REVIVAL
[p. 428] REVIVAL
2 Chronicles 34: 31 - 33; 2 Chronicles 35: 1-5; 2 Chronicles 35:10; 2 Chronicles 35:15-19
These chapters speak of revival, and that is why I have read from them, having in mind to show that, in revivals according to God, persons and things are in their places.
The idea of revival in itself arouses interest, and opens up a wide field of inquiry, and as one inquires one notices that the need of revival is always current in the history of God’s people. Even though there be a revival in a general way, the need of it in detail is always current, and is now. Although we have part in a general way in a great revival which has lasted a century (the most important perhaps in the history of the assembly) and which will, I believe, last until the end, it is a question of sustenance, and for this, individual revivals are constantly needed.
To illustrate, you find in a man like Timothy — a devoted servant of Christ — that he needed to have revival. He had to rekindle the gift that was in him; it had become dormant, and that is a word for all such as have served well, and yet not to the full measure. God looks for results and values them, however few, but He looks for full measure. In Timothy there was need for revival in regard of his gift. It had burned but now it had become dormant and needed to be rekindled. Also a spiritual assembly like the Philippians — an assembly that is almost without peer for devotedness (according to the record) — needed revival at a given time in regard of the great servant through whom the light had come to it. He says, “ye have revived your thinking of me”, Philippians 4: 10. It had lagged.
So in a man like Jacob, a spiritual man, who had weathered storms, and stood well at the time of the great exercise at the supposed death of Joseph; and what followed in the dreaded loss of Simeon and [p. 429] Benjamin. His spirit evidently had drooped, however. An old brother is capable, indeed most liable to this; old age coming on with its discomforts tends to droopiness, and hence the need of revival. So that in Jacob we have an instance of one who was capable of revival. “And the spirit of Jacob ... revived”, Genesis 45: 27. It had not been what it used to be, but now it comes back and in power. His spirit revived as he saw the waggons, witnesses of Joseph being alive. So that, dear brethren, you see how the need of revival is constant with old and young, and I believe it is as this is recognised and felt, that there will be the sustenance of the great revival, the general revival. We do not want it to droop. I believe God has allowed many sorrows during the past hundred years to this very end, that the revival should be sustained. And it is obligatory upon us to maintain it, especially young ones coming on. The heavy burden, but the great honour, will soon be upon them to sustain the rich heritage that has come down in the way of revival, so that it should not taper out and be lost as the revival in Israel through Josiah was, after his death. It is to be continued, and to this end each one is to see to it that he is not losing in his soul. One has to look back from time to time on one’s spiritual history, right back to the very beginning of it, and see whether there has been any retrogression — any loss sustained that has not been repaired.
Now in this case we find that the revival began with the young. Josiah is a young person; he is on the throne at eight years of age — an elevation which would tend to harm a boy apart from the preserving hand of God. A like case is Joash. He came into power at seven years of age, but he needed careful watching, which he had under God, and was preserved during the days of Jehoiada. God provides persons who care for us; they watch for our souls, and it is well for young people to recognise them. It is altogether out of the question to think that God would have lambs without shepherds,
[p. 430] so that we may be sure, as young, that there are those that are watching for our souls. So under Jehoiada’s influence all went well for Joash, but he failed when Jehoiada’s influence was removed. We do well, dear young people, to find our feet and learn to accept responsibility when we have such an advantage.
Now Josiah did not have that advantage as far as the record shows. He was eight years of age when he came to the throne, and he went on for eight years with little or nothing eventful. Nothing against him, thank God! Then he began to seek after the Lord. Then, at the age of twenty, after he had reigned twelve years, he thinks of purification — of putting things right in his circumstances as the king of Judah; he purged Judah and Jerusalem, extending even to the territory of the ten tribes. At the age of twenty-six be began to think of cleansing the house of Jehovah and repairing it — a most interesting phase in a young man at the age of twenty-six! How many there may be here who are about that age! It is well for you to take account of it and see what place the house of God has in your mind and calculations.
