God led the children of Israel out of Egypt to make them a people for His own possession. He desired to enter into a marriage covenant with them and spoke to them the commandments or terms of the covenant. When the people heard the voice of the Lord, they responded: “ ‘… if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we shall die.… Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says; then speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’ ”Deuteronomy 5:25-27
The people drew back from hearing what God had to say; and even though they promised to be obedient, the heart of God responded in a unique way. “And the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!’ ” Deuteronomy 5:28–29.
Even though God recognized their good intention at the moment, He anticipated that these people would not be able to do what they had said they would do. He wished that they had it in their hearts to obey Him, but they did not. Time passed, and over and over again those people failed.
When pressure is put on a man, he may purpose in his heart to serve God. Time passes; and when he comes to the place where he is not in an extremity or in a difficult position, he relaxes his vigilance; then out of the depths of his heart comes something contrary to serving the Lord.
We find an example of this fickleness of heart in Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. Most of the tribes had withdrawn in rebellion, and only Judah and Benjamin were left under him. This was his own fault, but it was according to the word of the Lord.
Now when Rehoboam had come to Jerusalem, he assembled the house of Judah and Benjamin, 180,000 chosen men who were warriors, to fight against Israel to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam. (God stopped him and said, “This thing is of Me.” Therefore, Rehoboam started to strengthen his two tribes). And he put shields and spears in every city and strengthened them greatly. So he held Judah and Benjamin. Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts. For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the Lord. 2 Chronicles 11:1, 12–14.
For a time Rehoboam sought the Lord and looked to God to give him help. Then when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established and strong, he and all Israel forsook the Law of the Lord.
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak, the king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem. Then the people again began to pray and really cry out to God because they were in trouble.
When the kingdom was established under Rehoboam, he turned away from the Lord; then when he saw that he was in trouble, he started seeking the Lord again. That is the way it is with many people. They only do their praying when they are in a corner.
And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, “They have humbled themselves so I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some measure of deliverance, and My wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by means of Shishak. But they will become his slaves so that they may learn the difference between My service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s palace. He took everything (this occurred only a few years after Solomon had collected all his great wealth); he even took the golden shields which Solomon had made.
Then King Rehoboam made shields of bronze in their place, and committed them to the care of the commanders of the guard who guarded the door of the king’s house. And it happened as often as the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards came and carried them and then brought them back into the guards’ room. And when he humbled himself, the anger of the Lord turned away from him, so as not to destroy him completely; and also conditions were good in Judah. 2 Chronicles 12:7–12.
Judah continued to prosper somewhat, but they never did receive a real deliverance. Verse 14 gives the key: And he did evil because he did not set his heart to seek the Lord. The evil was that Rehoboam’s heart was never fixed on the Lord. You can be intrigued with a walk with God, but sooner or later you face this issue: is your heart really in it? If it is not, when you face a problem, God will meet you; but He will not meet you with a total and complete deliverance; He will give you only a portion of deliverance.
Rehoboam did evil because he did not set his heart to know the Lord or to seek the Lord. What happened to him? He had his chance to seek God, and he did not; therefore, the king of Egypt came to subdue him. Rehoboam started praying, and God gave him some deliverance. Why did God not give him a complete deliverance? Because God knew what was in him. He knew that Rehoboam would not set his heart and seek the Lord, so He gave him only a little deliverance.
Shishak, the king of Egypt, took all the golden vessels and treasures from the temple and the palace. This was one of the greatest thefts of history. How many billions of dollars were represented by those treasures, I do not know. Perhaps one day in the Kingdom there will come a divine revelation of this cache, and these shields of gold and the vessels that were used in the temple will be found in some Egyptian tomb that has never been unearthed. You can imagine what one of those heavy shields of solid gold would be worth right now when the price of gold is at an all-time high!
The golden shields were gone. What were the people to do? They had to maintain an image, so they made shields of bronze that looked just like gold. The bronze was not as expensive and could be polished to shine just like gold.
But what a tragedy that every time the king went to worship God in his halfhearted way and the runners came from the guardroom to escort him into the temple of worship, he had a reminder of the lost glory; for these men carried shields of bronze, not shields of gold.
Gone was the glory of his father, Solomon, the glory that God had brought when the cloud filled the whole temple (1 Kings 8:11). At times the glory seemed to return, but only partially. There were moments of revival, but they did not seem to do much because real depth in the hearts of the people was not reached.
Eventually a tragedy has to occur among the halfhearted. Judgment begins at the house of the Lord (1 Peter 4:17), and it begins its devastation as it sweeps through all the realms of His people. It was inevitable that the people were carried away into captivity, as Ezekiel prophesied. The kings of Judah feared the Lord, but they also served their own gods (2 Kings 17:33). Theirs was a mingled worship. What a tragedy. They were still retaining some identity with the Lord, yet in their hearts they were lusting after and whoring with the idolatrous practices around them.
Ezekiel 11:16–24. “Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Though I had removed them far away among the nations” ’ ” (for their sin), “ ‘ “and though I had scattered them among the countries, yet I was a sanctuary for them a little while in the countries where they had gone.” Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “I shall gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries among which you have been scattered, and I shall give you the land of Israel.” ’ When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.” After the restoration from captivity, the Jewish people never again made another idol. The captivity cured them of it.
“And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. But as for those whose hearts go after their detestable things and abominations, I shall bring their conduct down on their heads,” declares the Lord God. Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood over the mountain which is east of the city. And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God to the exiles in Chaldea. So the vision that I had seen left me.
