From A Breath to True Revival

Ezra 9:5-9

⁵ And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, ⁶ saying:

“O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. ⁷ From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. ⁸ But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery. ⁹ For we are slaves. Yet our God has not forsaken us in our slavery, but has extended to us his steadfast love before the kings of Persia, to grant us some reviving to set up the house of our God, to repair its ruins, and to give us protection in Judea and Jerusalem.

This past Sunday we had Pastor Kyle as our speaker. Using the passage from Ezra 9:5-9, he shared that true repentance brings true revival. Looking back at the history of the Israelites, Zerubbabel rebuilt Solomon's temple, but Ezra was more interested in restoring the heart of the people. Of course, Nehemiah came back to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall.

Focusing on verses 8-9, Kyle looked at the lexicon of the word, revival. The Hebrew word, Mihyah, means "a breath on the edge of death" or as the English translated it to be, "a little revival". So, the idea in verse 8 was an introspective revival, looking at the heart of the people.

But, verse 9 again used the word, "revival" but this time it is action-oriented. In English it says, "to grant us some reviving". This revival involves repentance, not just ackownledging the sin, but to turn and go towards the right direction: to truly move away from sin. True repentance is the source of all grace: joy, forgiveness, unity, and gratitude.

Finally, Kyle looked at the idea of revival from the use of a tent peg. The Hebrew word used was "Yated", meaning secured as a tent peg. A tent is fragil. So, a tent peg helps to bring security in the midst of fragility. A tent peg is far from the majestic beauty and security of the temple. And yet, the picture is that God Himself is the tent peg for the remant of Israelites who have returned. He is their security and He calls them to repentance, not just once, but a constant acknowledgement of sin in order to see that their strength and security come from having God's presence.

How we need this message today?!?! To be reminded that revival is not a large gathering of people, rather it needs to start from within each of us through daily repentance.

What a beautiful message to close out the month of June: In His Love!

Revive Us In Your Love