Br. Tim Hadley

Br. Brian Pickering and Br. Christopher Pickering

Br. Hani Bolous and Br. Alex Schneider

Br. Mark Harris

“Hezekiah…did what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the Lord and repaired them.“ 2 Chronicles 29:2-3.

Points to Consider

Except for David and Solomon, no king is given more attention or commendation than Hezekiah in all of Scripture. A total of eleven chapters are devoted to this king who did what was right in the sight of the Lord. Three chapters in 2 Kings 18-20, four in Isaiah 36-39 and four here in 2 Chronicles 29-32. The 2 Kings chapters reveal the personal conditions and responsibilities which are needed for revival, while the 2 Chronicles portions give us the national or collective conditions needed for revival and emphasize the sovereign grace of God. In the Isaiah account, we see Hezekiah relying upon his God in time of crisis.

In 2 Chronicles 28 we learn of the background leading up to Hezekiah’s reign, notice verses 2, 19, and 24. Hezekiah lived in a day when there was no regard for the things of God, yet he had a sense of God’s presence (29:1-2), a sense of urgency and priority (29:3), a sense of order and holiness (29:4-36). He identified with the failures of the past (29:6-7) and he also lived with a sense of intensity to give God his all (29:2, 10, 16, 18; 31:20-21).

The revival under Hezekiah was marked by:

• The return to the Word of God (29:15, 25; 30:5, 12, 16, 18; 31:3, 4, 21)
• The emphasis on sanctification (29:4-11, 15-19; 30:15-25)
• The message of salvation and worship which follows (30:1-27)
• The return of joy (29:27-30, 36, 30:21, 26)
• The priority of stewardship or giving (29:31, 31:7-8)

As we look at the passage our theme verse comes from, let’s seek to answer several questions:

• What were the steps in Hezekiah’s revival?
• Why was sanctification so important? How does this apply to us
• How does true revival affect our worship?

Br. Daniel Bubenzer

Br. Paul Meijer

Points to Consider

WW Fereday in his book, Josiah & Revival said, “God prepared Josiah 2,650 years ago to teach us lessons today. He lived with faith and energy in a day of unbelief and moral decay. Every believer today would benefit greatly from these lessons on…reliance on God’s Word, repentance, worship, spiritual vigor, and spiritual dangers.“

Fereday was absolutely correct, there are many lessons that can be learned from this child king and the revival that the Lord brought through him. Josiah’s story can be found in 2 Chronicles 34-35 and 2 Kings 22-23. He was eight years old when he began to reign. At the age of sixteen, Josiah became very serious for the Lord’s things. By the age of twenty he began vigilantly attacking the high place where the worship of idols was practice and by twenty-six, he put his efforts in repairing the temple of the Lord. Even though Josiah’s father and grandfather, kings before him did evil in the site of the Lord, this young man did not flow with the current, nor was he influenced by the worlds thinking.

What was it that gave Josiah strength to swing up stream against the tide of evil all around him? This young man had a deep desire to seek the Lord and to obey His Word. He allowed himself to be influenced by others who lived godly lives (2 Chronicles 34:22-33). One of the things which characterized this young man was his humility. Humility before God (2 Chronicles 34:1-13), humility concerning God’s Word (2 Chronicles 34:14-28), and humility before the people of God (2 Chronicles 34:29-33).

The revival that the Lord brought about by using Josiah was marked by:

• The rediscovery of the Word of God (2 Kings 22:1-2, 8-10, 13; 23:3-25).
• A restored sense of the fear of God (2 Kings 22:11-17; Deut. 17:18-19; 4:23-24).
• A return to God through confession and repentance (2 Kings 22:18-20).
• A renewed spiritual commitment and accountability (2 Kings 23:1-3).
• A reformation of true piety or godliness (2 Kings 23:21-25; Deut. 18).

Suggested focus:

• The influence a person can have from a very young age. Even children have enormous potential to live for God and to have great impact.
• A life fully committed and obedient to God is always blessed for it.
• Josiah properly responded to God’s Word. By the time he became king, the Scriptures had long been neglected, and Josiah’s heart was smitten by the failure of his people to honor God’s Word. Josiah had Scripture read to the people and made a commitment to live by it.

A spiritual awakening is no more than God's people seeing God in His holiness, turning from their wicked ways, and being transformed into His likeness. - Lewis Drummond

Br. Manuel Dietermann

Br. Steve Campbell
Slides: PDF or PPTX

Points to Consider

Zerubbabel was a descendant of David, being grandson of King Jehoiachin of Judah (1 Chronicles 3:17). He was born in Babylon during the exile and traveled to Judah after King Cyrus II allowed the Judean captives to return to their homeland to rebuild the temple (Ezra 1:1–4; 6:3–5, 8–10). The prophet Haggai identifies Zerubbabel as the governor of Judah after the exile (Haggai 1:1; 2:2, 21).

