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PROPHECY FEATURE
Revival in the History o f Israel
by Raymond H. Saxe, Th .D . Dean o f the C a p ita l B ib le Sem inary
Spiritual and moral declension. Basically, the mani festation of this failure in Israel is evident through the nation’s insistence in seeking amalgamation with the Egyptians. They did not glorify God in the midst of the Egyptian brickkilns. When the Lord did make initial moves to help them and remove them from their situa tion, they grumbled and resisted (Ex. 5:21). There is little reason to doubt that in Egypt, Israel was losing out with the Lord. Personal and individual intervention. Here one is brought face to face with the magnificent feats of Moses, the prophet sent by the Lord. For 80 long years he preached and ministered to a gainsaying people in the wilderness and in Egypt. But he persisted with meekness. He was a man chosen by God. The Lord confronted Israel in a strange land with His will as enunciated through the lips and witness of Moses. National restoration. This had to come and it did. Out of the furnace of Egypt, God brought 'His people, forging a nation out of that listless mass of humanity. So victorious did they become that every obstacle in their way gave way before them. The Red Sea and the Jordan became but rivulets for the people. A blessed theocracy was established and enjoyed. So wonderful was the picture that years later after the exile in Babylon, the Psalmist looked back to the Egyptian experience and the revival under Moses and wrote: When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was His sanctuary, and Israel His dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed thee, 0 thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back: Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills like lambs? Tremble thou earth, at the presence of idle Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; Which turned the rock into standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters (Psa. 114). II. The Revival under Samuel. Spiritual and moral declension. The period of the Judges is a patent testimony to the waywardness of the
W hat a challenging subject this is: Revival for a nation which was bom nearly 4000 years ago! Here is a nation which has done more for the human race than any other single nation in the world. This is indisputable. How can one give an account for this? What is the secret of this amazing group of people? Part, if not all, of the answer to these questions can be uncovered in the sands of Ur of the Chaldees, for it was in that city that God chose a man. Into his bosom the Lord implanted a faith which has been the tower of witness of the call of God down through the years. It was Abraham, the patriarch, whom God called. No other reason can be given for God’s ownership of the people of Israel in the past, their uncanny preservation in the present, and their certain future than the estab lishment of God’s gracious covenant with Abraham in Ur of the Chaldees. As one traces the history of the Jews, the progeny of Abraham through Isaac, he becomes aware of the unusual peaks and valleys through which the nation has passed. Their desire to be lo9t in the midst of the nations round about them led them into spiritual and moral declension time and time again. But God has moved upon them with His own breath again and again in order to bring about a gracious revival in their spirits. His move ment from heaven has spared them from being engulfed in the paganism round about them. These revivals stand out as a testimony from the Sovereign in heaven that He still has a massive place in His program for the people of Israel. Interestingly, the number of revivals seems to be seven, the number of perfection. Six of them have already been experienced; there is but one more to be sent. The last one still lies unborn in the womb of the future. It will be noted that in each revival three essentials are included: a. A spiritual and moral declension, b. A personal and individual intervention, c. A national res toration. In two of these two adjectives are employed to describe the situation but not in the last one. This was intentional, for only in the last revival is it possible to include a second adjective to the final essential. Let us prayerfully examine these seven revivals with the aid of these three essentials: I. The Revival under Moses.
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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