Times of Revival
The Mount Zion Assembly of Jah
presents
Jah's Feast Days ... Times for Revival
No one can study the history of Jahzrael (Israel) as recorded in the Scriptures without becoming impressed with the fact, that whenever JAH'S people chose to break His law they suffered the consequences. And if they persisted in their rebellion by refusing to forsake the path of disobedience, then the Almighty JAH invariably withdrew His blessings and allowed their enemies to rule over them.
This tragic sequence of disobedience (sin) always being followed by punishment of one kind or the other happened over and over again in Jahzrael's past; and it happened in direct fulfillment of the holy pronouncements made through the patriarch Moses. A survey of Deuteronomy 28 will prove this point and a study of the books of Judges, Kings and Chronicles will fix the lesson in your mind for life.
In short, when JAH'S people disobeyed Him, they were punished - often very severely - but when they repented of their sins and turned back to the pathway of obedience they were blessed; blessed in a measure that was quite breathtaking in its effect and out of all proportion to their obedience. JAH literally showered upon His people the spiritual riches of heaven and the bounties of the earth.
In the following sentence, this summarizes Jahzrael's history.
When Jahzrael obeyed His commandments they prospered in all that they did, and when they refused to obey they suffered the consequences.
Now bear in mind that JAH, the Holy One of Jahzrael has not changed. (Mal. 3:6) He still blesses those who obey Him and punishes those who sin. No matter how people try to ignore this fact, it will not go away, because it is a fundamental teaching of the Scriptures.
If you trust and obey the Most High you will be blessed. But if you persist in sinning you will be punished; it's as basic as that. Although the punishment might not be immediate in most cases for the heathens, it without a doubt is reserved for all humans on the day of Judgement.
Let us now look at four revivals recorded in the Scriptures to illustrate this point.
1. The Revival under King Hezekiah
Before Hezekiah came to the throne, the Temple in Jahrushalem had been tragically desecrated. The holy lamps had been put out and the Temple doors shut. Organized worship of JAH had been more or less suspended. As a result the Kingdom of Judah was spiritually bankrupt. But when Hezekiah came to the throne a great change took place.
On the first day of the first month in the Holy Almenach - the real New Year's Day - he ordered that the doors of the Temple be opened and the filth that lay in the Holy Place removed. (2 Chronicles 29:1-3, 17, 31-36).
This cleansing work was soon finished and royal invitations to come to Jahrushalem for the Passover were sent out by special couriers to every corner of the Promised Land.
However this Passover took place in the second month because of the time it took to purify everyone for the consecration and ministration of the temple. This keeping of the Passover in the second month is sanctified by Jah through His words. We understand that this keeping of the Passover in the second month is good for a couple of reasons:
The Passover can be kept in the 2nd month IF some of the people weren't able to keep it in the 1st month due to uncleanness, sickness or because of a journey being to far away.
Numbers 9:9-12 states: “9 And JAH spake unto Moses, saying, 10 speak unto the children of Jahzrael, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the Passover unto JAH. 11 The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.”
Notice in Numbers 9:12, 14, that it says, “according to all the ordinances of the Passover they shall keep it.” The ordinances include the 14th day at even until the 21st of the month, and that's because the second month is similar to the first month.
The 1 st and 2 nd months are similar in the sense that they both begin on the 1 st day of the weekly cycle. There is no other feast which is allowed to be kept in another month, only the Passover, and as said before, that's because of the similarity of the 1 st and 2 nd months and also being that they are beside each other.
Here is the record of Hezekiah's revival:
2 Chronicles 30:1-13 - "1 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel …………5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Jahzrael, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the Passover unto the Holy One of Jahzrael at Jahrushalem: for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it is written. 6. So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Jahzrael and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying. Ye children of Jahzrael, turn again unto the Almighty One of Abraham, Isaac, and Jahzrael, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7. And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren which transgressed against the Almighty Jah of their fathers, who therefore gave them up to desolation, as ye see.8. Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto JAH thy Creator, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.9. For if ye turn unto JAH, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for JAH your Creator is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him."
The vast majority of the Jahzraelites (Israelites) treated this invitation with blasphemous contempt. "They laughed them to scorn and mocked them." (verse 10). Nevertheless a great multitude of believers humbled themselves and assembled in Jahrushalem to keep the Passover. Thus began one of the greatest revivals in Jahzrael's history.
