Many Gracious Revivals

From: Josiah and Revival By: William Woldridge Fereday

• 7 min. read • grade level: 9

Israel’s history after the death of Joshua was a very sorrowful one. His conquests put the people in possession of the land of promise. It was divided up under the guidance of Jehovah, and many cities were allotted to the various tribes that were still occupied by the enemy; but divine power was available for the expulsion or destruction of all those, if only the people of God had faith to use it. In Judges 1:1¹Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked the Lord, saying, Who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? (Judges 1:1), we read: “Now after the death of Joshua it came to pass, that the children of Israel asked Jehovah, saying, who shall go up for us against the Canaanites first, to fight against them? And Jehovah said, Judah shall go up: behold, I have delivered the land into his hand.” Had Israel continued on this line, all would have been well, but poor flesh can never be trusted. Accordingly the book of Judges is a story of miserable failure. Again and again Israel turned their back upon Jehovah, and worshipped idols, and as frequently He delivered them into the hands of their foes. But the Book of Judges not only tells us of repeated failures; it also tells us of various spiritual revivals in the mercy of God. From time to time men of faith were raised up (Gideon being the brightest of them all) who laid hold upon God on behalf of His wayward people, and they were used of Him to deliver them from their oppressors, and to lead them back to their God.

David’s day was the greatest revival of all. Everything was in ruins when Jehovah took him from the sheep folds, and made him king over His people. The priesthood had broken down both morally and spiritually, and the king of the people’s choice had been slain, and the excellent Jonathan with him. “Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine” (Psa. 78:65⁶⁵Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. (Psalm 78:65)). In David and Mount Zion He gave His people a new start in grace. But the effects of every revival were but transient. Of later revivals those in the days of Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah may be specially mentioned. Josiah was the last instrument thus graciously raised up by God before He suffered “the boar out of the wood to waste His vineyard, and the wild beast of the field to devour it” (Psa. 80:13¹³The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. (Psalm 80:13)). Since that awful catastrophe, which upset the whole order of nations as established by the Most High, the people of Israel have not been in possession of the land. All claim to it has been forfeited, whatever Jewish pride and self-will may say in our time. The people will not again possess the good land until He comes whose right it is to reign. Then grace will give what righteousness now refuses, and the seed of Abraham will enjoy rest and peace forever.

In speaking of Josiah as Israel’s last revivalist, I am not over the fact that he was King of Judah. His little kingdom included (territorially) the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, which alone remained to the house of David after the great disruption which followed the death of Solomon. The ten tribes which revolted at that time and made Jeroboam the son of Nebat their king have not been re-united to their brethren to this hour. At various times the kingdom of Judah received valuable additions in exercised souls who left the Northern Kingdom because of its appalling evils, and migrated to the South, where (at least under certain pious kings) the Word of God was still somewhat respected (2 Chron. 11:13-17¹³And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts. ¹⁴For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest's office unto the Lord: ¹⁵And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. ¹⁶And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers. ¹⁷So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years: for three years they walked in the way of David and Solomon. (2 Chronicles 11:13‑17)). The spiritual energy that leads to separation from real evil is always precious in the sight of God (2 Tim. 2:19-22¹⁹Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. ²⁰But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honor, and some to dishonor. ²¹If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. ²²Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. (2 Timothy 2:19‑22)). Mere quarrelsomeness He hates (2 Tim. 2:24²⁴And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, (2 Timothy 2:24)).

Although the majority of the people of God did not acknowledge his authority (and indeed many of them were no longer in the land, having been carried away by the kings of Assyria) Josiah, being a man of faith, regarded his tiny remnant of a nation which was once as numerous as the sand of the sea, as representative of Israel. The unity of the people of God was very real and precious to him, notwithstanding centuries of grievous failure. Upon the holy table in Jerusalem’s sanctuary there still stood the twelve loaves with pure frankincense upon them (Lev. 24:5-9⁵And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. ⁶And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. ⁷And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. ⁸Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. ⁹And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute. (Leviticus 24:5‑9); 2 Chron. 13:11¹¹And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. (2 Chronicles 13:11)), teaching that His own are always under the eye of God and covered with all the acceptability of Christ. What God saw in His grace, Josiah saw in the simplicity of his faith. On the same principle Paul, several centuries later, spoke of “our twelve tribes” (Acts 26:7⁷Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. (Acts 26:7)), and James addressed his Epistle to “the twelve tribes that are scattered abroad, greeting” (James 1:1¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. (James 1:1)).

Josiah lived in the late evening of Israel’s national history; we are living in the late evening of the history of the Church. For Israel, the time of divine repudiation and banishment was near (Hosea 1:9; 9:3⁹Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi: for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God. (Hosea 1:9)
³They shall not dwell in the Lord's land; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and they shall eat unclean things in Assyria. (Hosea 9:3)). For Christendom something analogous is impending. He who is holy and pure will shortly spew out of His mouth the unreal mass who profess to be Christians and are not (Rev. 3:16¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:16)). The fruitless branches will be cut out of God’s olive tree (Rom. 11:22²²Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. (Romans 11:22)). All who are truly Christ’s will be caught up to meet their Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)). In his day, Josiah was confronted with division, confusion and every evil work. The same things confront us now. The young king was profoundly moved by the written Word of God when it was brought before him and he was determined to be obedient in all things thereto. The feeling that the hour was late, and that the position was hopeless, did not check in Josiah’s soul the sense of responsibility. Hoary customs were cast aside, and every trace of evil in the land was stamped out to the best of his ability. Many professed to follow the king in his holy zeal, but Jehovah who knows the secrets of all hearts, said, “Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly” (Jer. 3:10¹⁰And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 3:10)). In all ages the people love to move with the tide. If the tide is flowing in the right direction (as in the Protestant Reformation), many will go with it—outwardly; but if the tide is flowing in the wrong direction the mass will go with it eagerly. The latter was seen in the days of Israel’s worst kings, and we have seen it also in Christendom.

The Scriptures which influenced Josiah so wonderfully were principally the five books of Moses. We are immeasurably more favored than he, for we hold in our hands the complete revelation of God. Is it our habit to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest? Or is it possible that the bustle of the twentieth century, with the many side attractions that the restlessness of flesh has provided for everybody, is diverting us from the study of the Word of God? Foolish souls are we, if this is so. The Scriptures, as we meditate upon them, bring us into the presence of God; they lay bare our consciences and they quicken our spiritual affections. They enrich us divinely. Enjoyment leads to action. Every evil thing in our lives is cast out. We scrutinize our ecclesiastical associations; will they stand: the test of the Word of God? Religious organizations and fellowships which betray the human hand we renounce as earnestly as Josiah renounced and destroyed the many religious evils which filled his realms. The Church rises up before our souls, in its wondrous unity as Christ’s body and God’s habitation, and in the light of it we seek by grace to walk while we wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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