Simply the Bible Blog

Revival. The word speaks of life. Actually, it speaks of something that was once alive, but fell asleep or went dormant, and then came to life again.

A spiritual revival brings a renewed passion for God. Probably the world’s premiere expert on revivals was the late J. Edwin Orr who made the study of revivals his life’s work.

“There have been instances in the history of the Church when the telling and retelling of the wonderful works of God have been used to rekindle the expectations of the faithful intercessors and prepare the way for another Awakening.”

J. Edwin Orr

Oddly, revivals have often occurred during a time of deep spiritual darkness. It seems the darkness is greatest just before the dawn. When people turn away from God…when they throw His laws behind their backs…when they try to eliminate Him from the public mind…when they try to explain Him away as being non-existent or unnecessary…that is the prime time for God to pour out His Spirit on those who were created in His image to know and love Him.

We may not know whether or not we will experience another revival in our lifetimes. But there is one revival that the Bible tells us is coming.

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” (Zechariah 12:10, NKJV)

This speaks of a time in the not-too-distant future when God will turn His face to the Jews and bring spiritual revival. This will be the turning of the nation of Israel to Jesus Christ (Romans 11:26).

In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.“It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered…” (Zechariah 13:1–2, NKJV)

I believe that there are important lessons to be learned from this future revival. I would like to look at these over the next few blogs. Could it be that God would so revive America?