Jealousy: The Reason for Revival

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Jealousy: The Reason for Revival

Published by

Dr. Ernie

on

February 8, 2025

By ChatGPT as Basilea Schlink

The title (and prompt)
Was ChatGPT’s summary
Of my Thursday notes
From Renaissance 2025

Oh, how great is the love of our Bridegroom, Jesus! A love that is pure, holy, and full of longing. A love that will not share our hearts with another. A love that burns with a jealous fire, seeking nothing less than our whole being. It is this jealousy—His divine, all-consuming love—that stirs revival.

The Heart of a Jealous God

The Lord has said, “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.” (Exodus 20:5).

What does this mean? Is His jealousy like the jealousy of man—petty, selfish, insecure? Oh no! His jealousy is the fire of a holy love, the love of a Bridegroom who cannot bear to see His Bride drawn away by lesser loves.

What grieves Him? It is when His beloved turns to the world, to sin, to the idols of her heart. When she gives her affections to things that can never satisfy. When she forgets her first love. Oh, how this wounds the heart of Jesus!

Yet His response is not rejection, but pursuit. He calls us back! He sends His Spirit, stirring hearts, awakening the slumbering Bride, drawing her into deep repentance. This is revival. It is nothing less than the Bridegroom reclaiming His Bride.

The Bride’s Infidelity – The Reason for Revival

Covenant as Marriage

From the very beginning, God’s relationship with His people is framed in marital terms:

If Yahweh is a husband to His people, then idolatry is not just rebellion—it is adultery. This is why God’s jealousy is not like human jealousy—it is the jealousy of a spouse who will not tolerate infidelity.

Revival as the Return of the Bride

If revival is about God reclaiming His people, then it is best understood as a moment of reconciliation in a broken marriage.

Israel repeatedly abandoned Yahweh—not just politically or religiously, but in heart-level devotion.
The prophets’ call to repentance was always a call back to covenant intimacy.
Revival happens when the Bride remembers her first love and returns.

Example: Hosea’s Story

Hosea is commanded to marry Gomer, a prostitute, symbolizing Israel’s unfaithfulness.
She leaves him, chasing other lovers—just as Israel chased false gods.
But Hosea pursues her, redeems her, and restores her—just as God does in revival.

This is the pattern of revival:

The Bride forgets her first love (spiritual apathy, compromise).
God’s jealousy stirs, and He calls her back.
The Bride repents, and intimacy is restored.

The Cry of the Remnant Bride

Revival does not come to the proud or the complacent. It comes to those who feel the ache of separation, who long for the Bridegroom to return.

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come!’” (Revelation 22:17).

It was so in the Hebrides Revival (1949-1953)—two elderly sisters, Peggy and Christine Smith, saw that the Bride had forgotten her Beloved. And they prayed!

This is the mystery of revival. It does not begin with great movements or eloquent preaching. It begins with the Bride yearning for her Bridegroom.

Revival: The Wedding Feast Rekindled

When revival comes, it is not merely repentance—it is reunion. It is the Bride and the Bridegroom restored to one another. There is weeping, yes—but then there is joy!

This is the call to us now. Our jealous Bridegroom is waiting! His love has never dimmed. His heart still longs for us.

Will we return? Will we give Him our whole hearts, our undivided love? Will we let His jealous love stir us to revival?

Oh, dear soul, do not delay. Let His love draw you back. Let His jealous fire consume every rival. Let revival begin in you, today.

For “He is coming soon!” (Revelation 22:20).

Radically Happy