In this exercise he comes into a great discovery. That is, as we progress in the things of God, we are constantly recompensed, constantly enriched. So the high priest finds the book of the law. Had it been found earlier in Josiah’s history it might not have received the same attention. He was not equal earlier to accord to it the attention that he was equal to at the age of twenty-six. The book was read to him and he rent his clothes. An important matter, and very necessary at such a juncture, that one rends one’s clothes. There must be a cause for it in my circumstances. Things are not right. Things had gone well indeed, but the law was the assertion of the rights of love. God waits His opportunities for that — to assert the rights of His love. But what could be more desirable, dear brethren, than that God should make known to us that He has rights [p. 431] over us, and that these are not arbitrary, but the rights of love — rights that will do the very best for us? And Josiah felt that things were not yet right — after such a history of faithfulness. He rent his clothes. Rending one’s clothes implies that one’s circumstances are not right. Is it not wise to look around and see whether my circumstances comport with increased light? If God has caused the light to shine more clearly, and it has caused me to see things that I had not seen before in my circumstances, it is well then to change them. That is, in principle, what the king did. He got light, he would have a full understanding of this book. “Think of what I say, for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things”, 2 Timothy 2: 7. These meetings are not merely for the few days we have spent together, but they are opportunities for the Lord to speak to us. What is said is to be considered, and the Lord gives understanding.
So Josiah sends some of his servants to the Lord. He does not name the immediate person to whom to go to obtain the mind of God. “Go, inquire of Jehovah”, he says. And the servants inquired of a woman. That is to say, by this time the king had surrounded himself with men who knew what to do. An important matter, too, that his associates are men who know what to do in a crisis. We must go to the Lord, of course; but then, if the Lord has someone to answer questions, well then, that is the one to go to. The king’s servants went to Huldah. Why should we go to a woman, one who resided in “the second quarter of the town”, to inquire of the Lord? They knew. They are not governed by natural feelings of pride. Where those exist, we shall miss the way. This woman is said to be the wife of Shallum, who was the keeper of the wardrobe. The king had just rent his clothes; he will need another suit! The idea is to get a suit suitable to the new light.
Huldah was not, evidently, a woman of social distinction. She lived “in the second quarter of the town”,
[p. 432] according to the better rendering. We have to be on the look-out for these things, and not make any such mistake in divine things as the observance of social differences. We hear people objecting about speech and dialect. They might have done that in Jerusalem when Peter was speaking. There were blemishes, no doubt, from the standpoint of language, but the divine substance was there. And the mind of God was there, “Give heed to my words”, says Peter, Acts 2: 14. Call me a Galilaean if you wish, call me an unlettered man, but listen to my words. It is not that we should misuse words, or not use right words. It is wonderful the language that the apostles acquired. Take Peter’s letters — what letters they are! They were written in Greek; they are not translations from a dialect, but written in Greek. God is capable of making His servants to speak better than the greatest human orators. But the point is the mind of God. Who can give me the mind of God?
Huldah is called a prophetess. There are several called prophetesses: Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Anna, and the four daughters of Philip. It is not said that the latter were prophetesses, but that they prophesied. But this is a prophetess, and they went to her. If you have godly associates, such as you can trust, it is a great advantage. “Evil communications corrupt good manners”, 1 Corinthians 15: 33. If Josiah had brought around him unspiritual men, he would have missed this woman. Jeremiah was a prophet; why did they not go to him? They went to Huldah. Whether she lived in a poor house in the second part of the city or not, she had the mind of God. Not that Jeremiah would not have had part in this had they sent to him. He says: “Thy words were found, and I did eat them”, Jeremiah 15: 16. Like Josiah, he had an interest in the find. Perhaps nobody enjoyed it more than Jeremiah. He ate the words of God and he says: “thy words were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart”. You will remember,
[p. 433] that, although we have a revival in Jeremiah’s time, Jeremiah knew that underneath the surface the general state was that the people were far away from God, and hence he had to sit alone. But Josiah acted in his own part, as king, with perfect intelligence in deputing these men to move. They went to the right person. Zephaniah was there, too. Why not go to him? But they did not go to him.
What I am aiming at is to impress you with the fact that we are to be discriminating and not settle too much on persons of distinction. It is the person available — the person known to be available — the person that can answer, that is the one to go to. Huldah could answer. She had the mind of God. She sends a message to the king and he feels it, and now the revival, having started, is greatly accelerated.
The first thing is that the king is in his place. Now when I speak of the king in this way, he may be either a type of Christ personally or he may be a type of royalty in the christian. These two thoughts are in Scripture. Royalty attaches to the christian as well as to Christ, and whether to Christ or to the christian, it is royalty — a great feature with God. When David danced before the ark, he was not a type of Christ. It was royalty in the christian, and that is what is so needed among us. We are said to be a “kingly priesthood”, 1 Peter 2: 9. Kingship means a man of power. It means a man who says, “I can face that matter”; it is obligatory on me to face it, and I will face it. That is the idea of a king, and in facing it, he becomes like a lion; “mighty among beasts, which turneth not away for any”, Proverbs 30: 30.
