Revival Lesson 3 - 1 Sam. 7:2-6 - RETURNING TO GOD
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Ex. 4:21-31 we learned some important truths about spiritual revival: (1) First, that God is the reviver, and that He can and will revive us. We need to fully understand that a revival is a divine event-it's God visiting His people and using His Spirit to move them. (2) Second, we learned that revival isn't about money, organizational efforts, or elaborate programs. It's all about God, and God can and will bring revival to His people-us-If we cry out (by that, I mean pray) and look to Him. (3) Third, we learned that all revivals must be tied to the preaching of God's Word, because God's Holy Spirit works through His Word. (4) Finally, we learned that if real spiritual revival is to come, it must begin with me and you, as individual Christian believers. We must seek God's presence as individuals. Each one of us needs to experience personal spiritual revival by humbling ourselves before God in sincere confession and honest repentance of our sins and ask Him to use His Spirit to move in us mightily. He is the reviver-we can do nothing without Him. If we honestly and openly seek God, His Holy Spirit will convict us and show us the way we should go.
BACKGROUND: In today's lesson, we continue our study of Biblical revivals during Old Testament times in the Book of 1 Samuel. Very broadly, 1 Samuel encompasses the history of Israel in the land of Canaan as they move from the rule of judges to being a unified nation under kings. Samuel emerges as the last judge, and he anoints the first two kings, Saul and David. As we move into today's lesson, we find the nation of Israel at a very low ebb, both spiritually and nationally. The spiritual leadership of Eli, Israel's judge and high priest at Shiloh, had been corrupt and incompetent, and for many, many years, the worship of God had been almost entirely neglected. And politically and militarily, Israel had been under the domination of the Philistines for 20 years. Samuel has been in the background during this time, but now, at about age 30, in the text that follows, we will see him reappear to rally God's people and bring revival to the nation.
Read 1 Sam. 7:2b-4 - REPENT AND RETURN WITH ALL YOUR HEART
2b the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD. 3 Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines." 4 So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.
v. 2b: the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD " - That the people "lamented" (Heb. lit. to mourn and grieve over ) tells us that as a whole, the people of Israel were sad, discouraged, and spiritually crushed. On top of that, they were leaderless, without spiritual direction. I think this describes many Christians and churches we see today: they talk about "the good old days," but doing nothing to reclaim them-they are spiritually impoverished.
v. 3a: "Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying" - God, out of mercy, raised Samuel as a judge, prophet, and priest because He had compassion for the beaten-down condition of His people. Samuel didn't do this all at one place and at one time but was like a revival preacher who travelled around and preached from place to place over a period of time.
v. 3b: "If you return to the LORD with all your heart" - True repentance is the non-optional, first step of personal spiritual revival. It's a lot more than simply being sorry you sinned: First, it involves conviction -knowing what is right before you can know what is wrong, which requires being grounded in God's Word. Second, contrition, which means you're not just ashamed of your sin (i.e., ashamed of being caught) but are truly sorry for grieving God. You must agree with God-that He is right and you are wrong. Third, change-putting away the sin with a change of attitude, character, and behavior. In the Greek, it's called metanoia, which literally pictures a 180-degree turn away from sin and toward God, that is, completely repositioning your life to serve God only. Are you willing to do this? To completely humble yourself before God and ask Him to cleanse you of all your sins, even the most secret, hidden sins that only you and God know about?
v. 3c: "remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone" - Samuel expresses a fundamental truth here: You can't truly experience a personal spiritual revival unless you get rid of your idols. As we learned a couple of weeks ago in Gen. 35, idols can be all kinds of things in the context of modern Christianity-money, job, hobbies, leisure activities, organizations, recreational activities, material possessions, etc. If any of these things are first or even share first place with your commitment to God, you have allowed yourself to slip into idolatry. Are you ready to sacrifice those things in order to give God the time, talent, and resources He deserves from you?
v. 3d: 'and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines" - Although we Americans are not politically oppressed by the modern day equivalent of the Philistines, we Christians and our churches are under attack on multiple fronts. Through legal actions by anti-Christian groups, God has been removed from our public schools and universities and from the public places. Our courts and legislative bodies have legalized abortion on demand, resulting in the murder of 1.5 million unborn babies each year and have reversed God's definitions of marriage and gender. While the Bible commands us to love our enemies and do good to them, the liberal media is allowed to spread false propaganda that paints Christians as right-wing reactionaries. Do we need a national revival?
