Ezekiel 14:6. Before There Can Be Revival

Ezekiel 14:6

Before Revival

Before America will see revival, there has to be repentance.

We know that America needs a revival, but before there can be revival, there must be repentance. It’s interesting that in Ezekiel 14:6 God tells Israel they must repent and turn. We often define repentance as “a turning away from sin.” But God calls Israel to repent and turn. Two actions. Certainly turning away from sin is a part of repentance, just as regretting sin is part of it. The Greek word for repentance is metanoeo, a verb meaning, “to change one’s mind and purpose, as the result of after knowledge.” The knowledge that occurs before repentance is an awareness of sin and our hopelessness to do anything about it on our own.

Steps to True Repentance that leads to revival

For repentance to occur, one must first have a true sense of their own guilt and sinfulness. When we understand just how sinful we are, we also become away of our helplessness to do anything on our own about it. Then there must be an acknowledgement of God’s mercy available through Christ. As we recognize the price our sin cost our Savior, there should be a hatred for sin that makes us turn away from it and toward God. Then the evidence of repentance is seen when we persistently strive to live a life that honors God by walking in obedience with Him and surrendering our lives to His will.

True repentance results in a change of action. If you tell God you’re sorry about a sin, but keep doing it, then repentance hasn’t occurred. In Acts 26:20, Paul wrote: “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.”

What did Israel need to repent from?

Israel’s main sin was turning their back on God and choosing to worship idols. In doing so, they practiced many abominations as part of their idolatry rituals, including temple prostitution and child sacrifice. God sent prophet after prophet to warn the nation, but they refused to listen. They wanted to live the way they wanted, not the way God instructed. They wanted to live just like the rest of the world.

The only problem with living like the rest of the world is that God had called them out and set them apart from the rest of the world. Israel was His chosen people and through them His plan for the redemption of man would occur. They were supposed to be different. They were supposed to show the rest of the world who God was.

What does America need to repent from?

Do you see any similarities between Israel’s sin and America’s? America – once known for “In God We Trust” – has turned it’s back on God and is swiftly trying to wipe out the existence of God so that we too can live just like the rest of the world. We’ve created idols out of money, careers, possession, relationship, and hobbies. Since it’s beginning as a nation, America has been the nation that showed the world who God is, — but now, we look just like the rest of the world.

What happened to Israel?

After generations of prophets warned Israel to repent and they refused, God sent the Assyrians and Babylonians who conquered Israel and Judah and carried them away into captivity. History has shown us time and time again that when a nation refused to acknowledge God as Lord, that nation lost its greatness. And that is exactly what happened to Israel. During the reign of King David, then nation prospered. His son Solomon brought the nation to its height of glory and prosperity – but Solomon had over 700 wives from many different nations and in attempting to please them, he allowed each of them to bring in their own gods and build shrines to them. And it was all downhill from there.

What Can America Learn from Israel’s Refusal to Repent?

Can we honestly say that American is “one nation under God” anymore? Not at all. We too have allowed religions of all kinds into our nation under the right of freedom of religion. The result is the same as Israel – there are now many gods in America.

We can’t even honestly say we are “one nation.” We’ve allow division to rip us apart at the seems. Division in religion, race, class, and culture. There is even division within our churches over traditional worship or contemporary.

What Can America Expect if We Do Not Repent?

If God would allow His chosen people to be conquered and carried away out of the Promised Land, do you think America can keep on in it’s pride, arrogance, and unrepentant heart and escape God’s judgement? Through every prophet in the Bible, God speaks to us to day with the same warning He gave to Israel. Through the prophet Ezekiel, God says, “Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.”

It’s time for Christians in America to repent and turn away from our idols. We need to turn our faces away from sin and seek God with all our heart, mind, and strength. We need to return to God. As Christians, we too are set apart from the world. We are supposed to be different. We are supposed to bring the world to God. Christians are in the world, not to conform to the world, but so the world will see and know God through us. We need to revive our love for God and our passion to live for Him. We need a revival, but only after repentance of God’s people will revival occur.

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#revial #repentance #America #WCM

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