The first thing is to be in your place. The king was in his place. If we are to have light, if we are to have evil dealt with, the King must be in His place. Christ is in His place in heaven, but He is not always in His place amongst us, for the reason that we do not give it to Him. Here He is in His place. If it be royalty in [p. 434] the christian in the local company, how important it is that each should be in his place, that he should not waive his responsibility. It is his, and as standing in his place he becomes a lion, “which turneth not away for any”, a king among beasts. He turns not away for any. “The lion which is of the tribe of Juda ... has overcome”, says the Spirit of God, Revelation 5: 5. That is the idea in Judah. He has moral power. He prevailed above his brethren in relation to Joseph and prevailed too before Joseph, as seen in Genesis 44. There was great persevering power and an accompanying spirit that showed that he was prepared to suffer that a right thought should prevail. And so of him was the “chief ruler”, but whether in the chief ruler or the under-rulers, for rule there must be royalty.
So the king is in his place, and what comes out is that he caused the people, all Israel that were present, to abide by the covenant. He was really king. He had power, he had influence, he caused the people to abide by the covenant. They were to walk after Jehovah, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, and he caused the people to do so. Kingship is almost lost nowadays; ‘dictators’ are rising here and there, but royalty is a great thought with God. Royalty according to God means that there is ability to cause people to do what is right. Besides this, Josiah cleanses the land here (verse 33).
Now I want to show in the next instance that the recovery is marked by the passover. In connection with this, I want you to keep in view this idea of each being in his place, because that is what is in my mind. Josiah had a passover. We have the remarkable tribute paid to him in the last verse of chapter 34 that “all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers”. That is, he retained his kingly power all his days, and there can be no possibility of sustaining this great revival in which we have part, aside from the retention of kingly power — the power that deals [p. 435] with evil with unsparing hand and at the same time influences the saints for good. So that “all his days they did not depart from following Jehovah, the God of their fathers”.
The next chapter begins: “And Josiah held a passover to Jehovah in Jerusalem; and they slaughtered the passover on the fourteenth of the first month”. I just mention that, not to dwell on it, but to point out that the king is aiming at the full thought of God. There was a provision made, as you know, that under certain circumstances the passover could be kept in the second month. That is to say, there was a month of grace, but Josiah does not need this, which is a testimony to his spirituality. So that it is kept on the day primarily ordained in the law.
Then he called upon the Levites to put the ark in its place. That is the next thing. All the disciplinary power that the Lord has committed to us is essential and without its exercise we cannot go on. There cannot be a suitable place for the ark while there is compromise. So he says, “Put the holy ark in the house that Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built” (verse 3). The question is, dear brethren, whether all of us have the ark in its place in our hearts. “And it came to pass when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Jehovah, and let thine enemies be scattered; And let them that hate thee flee before thy face. And when it rested, he said, Return, Jehovah, unto the myriads of the thousands of Israel”, Numbers 10: 35, 36. Where can it rest today? Where, save in the hearts of those who love God? Nowhere else! If my love grows cold, or I am deflected, the ark has lost its place with me, and this may be extended to all the saints in my locality.
So that in our subject the second great thing is that the ark is in its place. If the king is in his place, and true to his office, the ark will be in its place. And it is no longer the tabernacle in the wilderness, but the temple that Solomon, the son of David, built. That is [p. 436] to say, it is a building by the Son; we come into the light of our place in relation to Christ and to each other; set together by Him, as a building, and hence a place for the ark. And it is called here, and here alone as far as I know, “the holy ark”. A beautiful tribute to Josiah — he calls it “the holy ark”. How easily we lose the sense of holiness in speaking of these things, dear brethren! The Spirit of God would impress upon us the need of it. The holy ark is to be in its place.
Then he says: You are to be in your place, Levi, according to your divisions. You are to be in the sanctuary. That is the next thing. How many of us understand what it is to stand in the holy place, to be in surroundings of holiness as appointed? It is a question of the place of each as a levite. David ordained that they should be in courses, their service was apportioned to them, they had their places, and now they are to take them.
