The city of Jerusalem has defenses. The temple of God is rebuilt and the people of God are seeking to consecrate themselves and Return to God. Awareness and confession of their sins feeds a time of praise for the goodness and mercy of God. They are revived!
Revival Breaks Out
Nehemiah 9:1-3, “Now in the twenty and fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, and with sackcloth’s, and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. They stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God one fourth part of the day; and another fourth part they confessed, and worshipped the Lord their God.”
The Israelites humbled themselves before God in prayer and fasting. They separated themselves from the rest of the world. Anyone who was not of the bloodline. They spent 3 hours in the word of God and from that came 3 hours of confession of their sins and worshipping God. The weight of the knowledge of their sins moved them to consecrate themselves to Him. They were broken by that knowledge and submitted themselves to God. This resulted in hours of weeping and repentance before God and worship. This is the epitome of revival.
This happened before when Solomon dedicated the first temple (2 Chronicles 7). It was a new beginning for Israel. After centuries of enslavement and decades of wandering and war, they had the land God had promised them.
The Church is coming ever closer to this time. We are standing on the brink of the greatest harvest of souls the Kingdom of God has ever seen. The first step towards this will be when the Church decides to consecrate itself to God and surrender themselves to God. It will be like another day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:41, “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”
Renewing Their Covenant with God
Nehemiah 9:38, “And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it.”
After the people had repented and worshipped God, the priests, nobles, and rulers of the people renewed the covenant with God and placed their seal upon it. This has happened before in 2 Kings 23:3,” And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant.”
King Josiah was 18 years old when the Book of the Law was found. He was moved to repentance and to consecrate himself when the words of the Law were read to him. This lead to a great revival amongst the people who also knew not the Law of God (2 Kings 23:1-25).
When we surrender to God and receive the Holy Spirit, God seals us. His mark an authority is placed upon us.
In all of these instances, it is the reading of the word of God that leads the people towards repentance and to consecrate themselves and return to God.
Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
The Conditions of the Covenant
The people came together as one with the priests, rulers, and nobles, in unity, to follow after God’s Law and to do it no matter the cost.
Condition 1 – They agreed that they would not inter-marry their sons and daughters with the people of the land. They would maintain the pure bloodline.
Deuteronomy 7:3, “Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.”
Condition 2 – They agreed that they would do no business on the Sabbath or any other Holy Day.
Amos 8:5, “Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? And the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?”
Condition 3 – To faithfully observe the 7th year – the jubilee year. The land must rest and all debts and debtors were to be forgiven.
Exodus23:10, “And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather in the fruits thereof: But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive yard.”
Deuteronomy 15:1-2, “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lends unto his neighbor shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord’s release.”
What this Means for the Church
The Church must come together in unity of the Spirit as one body, the body of Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:16, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.”
John 17:11, “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me that they may be one, even as we are one.”
Condition 1 says not to marry yourselves to those not of the body. For the Church that means we need to abstain from things of the world and separate ourselves from those things. We must consecrate ourselves to God. This can mean people, entertainment, anything that is not glorifying to God.
2 Corinthians 6:14, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”
Condition 2 is to keep the Sabbath holy. For Israel that meant no work or business on Shabbat. For the Church, in my humble opinion, that means resting every single day in the finished work of Christ. Jesus is now our rest. He is our Sabbath.
1 John 4:17, “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.”
Matthew 11:28, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
The Years of Jubilee
The third of the most important of the conditions was concerning the 7th year Sabbath of rest.
Condition 3 was to once again observe the seventh year Sabbath and the Jubilee years. Every seven years was a Sabbath year where no planting would take place and all debts of the people of Israel would be cancelled. It was a rest for the land and for the people.
After 7 Sabbath years, the people would celebrate the 50th years as the Jubilee year. This year was a hollowed year. They would proclaim liberty throughout the whole land and to all the inhabitants.
When Christ died on the cross and rose again to be seated at the right hand of God the Father He became our rest. He is our Sabbath, our 7th Year rest, and our Jubilee!
Luke 4:18-19, “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.”
Jesus preached that the acceptable year of the Lord was here—the Year of Jubilee, which took place every 50th year—the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound (Leviticus 25). What Jesus was really saying was, “I am your Year of Jubilee!”
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