The Spirit of JAH was present at that Holy season, the Passover; and there followed a great outpouring of blessing on the assembled worshippers. A revival shook the city of Jahrushalem and it sent spiritual vibrations to the furthermost corners of Jahzrael. The nation once again began to obey JAH'S law and to remember His Holy Feasts. For His part the Almighty in His great mercy pardoned their sins and blessed them abundantly. When did that extraordinary revival begin?
It began, as pointed out above, on New Years Day (1st Abib) and it came to a climax at the holy season called the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread. Bear that little known fact in mind because it has deep spiritual significance.
2. The Revival under King Jahsiah (Josiah)
After Hezekiah died, the nation of Jahudah under their next king (Manasseh) soon slipped back into the ways of heathenism.
2 Chronicles 33:1-6 - "Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jahrushalem: 2: But did that which was evil in the sight of JAH, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom JAH had cast out before the children of Jahsrael. 3: For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.4: Also he built altars in the house of JAH, whereof JAH had said, In Jahrushalem shall my name be for ever. 5: And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of JAH.6: And he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom: also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of JAH, to provoke him to anger."
The spiritual repercussions of these blatant sins came with frightening severity. verse 11. "Whereupon JAH brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. "
Tremendous confusion broke out in Jahdah and when Manasseh died his twenty-four year old son ascended the throne; but he was murdered in the palace after reigning only two years. It was the same old story: sin degrades a nation and punishment always follows disobedience.
Then onto the stage of time came Jahsiah, one of Judah's greatest kings. Jahsiah was only eight years old when he came to the throne; but he accomplished more for the truth of JAH by the age of twenty-five than all the kings of Jahsrael and Judah before him.
The reformation under Jahsiah was swift and astonishing in its effect. With terrifying ruthlessness he demolished the altars of Baal and cut down the Ashterim (heathen poles) in the high places. He literally purged the land of paganism and humbly reinstated the worship of JAH in accordance with His law. (2 Chron. 34) King Jahsiah then organized the Passover celebrations and invited the whole nation to Jahrushalem.
2 Chronicles 35:17-18 - " And the children of Jahsrael that were present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days. 18: And there was no Passover like to that kept in Jahsrael from the days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Jahsrael keep such a Passover as Jahsiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and Jahsrael that were present, and the inhabitants of Jahrushalem.
Once more a revival swept the nation and JAH blessed Jahsiah with a blessing that will clothe him with honour and glory throughout the endless cycles of eternity. When did that nation-wide revival begin? The answer is, it began at the holy season of the Passover in the month of Abib. Bear that little known fact in mind because its significance will be explained later in this study.
3. The Revival under Ezra and Nehemiah
After Jahsiah's death the nation again sank into grievous sin. It seemed as though a devilish addiction for disobedience had gripped the people. They simply refused to obey JAH and continued to follow the practices of the heathen around them. As for the Almighty's holy Sabbaths, they totally forsook them. The lessons of the past were all forgotten and the warnings of JAH'S prophets were treated with blasphemous contempt.
2 Chronicles 36:14-21 - " Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of JAH which he had hallowed in Jahrushalem. 15: And the Almighty JAH of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: 16: But they mocked the messengers of JAH, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of JAH arose against his people, till there was no remedy. 17: Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand. 18: And all the vessels of the house of JAH, great and small, and the treasures of the house of JAH, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon. 19: And they burnt the house of JAH, and brake down the wall of Jahrushalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof. 20: And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: 21: To fulfil the word of JAH by the mouth of Jahremijah, until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept Sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years."
The prophet Jahremijah lived during this period of rebellion and his book of Lamentations is, perhaps, the saddest book in the Scriptures. What did Jahremijah say about JAH'S feasts? He said this:
Lamentations 1:4-5 - "The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness.5: Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper; for JAH hath afflicted her for the multitude of her transgressions... "
Also read Lamentations 1:7;2:6.
The tragically misunderstood prophet Jahremijah could not imagine anything more distressing than his country's destruction, her capital city burned to the ground and her beautiful Temple reduced to a pile of rubble. Yet he knew within his bones that a mocking disregard for JAH'S law and especially His Feasts was the forerunner of national catastrophe.
Jahremijah could see, and that very plainly, that JAH'S law - the irrevocable constitution of the mighty universe - was being contemptuously set aside by the masses; who were being deluded by their blind and stubborn religious leaders.