In Ezra 1-4, after seventy years in captivity, the Lord begins working a revival under the leadership of Zerubbabel. Often times Zerubbabel gets overlooked because his ministry is found in the book of Ezra and others, but Ezra doesn’t actually come into the picture until chapter seven. In chapter three, Zerubbabel is associated with Jeshua and it is there the alter is first set up, before anything else is built (Ezra 3). Seventy years later, Haggai and Zechariah arrive and challenge the people of with their ministry and the house of God was built. Approximately sixty years between chapter six and seven, between the completion of the rebuilding of temple to Ezra’s arrival. About fourteen years after this Nehemiah is used by the Lord to lead a revival which involves the rebuilding of the walls and gates and reasserts one more time the authority of the Word of God.

What is interesting and what we want to focus on is where did Zerubbabel begin in the building of the temple? He began with the alter, why the alter? We would suggest that the alter is the heart of the Revival under Zerubbabel. He began with the Lord having His rightful place! As we look at what led up to this there are many lessons to consider:

• Their devotion and zeal to build the house of God (Ezra 2:68-3:2).
• They began to see things from God’s perspective, there was unity (Ezra 2:70, 3:1).
• They responded to the ways, will and Word of God (3:2, 4, 4, 10).
• Their unity was evident (Ezra 3:1, 3, 5, 7).

Suggested focus:

• Why is beginning with the Alter so important? What does this have to do with revival?
• Why is the burnt offering mentioned 5 times in the first six verses of chapter three?
• What was their priority once they set the alter upon it’s bases (Ezra 3:8-13)?

Go in, therefore, for revival in your neighborhood, dear friend, and pray on, and expect largely. Meanwhile shrink neither from heart-searching’s, even deep ones, in the presence of God, nor from the relinquishing of long-cherished idols, so that with a heart truly devoted to and fragrant of Christ, you may have your hands well filled with His blessed service. - FB Hole

Br. Johnny Pano, Br. Meik Eckhardt, and Br. Ehab Mekhail

Br. Hilvert Wijnholds

Points to Consider

Ezra and Nehemiah were contemporaries, Ezra wrote about the rebuilding of the temple under Zerubbabel, while Nehemiah wrote concerning the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls and gates. Nehemiah was the king’s cup bearer (Nehemiah 1:11), a common man, where Ezra was a priest, Haggai and Zecharia were prophets and Zerubbabel was of royal descent. God used each of these men to stir up the hearts of His people.

Nehemiah gives us the last recorded revival of the returning remnant. We understand that revival begins with God using one man, but it is not that man taking action on his own, but the Lord working deep in his heart! A spiritual revival has at least three things which characterize it: Prayer and repentance, an emphasis on the Word of God and obedience to it, leading to a fresh sense of the presence of God. Nehemiah is no different. There are at least twelve prayers mentioned in this book (1:4-11; 2:4; 4:4-5, 9; 5:19; 6:9; 14; 8:6; 9:5-38; 11:17; 13:14, 22, 29). But the prayer that stands out is the very first prayer of Nehemiah which displays the heart and power of the revival which follows.

A second element to the power behind the revival of Nehemiah is showcased for us in chapter 8, when Ezra rises up and reads the Word of God. But he reads it in such a way that the people heard it with understanding, this is mentioned at least six times in chapter eight (8:2, 3, 7, 8, 12, 13). Ezra illustrates the importance of teaching the Word in such a way that it caused revival in the hearts of the hearers; “So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading“ (8:8). In this we have a lesson for proper exposition of the Word, “they read distinctly from the book“ this is observation - what does it say? Then they, “they gave the sense“ this is interpretation - what does it mean? Lastly, they “helped them to understand the reading“ which is application – how does it apply to me.

Throughout this book we see threaded a sense of the very presence of God. This began in Nehemiah’s own heart (Neh. 1:5-7) and was conveyed to the people of God (Neh. 4:13-14), which led to real confession of heart (Neh. 9).

Suggested focus:

Where the work of revival begins (Nehemiah 1).

How the enemy seeks to hinder God’s work in and through His own.

Like a roaring lion (Neh. 4)

Through compromise (Neh. 6:1-4)

Through slander (Neh. 6:5-9)

Through threats (Neh. 6:10-14)

We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from Heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again. - G. Campbell Morgan

Br. John Redekop