Does Scripture Promise a Mighty Worldwide End-Time Revival?
Given that the word revival is never used in the New Testament, the short answer is no.
However, there is a very exciting promise of a country-wide “revival” that will sweep EVERYONE in an entire country into the kingdom! Here is this amazing and often-overlooked prophecy:
Romans 11:26:
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
While the Bible doesn’t define revival, I think most of us would agree that having everyone in a country get saved would qualify for the use of that term, especially in an age where a small number of people getting saved could be trumpeted around the world as a revival if the preacher has the right media connections.
Another indication of this mighty Israeli revival is found in the following passage, which is also about Israel rather than the Gentiles:
Isaiah 60:1-3:
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
If the Gentiles are coming to their light, this move isn’t among the Gentiles. Also note that in general, gross darkness is going to cover the earth, which is not a depiction of a world that the church has taken over or is experiencing a mega-move of God that is sweeping people into the Kingdom.
Israel is the only country that is the subject of such a prophecy. The conditions in the rest of the world before Jesus returns aren’t as rosy:
2 Timothy 3:13:
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
(“Wax” means become; it does not mean that that cars will get poorer wax jobs or that women will wax themselves with botulism toxin more to try to get rid of wrinkles in the last days, though that may be true.)
This hardly depicts a situation where the Church has taken over everything.
What about the church taking over the seven mountains of culture? The only “seven mountains” mentioned in Scripture are the seven hills on which the whore of Babylon sits:
Revelation 17:9:
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
In general, the Bible does not talk about a mighty last-days earth-sweeping revival, but it DOES talk about a global falling away:
2 Thessalonians 2:3:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
If there were not a global apostasy, the man of sin (the Antichrist) would never be able to assume power! He has to deceive the nations into letting him run the world! If Christians take over the “politics” mountain of culture, the Antichrist will never be allowed by the Body of Christ to lead anything, so the Scriptures about him will never be fulfilled. If they take over the “education” mountain of culture, children will not be taught lies that would make them willing subjects of the Antichrist’s ungodly one world government. If they take over the “media” mountain of culture, news organizations all over the world will warn the public of the dangers of the Antichrist before he can get anywhere. And so on…you get the idea.
Paul affirmed that in the last days, many would depart from the faith (1 Timothy 4:1) and that the times would be perilous, not glorious:
2 Timothy 3:1-5:
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Jesus made it plain that the last days are times in which many will be offended (Matthew 24:10) – have you ever seen so many offended people as today? If they aren’t offended themselves, they’ll get offended on behalf of someone else who isn’t even offended himself! Many false prophets will deceive many (Matthew 24:11). Iniquity will abound, and people’s love will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). There will be wars, famines, pestilences and earthquakes (Matthew 24:7). Christians will be hated by ALL nations (that includes the one you live in) before Christ returns (Matthew 24:9), not welcomed with open arms to come bring revival to every person in every nation. This planet will NOT be a made-ready-for-Christ utopia when He returns! Otherwise, Jesus’ words would be lies. Thus, the whole idea that a worldwide move of God will cause the majority of people to get saved is a nice-sounding but anti-biblical fantasy. After all, Jesus said that FEW would find the right gate and MANY would not (Matthew 7:14).
So how can people conclude that Jesus is coming back for a church that has taken over the world on His behalf?
One possibility is a popular but untenable interpretation of Ephesians 5:25-27. This interpretation says that the church is going to grow into perfection so that by the time Christ returns, it is without spot or wrinkle. Thus, it will flow in the fullness of what it should have been flowing in all along, with mature believers always doing the will of God. However, that isn’t Paul’s point. Jesus has already sanctified (made holy) the church by giving Himself for it, and the church is now cleansed by the washing of water by the Word, and that his how He can present the church to Himself holy and without blemish. (Read the passage carefully – that’s what it says explicitly!) The lack of blemish is not because we have attained sinless perfection in our works (which will never happen in this dispensation) but rather that Jesus’ blood has already made us holy and without blemish in God’s eyes.