The book of Ezekiel deals with the disappearance of the glory. The glory that had been in the temple hovered at the threshold for several months (Ezekiel 10:4). Then it moved over to the mountain, and it is reported that the glory stayed there for approximately one year and then disappeared. The glory did not leave the temple instantly. Progressively the Lord kept withdrawing His glory as the abominations increased. It was at the time of restoration, described at the end of Ezekiel, that the glory returned. (Ezekiel 43:1–5).
Again and again we read the stories of people whose hearts were fickle and could not sustain a desire after the Lord. God said, “Oh, that they had a heart to serve Me and fear Me. Oh, that it would be different with them.” We desire something better to be written of us.
What is God doing today? He is doing what was prophesied in Ezekiel. God said, “I shall give them one heart,” and now we see the Body coming together. He said, “I shall put a new spirit within them. I shall remove the heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. They shall walk in My statutes. They will be My people, and I shall be their God.”
The Old Testament story is written in a negative way, showing what was in the human heart and what God saw come to pass: His glory lifted from the people of that day.
In the New Testament, we find the opposite picture, with the return of the glory. The Lord said, “The glory that I have had with Thee, I have given unto them, that they all may be one” (John 17:22)—just as God said in Ezekiel, “I will give them one heart and will put a new spirit within them.” This is not the day of the glory being removed from the people of God; this is the day of the glory returning to the people of God.
This is not a day when the heart is failing; this is the day when the heart is being renewed. The outward man perisheth, but the inward man is being renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16).
Today we find the opposite picture from what we saw in the Old Testament. This is the day of restoration, the day of His glory returning, the day of God’s visiting His people, renewing and refreshing them in the Lord.
This is what Peter spoke of in Acts 3:21: “The heavens must receive Him until the time of restoration of all things spoken of by the prophets from ancient times.” But preceding that, he exhorted them, “Repent. Turn back, for times of refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
We are not a failing people; we are a people who are being renewed from day to day, who can expect the Lord to send seasons of refreshing upon us. Our hearts’ desire after the Lord will not slowly diminish, but it will slowly wax strong in the Lord. We are not on the downward trend. God prophesied by His prophets of ancient times that these are the seasons of refreshing, these are the times of restoration. This is the time when He will make His people of one heart and put a new spirit in them.
Regardless of what is wrong with you, be encouraged, because God is in the process of changing you. Do you understand the testings you face? Even if you feel that you are utterly defeated, do not worry about it. You probably feel that you should worry about it, for much of the Bible tells about halfhearted people who were defeated in times of stress. It is true that you can take them for an example and be warned, but today God is doing a new thing.
He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary. Isaiah 40:29–31. A reversal progress is taking place. We are in the season when God will accomplish all of this.
What is the devil doing? He is trying to wear out the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:25). Have you noticed the weariness? You seem to be tired already when you wake up. Even the young men who are physical specimens of tremendous health will be weary. You may be vigorous and strong; you may eat good, nutritious food and do your exercises every day; but that will not be enough. Even the youths will be weary and faint and stumble badly.
But God prophesied something better for His people in the end time: times of refreshing, times of renewal, times when the Lord meets you. What do you have to do? Simply wait on Him and open your heart to Him. Then He begins to lift you up.
These are times in which Satan is trying to turn the futility that God imposed on creation with hope into a futility filled with despair and hopelessness, a futility that grips you until you despair of life itself.
It is in the midst of this futility that God begins the renewal. He starts renewing your spirit and puts a new spirit in you. Let me suggest that you use a good concordance and look up the word “renew” and read all the references concerning it to find out what God intends to do.
God has many blessings for us. Some people are thankful they are saved and are just praying they will “hold out” to the end. I want to do more than survive to the end. I have something better in mind: Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.… .who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction.… This is the new order of things, the higher level. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. Psalm 103:1–5.
Something must reverse this downward trend that results from our being exposed to battle, conflict, and harassment, from our walking through a world that is slated for judgment. Judgment rests like a heavy cloud freighted with destruction over all the nations. With that ominous cloud hovering, our hearts could be heavy; but they are not supposed to be.
When these things come to pass, we look up, for our redemption draweth nigh (Luke 21:28). Something better is going to come. Men’s hearts will be failing them for fear (Luke 21:26), but our hearts will grow strong in the Lord, for He has promised, “I will give them a new heart. I will put a new spirit within them.”
We must believe to be the contradiction of this age. We must go against everything Satan is trying to do in the downward pull of gravity. There is a release in God. He will meet us.
How can we receive that season of refreshing that comes from the presence of the Lord? The Lord’s blessings are above, and He tells us, Ask rain from the Lord at the time of the spring rain—the Lord who makes the storm clouds (the margin reads, “thunderbolts”); and He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in the field to each man. Zechariah 10:1. It is the time of rain. We must ask for rain.
How will you know when the Parousia is here? There will be seasons of refreshing. He will rain on you suddenly. When you pray, you start generating a little spiritual charge; and it becomes stronger and stronger. Worship a little more, and suddenly lightning will begin to flash!
A charge is released from the heavens as the earthen vessel cries out to God for rain. Would you like to have a blessing? Have you been discouraged lately, feeling that your whole approach to God is futile? This is a time to reverse it and see the positive side. Wait on the Lord for a renewal of your heart. He will put a new heart and a new spirit in you.