"It is after the darkest times in history that God has made the pure light of His truth to shine the brightest."
-Both quotes are from Martyn Lloyd-Jones
"Restoration is God's peculiar work...Restoration is God's constant work. From death, He brings life to all nature. Spring is the grand annual illustration of it." - The Biblical Illustrator
God is a restorer.
Satan is a "thief" who comes "to steal, and to kill, and to destroy." (John 10:10)
But God is a restorer.
We can see this displayed throughout the Bible.
2 Kings 8:1 and 5 gives an example of one physically brought back to life - "Then spake Elisha unto the woman, whose son he had restored to life...And it came to pass, as he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life, that, behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land..."
Then, in Luke 15:24, we find an example of one spiritually brought back to life - "For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found..."
No doubt, God is in the restoration business.
Are you presently facing a situation in your life whereby you need God to bring that which is "dead" back to "life"?
Psalm 23:3 plainly tells us - "He restoreth my soul..."
In the Hebrew, the word "restore" means to bring it back. God brings back the soul from errors and wanderings. He makes it return into the right way - causing it to "serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness." (Luke 1:74-75)
He "restores" the "soul" to its original purity - after having grown foul and black with sin. He converts it - turning it from sin and ignorance, every false confidence, and every deceitful refuge.
When exhausted and weary, He revives and reinvigorates it. When ready to faint, He relieves, refreshes, and comforts it with the promises of His word and the discoveries of His love.
Joel 2:25 gives us another example of God at work in His restoration business.
Here it states His promise - "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, My great army which I sent among you."
The word "restore" here means to make up to you ...to make good...and to compensate.
Plainly stated - God is promising (after repentance from His people) to "deal wondrously" (Joel 2:26) with them by miraculously restoring and recovering by wonders their former losses to the extent whereby there will remain no sign nor sense thereof.
He is promising to give back wasted blessings - blessings lost by sin.
He is promising to restore plenty for the barrenness of the past years - even making interest on the evil wasted years.
He is promising to give to the penitent larger grace than before - recovering the former graces and then adding them to new grace.
He is promising to bring forth life out of the tomb and to bring good out of evil.
Who but God can do so "wondrously"?
That which we count as lost, He "restores" and then with interest! What a Mighty God we serve!
As well, Jeremiah 30:17 gives us another example of God as the Great Restorer when it says - "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD..."
To His covenant people, called "an Outcast" by their enemies, God was promising to bring them back into a comfortable and prosperous condition (to their own land) after going through affliction and distress - expressed by sickness, wounds, and bruises.
The Pulpit Commentary explains - "God designs to restore His people. The restoration of God's people can only be effected through the healing of them."
For our final example of God at work in the restoration business, let's look at Psalm 126:1 and 4 which says - "When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream ...Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south."
This Psalm depicts a pivotal time in the Old Testament when the Lord brought about a change for the better for His people. It seemed like a dream. It seemed too good to be true.
Cyrus, King of Persia, defeated Babylon in 539 B.C. and granted the Jews permission to return to Judah (their own land) and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.
God restored His people to their native land. He restored the nation's blessings. He replenished what had been lost in seventy (70) years because of sin.
However, not all Jewish captives returned at once. Some stayed behind in captivity due to fear, sloth, lack of courage, and choosing rather to be lethargic in their own filthiness than to undertake the hardship of the journey. Many preferred their present ease and comfort and refused the opportunity for "salvation" when it was offered them.
Here, in this Psalm, Ezra is praying that God would perfect that which He had begun - that He would finish the restoration process. He is praying that God would "restore" their "fortunes" and do it suddenly. As He brought some of the captives home, may He bring home the rest of their brethren who still remained captives in Babylon.
The picture he used to describe this act of restoration is - "as the streams in the south."
The Negev (Negeb) Desert got its name from the Hebrew word - "neghev" - which means dry. Because it was a vast wilderness area located to the south of Jerusalem and Judea, it took on the meaning of "south." Typical of many deserts, the Negev experienced limited rainfall or waterflow at certain times.
The Negev or South country (one of the most arid Bible places) was a region where life did not prosper and scarce was there found a fountain. Its river-beds had no water at all during the summer.
But then came the rainy season.
The "streams" that were dried up by the summer heat became swelled by the autumnal and winter rains.
As only He can, God brought about a Divine Change.
His restoration came suddenly and was very swift - with full raging force.
The dry "wadis" (riverbeds) became "streams" of water due to the torrential rains which brought about a flash flood. The waters gushed forth with great depth to the point of an overflow. The waters from the surrounding mountains flowed down ragingly - with great force.
This was Ezra's prayer for God's restoration to come to the remaining captives in Babylon.
O God, let there be another manifestation Of Your Divine power and favor. Gather together the residue of captives who are dispersed in Babylon. Don't forget our poor brethren still in exile. Give courage to the timid. Cause the carnal and worldly to forget their pleasures. Let their restoration to their home land of Jerusalem be swift, sudden, and powerful. Perfect that which You have begun.
Should not this be the prayer of the Church today as well?
Should not this be our prayer for our family members and friends who are yet "captives" in "Babylon"?
Is not this the Greatest Restoration - Divine Change - that Jesus, our Great Restorer, wants to bring about - namely, that lost souls (backsliders and prodigals) would be "restored" to a right relationship with the Father in such force and volume - "as the streams in the south"?
"Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south."
The "dry" season is about to change. The "rains" of the Spirit are coming!
"...for there is a sound of abundance of rain." (1 Kings 18:41)
The rest of our brethren (who are captives in "Babylon") are "coming home."
"As the streams in the south"
Suddenly, swiftly, and powerfully, restoration is coming.
That which is "dry" and "dead" is coming to life!
"Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them." (Psalm 126:2)
May God Bless His Word,
Connie
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. (Isaiah 54:17)
© COPYRIGHT Connie Giordano - All Rights Reserved