The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah document the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. First, Ezra was sent to restore the worship among the Israelites. As worship was restored, Zerubbabel arrived to rebuild the temple, the place of worship, and finally Nehemiah arrives and rebuilds the walls and gates of Jerusalem. The wall acted as a barrier against attack and protected those living within the city, but it’s not enough to fortify the walls and build a place of worship. That’s not really “revival”? Revival begins in the hearts of each individual (you and me), before the community can be strengthened. And only God’s Spirit is able to do the work in the hearts of each person, but He does use people like Ezra along the way.
“And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. For we were slaves…” – Ezra 9:8-9
The first step to revival is recognizing that we’re in bondage.
It isn’t hard to find others in bondage around us. There are those who are in bondage to addictions such as drugs, alcohol, sexual perversions, etc. But there are other bondages that are less recognizable, especially when it comes to ourselves, unless we begin looking within and asking, “Am I in any kind of bondage and in need of revival?”
So let me ask you:
· Do you have a sense of incredible joy? If not, then you could very well be under the bondage of sorrow, depression, disillusionment, or even unconfessed sin?
· Do you have indescribable peace within? If you don’t have peace then are under the bondage of dread, or anxiety?
· Are you filled with faith? Or are you wrestling with the bondage of doubts.
· Are you filled with incredible hope? If not, are you wrestling against despair? Is your glass suddenly half empty?
· Do you have assurance? Or are you fearful and worried?
· Do you possess a strong sense of self-worth? Or are you struggling with the bondage of shame?
Do you love digging into God's Word? How's your prayer life? Are you seeing God answer your prayers? Has God been speaking to you personally lately, or has He seemed distant?
Any of these symptoms may be signs that we're not free to live the way God has called us and created us to live!
Once we recognize that we are dealing with some form(s) of bondage, the next step to revival is to begin to cry out asking God to deliver us, for there has never been freedom without first a cry to be free!
We can see why God chose Ezra to rebuild Israel’s worship in Ezra 7:10, For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to practice it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” (Emphasis mine) Ezra had set his heart to
1) Seek the Law of the Lord,
2) do it (live according to God’s Word), and
3) teach others to do the same.
Let me ask you, would you like to be used by God? Would you like to have the faith that stands firm and is commited to helping build God's Kingdom? Then, we too, must do exactly as Ezra "set his heart" to do. Anything that falls short of this simple formula would never work. Did you know that many theologians today credit Ezra with writing Psalm 119?
Here’s just a few quick verses, but I'd encourage you to prayerfully read the rest for yourself:
Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with their whole heart,
With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.” – Psalm 119: 1-2, 10-11
Is this your heart's cry as well?
Also consider the words of Jesus:
“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not DO the things which I say? Whoever COMES TO ME, and HEARS My sayings and DOES them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.” Luke 6:46–48 (emphasis added)
Don’t we all want to build our faith on an unshakable foundation? The great news is that God doesn’t leave us solely with the task of seeking, doing, and teaching completely up to us. All of us, at the moment we placed our faith in Him, were given the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us, by revealing the truth of God’s Word to us, helping us to live it out, and to teach others to do the same!
“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
And this amazing journey begins simply by looking within!