The nation of Jahzrael rejected Jahremiah's call to repentance and in the course of time the inevitable happened. The Holy One of Jahzrael allowed the city of Jahrushalem to be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. His well disciplined but ruthless battalions stormed the capital and literally tore it apart. Thousands of terrified half-naked captives were brutally deported to Babylon and the land of Judah was subdued and lay desolate for seventy years.
Note that significant reference to the Sabbath, which even the land was to keep every seventh year. Every 7th year is a Sabbatical year (Lev. 25:1-7).
Time passed, the predicted seventy-year captivity ended and the returning exiles came back in waves to the Promised Land. Under Zerubbabel the governor, Nehemiah the prophet and Ezra the priest, the city of Jahrushalem and the Temple of JAH were rebuilt. There followed a revival of mighty significance and one that caused the enemies of truth to tremble throughout the land we call today the “Middle East.”
With astonishing speed the wall of Jahrushalem and the Temple of JAH were rebuilt and the Holy feast days of JAH proclaimed. A holy spirit of dedication swept the country and all pagan associations and alliances were broken off. Multitudes of believers attended the Holy feasts and the blessings of the Almighty poured down on the nation.
These events are recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and what thrilling reading they make! JAH'S people after a long and painful exile return to the land of promise and to the city they love. The spiritual lessons for the assembly of today are too numerous to tell, though thousands of worthy sermons have been based on them. What is not generally known is this fact, that all those recorded experiences of ancient Jahzrael and Judah are examples for us, the experiences I'm speaking about are:
The slavery in Egypt
Salvation through the blood of the Passover Lamb
The exodus under Moses and the giving of Jah's Almenach and His law at Sinai
The entry into Canaan under Joshua
The nation's repeated backslidings and the revivals at the holy seasons
The punishment during times of apostasy
The blessings during times of obedience
The defeats and the dispersion because of national sin
And finally the return to the Promised Land.
Yes all those experiences were figures, types, dramatised real-life examples and prophetic illustrations of what was later to happen to JAH'S assembly on a world scale in future days to follow. Here is proof of this amazing fact.
1 Corinthian 10:11 - "Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. "
Yes, believe it or not, many bible based groups and congregations and of course the heathenistic Christian church, for all their boasted knowledge and wealth, is, in fact, repeating those ancient experiences on the spiritual plane in this very day: and what is even more amazing is that she is doing so according to a holy appointed schedule which parallels those revivals of long ago. In this revival under Nehemiah and Ezra take special note of these points.
The burnt offerings to JAH were resumed on the 1st day of the seventh month - the Feast of Trumpets. (Ezra 3:6)
Ezra, the scribe of the law of JAH, set out from Babylon on the 1st day of the New Year (1st Abib - not 1st January or in April) and arrived at Jahrushalem on the first day of the fifth month. (Ezra 7:9)
A programme of separation from pagan alliances began on the 1st day of the tenth month and was completed exactly 3 months later, by the 1st day of the first month. (Ezra 10:16-17)
Are these facts and times significant? I believe they are. Indeed if you were to take a concordance and read every text in the Scriptures where the word month is mentioned your eyes will be opened to this astonishing truth: that JAH is working to a carefully planned schedule in which every future stage of the plan of salvation has already been prefigured by a literal event, a 'type', a 'shadow', a 'miniature demonstration', a 'spiritual blueprint' which has already taken place in the history of His people at an appointed time. And those appointed times of long ago - all of them - are directly linked to end-time events in the Almighty's calendar. We refer to it as Jah's Holy Almenach of Mount Zion.
An Almenach is “A yearly calendar giving the days, weeks, and months of the year.”
And keep in mind, in regards to the rainy seasons, these are blessings from Jah not cursings!
Deuteronomy 28:12 - [ 12] JAH shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
In regards to Jah giving us the dates of His important events in His Creation, Jah tells us in His Scriptures:
The exact moment when the Abyss burst open in Noah's day (Gen. 7:11) and the tops of the mountains appeared (Gen. 8:5).
When the covering of the ark was removed (Gen. 8:13)
The date of Jahzrael's receiving of His Almenach (Exodus 12:1-3)
The date the Tabernacle was erected in the wilderness (Exodus 40:17)
The day Moses re-iterated JAH'S law to Jahzrael (Deut. 1:3)
All these and numerous other events are specifically referred to by date: which means that believers living in the closing days of this age should closely study the details of those ancient events and their dates. Why? Because when the spiritual realities portrayed by those ancient events occur in our day, we can be certain that they will occur on the same dates in the holy Almenach as their Old Testament counterparts did in days gone by. In other words, future events have not only been foreshadowed, but the dates on which they will occur have also been specified.