Well, the next thing is that “the service was prepared” (verse 10). That is a great feature of the revival, and what the Lord has been saying to us for many years past has reference to this very thing. The order of the Lord’s Supper was very far from being right, yet it was celebrated and the Lord accepted it generally, no doubt. But, by His help, there has been great adjustment and I believe He owns this and is honoured in it. It is one of the great features of the truth the Lord has been emphasising for the moment — that the service of God should be carried on “according to the writing of David, king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son”. Things must be according to that, pointing to the ministry of Paul.
Is it in this exalted sense prepared for each of us? Do we know how to serve as we sit down in the assembly? Each is to be in his place. “And the priests stood in their place, and the Levites in their divisions, according to the king’s commandment”. Dear young people, let us understand these things, that in coming together in [p. 437] assembly we are not members of a congregation; each has his function, but if he is to function he is to be in his place, not only as a simple believer in Christ, but as a priest. That is most important. The priests were in their places and the levites in theirs.
The next thing is that the singers were in their place. Verse 15 says: “And the singers, the sons of Asaph, were in their place, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Jeduthun the king’s seer ...” First, the king is in his place. He is dealing with all that is evil, and he is influencing for good. Everybody is keeping to the covenant, and there is unity. Then the ark is in its place; Christ has His place in the hearts of His people. Then the levites are regulated according to the writing of David and Solomon — these exalted principles. Then the service is prepared. All is ready now to move. The priests are in their place, and the levites are in their courses. What a fine meeting we are going to have! And is it too much to expect that all our meetings are to come under this? That is the aim of the Spirit of God at the present moment, that the great revival that God has blessed us with should continue; that it should not diminish and taper away, but go on to the end, “going on and brightening until the day be fully come”, Proverbs 4: 18. It becomes us, particularly the young ones here, to face these matters.
And now the singers; these are most interesting men. It is peculiar to David that he had seers of his own. He had persons around him that could see things. No one of us could see everything. David was wise enough to have seers around him; he had Gad and Jeduthun, mentioned here, “Jeduthun the king’s seer” (verse 15). He was a singer, but he was also a seer. He was not only concerned about the music. The Lord would encourage us to have right music in the assembly, but then we must see at the same time that that is not the only thing. Jeduthun is the seer and he belonged [p. 438] to the great economy which had the service of God in view, the greatest result for God which is most important. The great end in Romans, Corinthians, Colossians, and Ephesians is the great result that is to accrue for God. Ephesians shows this end: “to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”, Ephesians 3: 21. David had seers and one of them directed the singing. And the singers are in their place here. This is a great point, dear brethren, as to assembly service, that we are in our places as singers. The Lord is the Chief Singer.
It is the idea of a choir. Each has a place, so that there is no discordant sound, and the service is thus carried on at a high level. Is it not well to keep this going? It is wonderful that God has privileged even us to have part in it! And it is for you and me to put our shoulder to it and see that it goes on, and increases. We are told that there was nothing like this from the days of Samuel.
Before going on to the closing verses, we should notice the latter part of verse 15: “and the doorkeepers were at every gate; they had not to depart from their service, for their brethren the Levites prepared for them”. Under these circumstances we are apt to have accessions that will not help us, they are extraneous, and hence the porters did not even leave their posts to eat. That means there is vigilance so that no foreign matter is allowed. It is over against the looseness that we have had to deal with all these years back.
Then it goes on to tell us: “And all the service of Jehovah was prepared the same day, to hold the Passover, and to offer burnt-offerings on the altar of Jehovah according to the commandment of king Josiah. And the children of Israel that were present held the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. And there was no Passover like to that holden in Israel from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel hold such a Passover [p. 439] as Josiah held, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth year” (Josiah was twenty-six when all this happened) “of the reign of Josiah was this Passover holden” (verses 16 - 19). That is, dear brethren, the comment of the Spirit of God and we do not want to be lacking of what He approves. The Spirit of God is watching; all these matters are under the eye of heaven and the comments of the Spirit will be made in due course — what heaven thinks of what is current. It is wise to bear this in mind. We are relatively very few, but here it is all “Israel that were present”, whether few or many. As present under these circumstances, we come in for these things and this wonderful comment of the Spirit, that “neither did all the kings of Israel hold such a passover as Josiah held”. One would venture to say that the current revival in the assembly is peculiarly delightful to heaven.
There are elements of retrogression and corruption among the people of God, and God would impress upon us the great need of royalty: that evil is dealt with, that the saints are brought into the positive thing; that as far as lies in you and in me, the people of God stand by the covenant, that the priests and levites are in their places, that the service is prepared, and God honoured in its steady maintenance until the coming of the Lord.