Editorial January 2, 1904 Issue

Revivals

In the book of Habakkuk, that old Hebrew classic which challenges the admiration of modern poets with its sublime imagery, we find the petition, "O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years." That even one was wont to pray thus, gives proof that the sacred light of Truth was burning, if but dimly, and that ever anon the prophetic spirit breaks forth to awaken mortals from the long dream of materiality.

Paul reminds us that God has never left "Himself without witness," and as the ages roll on they are marked by revivals,—that quickening to human thought and spiritual interest which finds expression in art, in literature, in religion, and in the higher ideals of life. The word "revive" has the following definitions: to give new life; to recover from a state of oblivion, obscurity, or neglect; to bring into action after a suspension. In this broad sense the prophets were all revivalists, and to the extent that they were heeded, the people recognized the Divine presence in their deliverance from sin and sickness, and in their national prosperity and peace.

When Jesus came to revive the work of Truth he did so in a more effective way than had ever been known before. He never failed, however, to recognize what had been done by those who preceded him, and he began his public ministry by declaring in the synagogue, that the prophecy of Isaiah which he had read was fulfilled in his work. He frequently reminded them of the lofty hopes which had centered about the birth of their nation, and said that not a jot or tittle should pass from its law till all was fulfilled. Not only did he carry his revival of true religion into the hearts and the homes of the people, but he went into the very temple and there he rebuked and cast out that which symbolized the worship of mammon,—then he healed the sick therein by the power of the Word, and thus revived Truth's work in that age; and it is a sad thing that it should ever have been lessened, ever have ceased, since without the demonstration of the divine activity, humanity inevitably drifts into moral and social chaos.

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