No one can study the history of Israel as recorded in the Scriptures without becoming impressed with the fact, that whenever YaHuWaH 's people chose to disobey His instructions they suffered the consequences. And if they persisted in their rebellion by refusing to forsake the path of disobedience, then the Almighty 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 Israel's past; and it happened in direct fulfillment of the divine pronouncements made through the patriarch Moshe. A survey of Deuteronomy 28 will prove this point and a study YaHuWaH '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. The Almighty literally showered upon His people the spiritual riches of Heaven and the bounties of the Earth. When they obeyed His commandments they prospered in all that they did, and when they refused to obey they suffered the consequences. In a sentence, that summarizes Israel's history.

Now bear in mind that YaHuWaH, the Holy One of Israel, 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.

Let us now look at four revivals recorded in the Scriptures to illustrate this point.

Before Hezekiah came to the throne, the Temple in Jerusalem had been tragically desecrated. The holy lamps had been put out and the Temple doors shut. Organized worship of the Creator 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 sacred calendar - 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 Chron. chapters 29 & 30)

This cleansing work was soon finished and royal invitations to come to Jerusalem for the Passover were sent out by special couriers to every corner of the Promised Land. The record reads:

The vast majority of the 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 Jerusalem to keep the Passover. Thus began one of the greatest revivals in Israel's history.

The Spirit of the Almighty was present at that sacred season, the Passover; and there followed a great outpouring of blessing on the assembled worshipers. A revival shook the city of Jerusalem and it sent spiritual vibrations to the furthermost corners of Israel. The nation once again began to obey YaHuWaH 's law and to remember His sacred 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 Aviv) and it came to a climax at the sacred season called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Bear that little known fact in mind because it has deep spiritual significance.

Then onto the stage of time came Josiah, one of Judah's greatest kings. Josiah was only eight years old when he came to the throne; but he accomplished more for the truth of YaHuWaH by the age of twenty five than all the kings of Israel and Judah before him. The reformation under Josiah was swift and astonishing in its effect. With terrifying ruthlessness he demolished the altars of Baal and cut down the Asherim (heathen poles) in the high places. He literally purged the land of paganism and humbly reinstated the worship of YaHuWaH in accordance with His law. (2 Chron. 34) King Josiah then organized the Passover celebrations and invited the whole nation to Jerusalem.

Once more revival swept the nation and YaHuWaH blessed Josiah with a blessing that will clothe him with honor and glory throughout the endless cycles of eternity. When did that nation-wide revival begin? The answer is, it began at the sacred season of the Passover in the month of Aviv. Bear that little known fact in mind because its significance will be explained later in this study.

After Josiah'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 the Almighty and continued to follow the practices of the heathen around them. As for the Almighty's appointed Sabbaths, they totally forsook them. The lessons of the past were all forgotten and the warnings of YaHuWaH 's prophets were treated with blasphemous contempt.

The nation of Israel rejected Jeremiah's call to repentance and in the course of time the inevitable happened. YaHuWaH Elohim of Israel allowed the city of Jerusalem 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 Shabbat which even the land was to keep every seventh 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 Jerusalem and the Temple of YaHuWaH were rebuilt. There followed a revival of mighty significance and one which caused the enemies of truth to tremble throughout the Middle East. With astonishing speed the wall of Jerusalem and the Temple of YaHuWaH were rebuilt and the sacred appointed feast days of the Almighty proclaimed. A holy spirit of dedication swept the country and all pagan associations and alliances were broken off. Multitudes of believers attended the sacred appointed 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. YaHuWaH '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 church 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 Israel and Yahudah:

• The slavery in Egypt
• Salvation through the blood of the Lamb
• The exodus under Moshe and the giving of the law at Sinai
• The entry into Canaan under Joshua (Yehoshua)
• The nation's repeated back slidings and the revivals at the sacred 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, believe it or not, the Christian church, for all its 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 divinely appointed schedule which parallels those revivals of long long ago. In this revival under Nehemiah and Ezra take special note of these points.

• The burnt offerings to the Eternal were resumed on the 1st day of the seventh month - the Feast of Trumpets. (Ezra 3:6)
• Ezra, the scribe of the law of YaHuWaH, set out from Babylon on the 1st day of the New Year (1st Aviv - not 1st January) and arrived at Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month. (Ezra 7:9)
• A program 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)

• 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 Israel's exodus from Egypt (Exodus 12:13)
• The date the Tabernacle was erected in the wilderness (Exodus 40:17)
• The day Moshe re-iterated YaHuWaH 's law to Israel (Deut. 1:3)

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 sacred calendar 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.

Just as Noah removed the covering from the ark on New Year's Day (1st Aviv) after having being shut in by YaHuWaH for almost a year (Gen. 8:13), so too will the Almighty remove - on an appointed day - the covering that is draped over the minds of millions.

No revival in the history of the church 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 YaHuWaH and gave them this specific order:

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 church from a small timid group of believers into a spiritual dynamo that lit up the whole civilized world with the glorious gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then for the very first time, the real significance of YaHuWaH 's Feast Days became apparent; for here indeed was the Almighty setting before His obedient church a spiritual banquet of undreamed-of content; a divine 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 church that was scheduled to come at the appointed time in YaHuWaH 's program: supernatural power which would enable the disciples to take the Gospel to the civilized world.

Now, let no-one suppose that the mighty outflow of spiritual power which came on the church at Pentecost some two thousand years ago was all that the Eternal has planned for His people. Oh no! The prophecy of Joel 2:28-32 goes far beyond the happenings on that memorable day in Jerusalem. The events recorded in Acts chapter 2 are by comparison only the 'appetizers,' the 'starters,' the 'foretaste' and 'beginnings' of a much greater Banquet of Power still to be set before the obedient church in the near future.

On some coming Appointed Day - any year from now - YaHuWaH Elohim of Israel is going to astound the universe with the next great event in His Program 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 sacred seasons in the Almighty's calendar? That they all either began with or climaxed on one or the other of the Appointed Feasts Days?

And why not? For that is exactly why the Eternal, at the creation of the world, ordained His feasts. The Feasts are His appointed times and sacred seasons, and are entered in His diary as days of special significance, days to keep, days to look forward to, days to remember, sacred memorial days set aside to mark the times when He would perform His greatest acts in the Program 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 sacred memorial days of our salvation.