Isaiah 42:13 says, “The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.”
One of the regular prayers we pray is that God would send reformation and revival on the Church in this land. There are reasons to believe that God in His mercy is answering that prayer, and yet, we are still far from seeing God fully roused. There are rumbles here and there, but when God stirs up jealousy like a man of war, it is unmistakable. True Christian revival stirs up the hearts of men, and they confess their sins and repent with gladness, and when this happens on a large scale, it shakes the foundations of the earth. It shakes institutions, families, churches, states, business, and nations, causing radical repentance and glad obedience beginning in hearts reaching all the way up and all the way out into the societies and cultures of men. This is what we are praying for.
In the Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings, perhaps you remember when the hobbits, Merry and Pippin, are waiting for the outcome of the Entmoot, the great meeting of all the Ents, when Treebeard is explaining that Saruman has become an evil wizard and joined forces with the orcs.
The hobbits wait while the Ents meet – Ents are not hasty folk, but suddenly on the third day there is a deep silence over the wood, and then a great roar and war drums begin to beat and above the rolling beats and booms, the voices of the Ents come singing high and strong and the Ents go marching, beating time with their hands upon their flanks, chanting that they are going to war. Treebeard explains that the Ents don’t often get roused, but occasionally they can be roused to a terrible and righteous fury.
Our God is somewhat like that. He is not hasty, but He can be roused to a terrible and righteous fury. So as you celebrate this meal, make it your prayer that God would rise up and roar, and that He would stir us up and stir up His Church in this land, that we would see the evils and dangers growing around us and in our own hearts and homes, and the Lord would lead us into battle.
So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
Leave a Reply