and child sacrifice. Then…

Josiah’s Repair of the Temple

8 In the eighteenth year of his reign, in order to cleanse the land and the temple, Josiah sent Shaphan son of Azaliah, along with Maaseiah the governor of the city and the court historian Joah son of Joahaz, to repair the temple of the Lord his God. 2 Chronicles 34:1-8

And this is when things get exciting!

The next few verses describe how the king conducted a capital campaign all over the land. People donated generously to refurbish the Temple.

Verse 14 says…

14 When they brought out the silver that had been deposited in the Lord’s temple, the priest Hilkiah found the book of the law of the Lord written by the hand of Moses. 15 Consequently, Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the Lord’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan. 2 Chronicles 34:14-15

In other words, he found the Bible! It had been lost all these years. - Skip to verse 18, where it says…Then the court secretary Shaphan told the king, “The priest Hilkiah gave me a book,” and Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king. 2 Chronicles 34:18

Imagine this moment friends. Josiah had never read the Bible. Maybe he’d never heard of it. His secretary starts reading to him, and the text says…When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes. 2 Chronicles 34:19

Which was a sign of repentance. He tore his clothes, and he said, “…For great is the Lord’s wrath that is poured out on us because our ancestors have not kept the word of the Lord...” 2 Chronicles 34:20

Over the next several verses, God sends the king a word from a prophetess named Huldah. She says…

26 …‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard, 27 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the Lord’s declaration…. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.’” 2 Chronicles 34:26-27, 28b

God loves to make promises to people who are faithful to Him.

Josiah is fully committed to the Lord, so he does what every fully devoted follower does: he tells others about His great God! He sends a message to everyone under his influence that they, too, should follow the Lord:

29 So the king sent messengers and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30 The king went up to the Lord’s temple with all the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as well as the priests and the Levites—all the people from the oldest to the youngest. He read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant that had been found in the Lord’s temple. 31 Then the king stood at his post and made a covenant in the Lord’s presence to follow the Lord and to keep his commands, his decrees, and his statutes with all his heart and with all his soul in order to carry out the words of the covenant written in this book. 32 He had all those present in Jerusalem and Benjamin agree to it. So all the inhabitants of Jerusalem carried out the covenant of God...

[PAUSE]

Why does Ezra tell us this story?

He wants us to know what God does for faithful followers.

And he wants us to know the importance of scripture.

And he wants us to know the potential of children.

If you’re a teenager today, Josiah should be your hero. At 16 years old, he made the most important decision of his life. The text says, “Josiah began to seek the God of his ancestor David…” 2 Chronicles 34:3b

Teenage years can be your most painful years, or your most fruitful years. It all depends on who and what you seek. At 16 years old, instead of seeking parties and pleasure, Josiah sought the Lord. As a result, he became one of the greatest leaders in Israel’s history.

SEGUE

At 26 years old, Josiah had grown so much spiritually that he summoned the courage to spark a revival.

FORECAST

Josiah took seven decisive steps that changed the entire country. Let me walk you through them:

Starting when he was 20 years old…

What Josiah Did:

He cleansed the land of false worship. Vs. 34:3-7

He halted the sins of his ancestors by tearing down the shrines to false gods in his land. The first commandment says, “I am the Lord your God and we should have no other gods before Me.” So Josiah snuffed out the competition.

It took him six years to clean it all up.

Once the land was cleansed, he came back to Jerusalem and…

He cleansed the Temple. Vs. 34:8-13

Worship of God always requires a place. Whether it’s a Temple or a church or a parking lot, God’s people have always created places to worship. Because where two or more have gathered in His name, He is there in their midst.

In the process of cleaning out the Temple…

He found the Book of the Law. Vs. 14-18

A priest named Hilkiah found the sacred scrolls in the Holy of Holies, and when he read them to the King. Josiah tore his clothes and wept in shame.

Which is the 4th thing he did. He not only read,

He repented of not following the Book of the Law. Vs. 19-21

“God, I didn’t know,” he says. “But now I do. And from now on I’m going to abide by everything You’ve asked of me.”

His fifth action step was…

He called the people to obey the Book of the Law. Vs. 29-30

He summoned the whole city and he read them the words of God. Then, #6,

He and the people made a covenant to keep God’s commands. Vs. 31-32

He boldly said, “Now that we’ve read it, let’s agree to obey it. I have a piece of paper here, and I’m going to sign my name to it. And then I’m going to ask all of you to sign your names to it too.”

The people lined up and signed up.

APPLICATION

I wonder what would happen today if I asked all of us to sign a covenant to read and follow the Law of the Lord. Would you do it? Would you be in? Would you make a covenant with God to read and abide by His commands?

If I put something like this at the bottom of your Message Notes, would you sign it?

My Covenant With God:

I will read God’s Word daily and live it out faithfully.

Name __________________________ Date ______________________

Would you sign that and put a date to it? And would you follow through and obey?

For weeks now, I’ve been praying that God would send us a revival. Revival started for the people of Josiah’s day by signing a Covenant like this. If we all signed our names, might we start a revival here?