I have gone through great lengths to persuade you in this book that there is only ONE Church Age. There was no “Early Church Age” where miracles were allowed to an extent that they can’t be allowed today. People may have changed, but the ground rules for the Church Age have never changed. I hope you would agree, because no Scripture supports any divisions in the Church Age. The same things that were available to the original apostles are available to us today. It would be making exactly the same mistake the denominational people make (with a different time twist) to assert that will be a “Last-of-the-Last-Days Church Age” just before Jesus returns where the ground rules are different and we can have more miracles. There’s nothing to support that either. There is one Church Age and one set of rules. Period.
I would expect to see more miracles today than in the “dark ages” due to the increase of knowledge since then. Daniel said that knowledge would increase (Daniel 12:4), so accordingly, I would expect miracles to increase, even though the ground rules for the age have not changed. Thus, I would support the idea of the church getting brighter while the world gets darker. What I DO NOT SEE in Scripture is that the church will get brighter and make the whole world so bright that darkness is driven away and Paul’s words to Timothy become false.
Another passage sometimes used completely out of context to describe an end-time revival is a depiction that “Joel’s army” of believers is going to rush on cities, run on walls and generally take over. But that is the opposite of what Joel was talking about – he foretold coming gloom and doom for Israel back then:
Joel 2:1-11:
Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.
A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
The day Joel foretold was a day of gloom and darkness, not light and revival! Before this army shows up, the land is like Eden, and after it’s done, the land is a desolate wilderness. If it were a revival army, we would expect that the land would be a desolate wilderness before it shows up, but Eden after it’s done! People will be PAINED and have their faces blackened when they see this army approach. So it will be no cause for celebration! Yes, this is “the Lord’s army” that “executes His word” (this is where some people get confused), but it is His army of judgment executing His word of judgment! So this passage has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with an end-time revival outpouring!
Another reason that people expect a worldwide outpouring is the sheer number of false prophetic words about a great revival that shall surely start in the very place where each particular prophecy was given! This has gotten to the point of absolute silliness in some circles. All it does is prove a total lack of discernment on the part of the hearers who are supposed to “prove” prophecies (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Let’s face it – if there are n prophecies of a great end-time worldwide outpouring starting in different locations, at least n-1 of those prophecies must be false prophecies– and I wouldn’t bet any money on the nth one either!
Before I close this topic, let’s put something into perspective. When I pastored my first church, I had a man in many times to speak whom I perceived to be a we’re-taking-over “dominionist.” Disagreement over “eschatology” (the study of end times) is not an issue that would stop me from inviting someone in who had a different view as long as he didn’t use it as a wedge issue in his messages. He didn’t push his view with us, and his messages were always a blessing to our church. Likewise, if I know that a pastor is a dominionist, it won’t stop me from being willing to preach at his church, though obviously I’d stay away from end-time topics in my preaching. So all of this is interesting to study, but differences of opinion in the matter should not cause rifts in the Body of Christ any more than differences of opinion about the timing or existence of the Rapture and the Millennium.
In short, nothing in Scripture promises a worldwide end-time revival. We have really never seen a worldwide revival, though there have been some “hot spots” over the years. I don’t see that any worldwide outpouring is required to fulfill any prophecy before Jesus can return. Still, I don’t claim to know all that the Holy Spirit has in store, and I know that He does want to move on the earth wherever people will allow Him to move. We may yet see some surprising moves of God ahead, though they can’t go beyond the limits of what the Scriptures above predict.
Scriptures That DO Point to God Moving in the Last Days
Having said all that, there ARE Scriptures that point to God moving mightily in the last days despite all the deception and ungodliness. Here are three that I would put in that category.
Romans 5:20:
Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
It seems that with God, the more sin there is, the more He pours out His grace! The next Scripture echoes this:
Isaiah 59:19:
So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.
So when evil days come, we should expect a “backlash” against the evil in those days to be orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. The darker the world gets, the brighter the Church should get!
Psalm 119:126:
It is time for thee, LORD, to work: for they have made void thy law.
There has been more “making void God’s Law” today than ever before. Thus, THIS is the time when we should expect God to act! He doesn’t have to add to the finished work of Christ, but we should expect Him to stir up believers to act on that finished work. It is not God’s style to let the devil operate unopposed by Christ’s Body that has overcome him. When the devil is working, you can count on God to be working too!
For a discussion of so-called “latter rain” and some other reasons why I can’t see an end-time revival that sweeps almost everybody into the Kingdom, please read Healing and the Last Days, which comes at this same point from some other angles and brings up other Scriptures.