Everything about the fall of Judah and their captivity into Babylon came true. Consider how hard it must have been to come face-to-face with the reality of God’s Word in their living out the destruction of their homeland along with their new status as slaves, relocated far away from the land of their birth. However, accompanying God’s Word of judgment was also His Word of restoration. You might think that the proof of their captivity would be enough to prove that God would come through with His promise of restoration, but He gave them an additional sign — He gave them Jehoiachin.
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Jewish Believers bring an amazing depth to the meaning of the Lord’s Supper and Jesus’ last week on earth as it all happened against the backdrop of Passover and the connections between the two. But whether a spiritual revival occurred in the Old Testament or the New and going forward, one of the common denominators is a return to the saving blood of the Lamb. Although revival always begins with God’s people, their return to His Word, and their sincere repentance, at the very center of it all is the work of the cross.
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On the night that I personally gave my life to Christ, the sentence that has stuck with me every day since is, “Jesus gave His life for you on the cross; what are you going to do for Him?” It wasn’t a call to salvation through works, but rather a succinct way of stating that salvation is not about having one’s sins forgiven and then continuing on your merry way. It’s a transformation from living the old life according to your own ways to a new life dedicated to doing everything according to a new set of rules, the standards set forth in by His Word. We don’t do works to get saved, we do them because we are saved.
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There are many organizations, personalities, and even so-called movements which purport to being the way through which spiritual revival will come. Most of them have been around for longer than I’ve been living and, so far, have failed to produce that revival. This is because you cannot use anything else to substitute for the basic absolutes that have accompanied EVERY spiritual revival throughout history: it has to begin with God’s people, it has to be accompanied by a return to God’s Word, and it has to be accompanied by sincere, personal repentance.
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Hosea can be thought of as God’s commentary on the history provided in these chapters in 2 Kings concerning the northern kingdom of Israel. They were first carried away pieces at a time as a warning (to which they failed to respond), and even their final defeat and destruction at the hands of Assyria didn’t come all at once, comprised of four seperate events over many years, again designed by God as a warning and opportunity to yet repent. Their history as a nation came to an end less than 250 years after its inception, a legacy of never having had a leader or inclination to return to God’s ways.
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As the Walk with the Word reading schedule takes us to Jonah this week, it’s important to note a couple of things about the context of Jonah. In the New Tesatment when the Pharisees say, “No prophet arises out of Galilee“, :”(John 7:52)”: always remeber that Jonah is from Gath-hepher which is located in Galilee. When Jesus said He would give them no sign except the sign of Jonah :”(Luke 11:28)”: it wasn’t just a parallel to Jonah’s three days in the fist as a picture of the resurrection, but also that like Jonah He would come from a place disregarded and even disrespected by religious authorities. Very powerful prophets do, indeed, come from unexpected places like Galilee.
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I find it fascinating that there are several places in Scripture speaking of a specific person called by God to effect His will or speak His Word, yet these individuals are not named. It reassures my faith that it is enough to be known by God and that earthly recognition is not required. Nonetheless, the king calls upon God, God supplies a deliverer, yet the people do not live a changed life going forward. They go right back to their old ways.
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