The seventh step Josiah took was…

He celebrated Israel’s greatest Passover. Vs. 35:1-19

We don’t have time to read all of chapter 35, but just look at verse 19. It says…

“None of the kings of Israel ever observed a Passover like the one that Josiah observed with the priests, the Levites, all Judah, the Israelites who were present in Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.” –2 Chronicles 35:18

RECAP

This is the story of a young king and a revival.

God’s Promise to Josiah: If you will live by My Word, I will take care of you.

Listen to this verse again:

27 …because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and against its inhabitants, and because you humbled yourself before me, and you tore your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the Lord’s declaration…. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place and on its inhabitants.’” 2 Chronicles 34:26-27, 28b

Six hundred years later, Jesus stood on a hillside and proclaimed: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” –Matthew 6:33

A few generations after Josiah, judgment did come on the nation of Judah, but by then, Josiah and his revival generation were long gone. They were spared because they had sought the Lord and His kingdom and His righteousness.

LESSONS

Ezra wants us to learn some lessons. Lessons that will help us rebuild our lives and rebuild our church and rebuild our city.

I hope you’ll write these down. Lesson #1…

Ezra’s Lessons:

Reading scripture changes your life. V. 19

Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active. Sharper than a two-edged sword, it penetrates between soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

If you will read scripture, it will read you. And elevate you. Change you. Make you think more like God thinks. So you will see more like God sees and act more like God acts.

Romans 12:2 says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” – The renewing of your mind happens when you read scripture.

Jesus said, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

The moments you spend in scripture may be the most important moments of your day.

Ezra describes himself this way in Ezra 7:10. He says, “The good hand of God was upon him, because he had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to practice it, and to teach his statutes and ordinances in Israel.”

Ezra wants you to know that scripture is vital to your life.

And Ezra wants you to know that…

It is good to make a covenant with the Lord. V. 31b

The people signed their names saying, “I’m in. I’m committed. I will be a scripture-reader and I will be a scripture-doer.”

Ezra wants us to know that not only does reading scripture change a life,

Reading scripture changes nations. V. 33

So many people today believe they don’t have time to read the Bible because they are so busy trying to become prosperous and successful. God’s promise is, “Read and apply my book, and I will make you into a prosperous and successful person.”

Is this promise just for individuals, or does it work for groups, too?

THE NATIONS

I did a little research into what happens when a group or nation decides to dedicate itself to reading scripture.

In 1700, the people of England were poor people. If you’ve read any of Charles Dickens, you know there were workhouses and debtor’s prisons. The streets of London were dark with pollution and filthy with disease.

But 1738, Jonathan Wesley gave his life to Christ and began forming Bible studies all over the country.

By 1798, there were 100,000 Bible Study groups meeting all over England. As a result, throughout the 1800’s, England was the most prosperous nation on earth.

In 1800, a young man named Hans Hauge gave his life to the Lord. He started creating Bible study groups in Norway to read scripture. At the time, Norway was ruled over by Denmark.

Within 2 decades, the Norwegians overthrew their Danish overlords and by 1900, Norway was one of most prosperous nations in the world, and remains so to this day.

In 1857, the United States was an economic loser compared to the nations of Europe. But that year, a revival broke out in the Old Dutch Church in New York City. People started reading their Bibles.

In the 1880’s, as frontier families moved west, they brought their Bibles with them. Every evening after supper, the father of the family read the Bible out loud by candlelight. By 1920, the United States had become the most prosperous nation on earth.

POINT:

People these days are worried about income inequality. Time and time again, the Bible has proven to be the greatest equalizer on earth. People who study it, prosper.

It’s the book that changes lives, and the book that changes nations.

CONCLUSION

Let it change you, friends. God wants to meet you in these pages every day. He has things to say to you, perspectives He wants to show you. Ways He wants to guide you.

At one time, this book was mothballed in the Temple. Don’t mothball it in your home. Let it out…. And let it in. Share it with your friends. Be a Josiah. Spark a revival.

Amen?

PRAYER

Father, would you send Revival to us like you sent Revival in Josiah’s day. Make us children of your word. Move us to read it. Speak to us through it. Use it to transform us. And use it to transform our church and city and country.

If you’re making a covenant with the Lord today to read his word daily and live it out faithfully, repeat these words after me:

Lord, today I covenant with You

To read Your Word daily

And live it out faithfully.

In Jesus’ name.

And if you’d like to become a member of God’s family by inviting Jesus into your life, would you pray these words:

Lord Jesus, I invite You into my life today.

Be my Lord.

Be my Savior.

Forgive my sins.

And live Your life through me

From now onward.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

SEGUE

(If you prayed that first prayer, I hope you’ll set an alarm to remind you to read tomorrow. And if you prayed the second prayer, I celebrate with you, and so do the angels in heaven. We’d like to help you grow in your new relationship with the Lord, so I encourage you to write on your Connection Card, “I gave my life to Jesus today.”)

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