“Thus saith the Lord of
hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these
days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts.” -
Zechariah 8:6
In
days past, revival has always been marked by careful, humble, sacrificial living
from God’s people. We have faith, that
in days to come it will be the same. Only
God himself can send revival, and only God himself can accomplish it. Revival
cannot be birthed through man's ingenuity.
It cannot be orchestrated, it cannot be commanded. True, genuine, Holy Ghost revival is an
absolute function of God himself.
Therefore, if there is a recipe for revival, it lies in God’s people
seeking, serving, and believing God himself.
In the 8th chapter of Zechariah the Word of the
Lord is given to the prophet in the second year of Darius king of Persia. Zechariah is prophesying at the same time as
Haggai who said, “Is it time for you, O
ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?” Also, Ezra the scribe is now back in
Jerusalem trying to rebuild the temple (the Lord’s house that lies in waste). The Word of the Lord comes to Zechariah and
tells him that he jealous over Zion, and over Jerusalem. He tells him I will dwell in Jerusalem, and
the aged men and women will dwell in the streets. That the streets of the city will be filled with
boys and girls at play. Then the Word of
the Lord says, if it be marvelous in the
eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvelous
in mine eyes? Take a moment, and
just imagine, imagine Jerusalem in desolation, imagine the temple in ruin;
imagine God’s people largely removed from that country, and just a few left
there. Now, can you imagine the faith it
would take to believe that God would be there?
That men, women, and children would be together in the streets: safe,
secure, and happy? God says if it be marvelous
in your eyes, it will be marvelous in mine.
God says, if this scene is marvelous, wonderful, incredible to you; it
will be to me. This is the message from
God, to God’s people. When you look out
at our land and country today, if holiness people think themselves just a remnant
living in a desolate decaying Jerusalem, and that is all there is; we will
never see revival. Worse still, if we
love Babylon, and long to return there, what hope is there when that is marvelous
in our eyes? It begs the question: What
is marvelous in your eyes? What is
incredible to you? What gives you pause,
causes you to stop and look? Is it
someone who has lots of money? Someone
who possess abundance of talent? The
newest trend, latest fashion, coolest gadget?
Do we really want to see a sinner break with the world and fall in love
with God; or simply sing about it? Would
we rather see the Holy Ghost grip this nation and turn us back to holiness, or simply
talk about it? What is marvelous in your
eyes? Jesus told of a parable of the unjust
judge who totally ignored a widow woman that had been wronged, but the Word
says by her “continually coming” she
persuaded Him. If the unjust judge would
do right, how much more would Judge of all the Earth? How much more would God
in heaven if we but humble ourselves, continually seek His face, and make
holiness marvelous in our eyes?
There is a cross for us to bear, when we get to
the place where we want to bear it, we love to bear it; we desire God’s
conviction and direction over everything else; we crave the burden of revival
in our own lives and we are willing to sacrifice to see it; making the vision
of revival marvelous in our eyes. I just
believe God will honor that. Revival
starts within, not without. As in the
days of Josiah the King, we must look to our own house and ask God to clean out
the rubbish and clear out the “shelf behind the door.” Read His Word, commit to prayer, and be
honest with God. When he answers by fire
in our heart, it will make revival marvelous in our eyes, consequently in His,
and by God’s grace he will make it marvelous to the world.