Bear in mind that JAH'S Almenach is a SET (Fix, Invariable) Almenach, that means the numericals in the months do not drift in the weekly cycle year by year; therefore the dates of JAH'S festivals shall never ever drift away from the days of the weekly cycle in the months, and that is why His festivals are called “SET feasts” (Num. 29:39; 1 Chron. 23:31; 2 Chron. 31:3; Ezra 3:5; Neh. 10:33).
These feasts can be kept forever without the dates drifting in the weekly cycle of the months. For example, the first day of the Passover is on the 15th day of Abib, which is on the first day of the week. That 15th day of Abib will always be on the first day of the week; it is impossible for it to move from its FIXED place because of JAH'S invariable Almenach. With this in mind, we can be confident in our research because we don't have to worry about the numericals in the months drifting in the weekly cycle every year.
Just as Noah removed the covering from the ark on New Year's Day (1st Abib) after having being shut in by JAH for around a year (Gen. 8:13), so too will JAH remove - on an appointed day - the covering that is draped over the minds of millions.
Isaiah 25:6-8 - "And in this mountain shall JAH of Hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7 And He will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He will swallow up death in victory; and the Almighty JAH will wipe away tears from all faces: and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth; for JAH hath spoken it."
4. The Revival under the Apostles
No revival in the history of the Jahzraelite assembly can compare with the one which began on the Day of Pentecost in the year of the Messiah's resurrection. For forty days after His passion the Master appeared several times to His disciples and proved that He was alive. During those days He talked with them about the Kingdom of JAH and gave them this specific order:
Acts 1:4-5 - "And being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jahoshalem, but wait for the promise of the father, which, saith he, ye heard of me.5. For John truly baptised with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence. "
Here the Saviour was commanding the Apostles to wait for the Feast of Pentecost, to gather and stay in Jahrushalem till that holy season arrived. In obedience to His command they stayed in the city and awaited the day of Pentecost and the promised gift.
Acts 2:1-4 - "And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place. 2. And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire and it sat upon each of them.4. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."
This outpouring of JAH'S Spirit was, and still is for that matter, accompanied by power to witness effectively; not merely to perform miracles. Note these words:
Acts 1:8 - "You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jahrushalem and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
This prophecy began to come to pass within a few days of being spoken with an experience on the Feast of Pentecost that transformed the early Israelite Nazarene assembly from a small timid group of believers into a spiritual dynamo that lit up the whole civilized world with the glorious Jahspel of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then for the very first time, the real significance of JAH'S Feast Days became apparent; for here indeed was JAH setting before His obedient assembly a spiritual banquet; a holy infilling so glorious that the finest feast of literal food could only be a faint shadow.
Here was spiritual nourishment for the soul: a banquet of power for the whole ASSEMBLY that was scheduled to come at the appointed time in JAH'S programme: JAH'S power which would enable the disciples to take the Jahspel to the civilized world.
Now, let no-one suppose that the mighty outflow of spiritual power which came on the assembly at Pentecost some two thousand years ago was all that the Eternal JAH has planned for His people. Oh no! The prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 goes far beyond the happenings on that memorable day in Jahrushalem.
The events recorded in Acts chapter 2 are by comparison only the 'appetisers,' the 'starters,' the 'foretaste' and 'beginnings' of a much greater Banquet of Power still to be set before the obedient assembly in the near future. On some coming Feast Day - the almighty One of Jahzrael is going to astound the universe with the next great event in His Programme of Salvation. And we can be certain that it will be an event more spectacular, more wonderful, more powerful and more effective than all the sons of men have hitherto seen or even remotely imagined.
Now pause a while and consider - yea analyze the revivals recorded in the Scriptures. Did you notice that they were all directly linked with the holy seasons in the Almighty's Almenach? That they all either began with or climaxed on one or the other of the Feasts Days?
And why not? For that is exactly why the Eternal Creator of the world, ordained His feasts. The Feasts are His appointed times and Holy seasons, and are entered in His diary as days of special significance, days to keep, days to look forward to, days to remember, holy memorial days set aside to mark the times when He would perform His greatest acts in the Programme of Salvation. That is why He has commanded His followers to remember them, to celebrate them with feasting, joy and gladness; for they are the Holy memorial days of Jah's salvation - who is none other than Jahoshuwah of Nazareth the Son of Jah.
Praise Jah!
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