Read 1 Sam. 7:5-6 - PRAYING FOR REVIVAL
5 Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the LORD for you." 6 They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD , and fasted on that day and said there, "We have sinned against the LORD ." And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah.
v. 5: "Then Samuel said, "Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the LORD for you" - Mizpah is a place (see map) in Judah about 20 miles northwest of Jerusalem in the area allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. Samuel's actions here shows us that prayer and confession is the second essential step of personal spiritual revival and overlaps repentance. Once you have committed and prepared yourself to truly repent (i.e., convicted, contrite, and changed) and have put aside the things in your life-idols-that compete with God, you need to seek God in prayer, confess your sin, ask for forgiveness, and ask Him for the help that only He can give. God already knows what He wants you to do and will use His Spirit to empower and equip you to do it. And it's not a one-time request: We all need to pray daily, continually, and fervently that God will bring revival to us personally, to our church, to our community, and to our nation. And we need to encourage others to pray. Notice that Samuel gathered "all Israel" to join him in a corporate prayer to revive the entire nation!
v. 6a: "They gathered to Mizpah, and drew water and poured it out before the LORD " - There is no other reference to a ceremony of drawing and pouring out water in the OT but because water was a scarce resource in that arid land, it most likely symbolized an act of self-denial as part of Israel's confession before God, which was evidence of the peoples' conviction and contrition for their sins against God.
v. 6b: "and fasted on that day" - This wasn't a meaningless ceremony but showed that these people were so broken and grief-stricken over their sins against God that they had quite literally lost any appetite for food. Their hunger was for restored fellowship with God rather filling their bellies.
v. 6c: "and said there, "We have sinned against the LORD " - This was a mass confession and repentance of sin before God by what must have been a gigantic crowd of people, which probably represented every tribe and family in Israel. Very much like what we witnessed last week in Ex. 4:31 when the gathered nation of Israel "bowed and worshipped" before God, we see Gods' Spirit moving an entire people. It is a picture of real revival-God visiting His people. What does that say to us, not just as individual believers but as a people, a church? Ask: When Pastor JR gives next invitation, should we-I mean, every member present who is physically able (those who aren't could come forward and stand at the altar or sit in the first row of pews)-be prepared to come to the altar of our place of worship, get down on our knees, and humble ourselves before Almighty God?
v. 6d: "And Samuel judged the sons of Israel at Mizpah" - In the context of those times, the title "judge" in general meant that Samuel led them, governed them, taught them to understand and obey God's Law (i.e., the Torah), and punished those who disobeyed it. He would be the last judge.
APPLICATION-Three Outcomes of Revival:
1. Revival Brings Unity - The key words of v. 6 were "They" and "We." They came forward as individuals and family groups, then humbled themselves before God and repented of their sins as a united people. They were once again one nation under God. Revival can bring unity not only in a particular church but unity among various churches, regardless of denomination. When churches in various cities, towns, and localities put aside their differences and begin to unify in purpose and mission, the possibilities are boundless. This is the kind of unity that overcomes barriers between people like race, ethnicity, language, and culture. Many years ago at a Promise Keepers rally at N. Tex. Univ. in Denton, TX. I heard Tony Evans, a well-known black pastor and preacher say, "We might have come to this county on different ships, but now all of us are in the same boat!"
2. Revival Brings Opposition - 1 Sam. 7:7 reports that as soon as the people of Israel united, the Philistines prepared to go to battle against them, and the people were afraid. While we enjoy religious freedom in this nation, we aren't immune to opposition and should expect and be prepared for it when God brings revival. There are anti-Christian organizations (e.g., ACLU) that could take legal actions to further limit our public access that could tie us up for years and cost lots of money. The government could change laws that limit or remove our charitable tax exemptions. The liberal media could be expected to give us hostile and biased news coverage. We could even be opposed by other churches or religious organizations that feel threatened or don't approve of the way we do things. You can be sure that Satan will use every trick he has up his sleeve to stop us from bringing revival. How should we respond to our opponents? Our Lord tells us: "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who]mistreat you." Luke 6:27-28.
3. Revival Brings Deliverance - 1 Sam. 7:10 reports that "the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel." Though He certainly could, God isn't likely to act in that manner in this present NT age of grace. Even so, revival over time can bring a great awakening in the public conscience that will diminish great evils like crime, drug and alcohol addition, pornography, sexual immorality, abortion of unborn babies, greed, corruption, violence, and even wars.
PRAYER: Lord God, our Father, Master, and Creator of all things, we, Your people, come before your almighty throne today with thanks and praise for the steadfast love, mercy, and underserved grace You shower on us. We thank You for the blessings of our families, friends, and neighbors. We thank You that we are privileged to live in this beautiful and safe Mountain Home community. We praise You for giving us this good church and ability to fellowship with all the Christian brothers and sisters who worship here and ask that you will keep us safe by guarding the health of every one of us against infection from this Coronavirus. Above all things, Dear God, we thank You most of all for sending Your only Son, Jesus, to die for us on a cross so that we may be forgiven in You sight. Lord, as we look at ourselves, our church, our community, our state, and our nation, we desperately need revival. I pray that You will empower Brother JR as He preaches the Word and use your Holy Spirit empower every one of us to better serve You in a mighty way. We acknowledge Father, that we, as a people, are powerless without You. We ask you, God, to give the help that Only You can provide.
I pray all of these things in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.
