The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
The Need for Revival
Throughout the Old Testament books of Ezekiel and Hosea, the national failure of Israel is described by two prophets from two different eras. Ezekiel wrote during the Babylonian captivity describing Babylon as the tool of God’s judgment on His people. Hosea wrote more than a hundred years before, prophesying the Babylonian captivity. Both explain that Israel had failed politically and religiously because they had repeatedly strayed in their worship and their allegiance to God. Hosea especially wrote of God’s repeated attempts to lovingly draw His people back into fellowship with Him, using the analogies of wife and sons to demonstrate the gracious and merciful love He has for us.
Both prophets wrote about the arrogance and contempt of the people against God. In addition their worship practices were polluted by everything from mere incorporation of pagan rituals into the prescribed worship of God, to outright idolatry and the depraved rites involved in the worship of false gods. The forms of their sin included the sacrifice of their children to Molech and sexual perversion in the name of idols of mere wood and stone.
The Babylonian captivity was only part of the judgment of God on Israel. “You have plowed wickedness; you have reaped iniquity; you have eaten the fruit of lies: because you did trust in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men” (Hosea 10:13). Sin in the Bible is only the beginning of more sin. More sin becomes the judgment for sin. But Hosea does not leave us hopeless: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for itis time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12)..
Romans 1:22-32 graphically describes the progression from sin to sin-as-judgment:
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. They changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do what should not be done, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful– who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them.”
If that sounds like today’s news, it is. The world is ruled by the prince of the power of the air, Satan. We cannot expect the world to be righteous when the master of the world is the epitome of unrighteousness. We live in a culture, like the ancient Israelites, which embraces the arrogance of Sodom and the child sacrifice of Molech in worship of selfishness and choice. But, as children of God, we are empowered by God to live righteous, holy lives just as our Old Testament and New Testament predecessors of faithful ones did.
We are also called to preach the gospel to everyone. It is our job. Like the Israelites of old, however, we tend to let our convictions become watered down by desensitization and to lean towards acceptance of the sin around us. For example, there are many churches today who have allowed religious practices that dishonor God in elevating unbiblical precepts into their worship and their doctrine. And many “Christians” fail to recognize the difference because of ignorance of what the Bible really says. We need revival in this evil day. Revival is not about the people who don’t know God, even though they ultimately benefit by it. Revival is about the renewal of God’s people to holiness, solid biblical values, and consistent walking with God. Revival only begins with fervent prayer by many Christians with the same desire to see God’s people exclusively seek His face again. It is only then that we will see an outpouring of God’s grace on our land because of the many people who will come to Him as a result of the transformed lives of God’s revived people…Oh Lord, bring your people to fervent relentless prayer and revive us again!
