Revival History: From Israel to America-Ezra

Revival History: From Israel to America-Ezra by Paul Camuti 08/12/2026

All Scriptures are from the NASB unless otherwise noted.

‍ ‍Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the Word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem.” Ezra 1:1-3

Ezra wrote that what is mentioned in chapter 1:1-3 was a fulfillment of the prophecy spoken by the prophet, Jeremiah.

“And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when the seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,” declares the Lord, “for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.” Jeremiah 25:11-12

“For thus says the Lord, When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart,” Jeremiah 29:10-13

We have discussed in the previous messages that what causes God to bring revival, is when people examine their hearts, allow God to examine their hearts, and call out to Him in prayer, often times in repentance. It would appear here, that God is moving toward revival without people examining their hearts or calling out to Him. It appears that God is just stepping in. However, God made these promises about bringing the captive people of Israel out of Babylon, and bringing a revival, restoration, and reformation to Israel, because God knew there would be people who would be calling out to Him in repentance on behalf of Israel. One such person was Daniel.

It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the Word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must be desolate for seventy years. So I turned to the Lord and pleaded with Him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, You are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill Your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love You and obey Your commands. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against You and scorned Your commands and regulations. We have refused to listen to Your servants the prophets, who spoke on Your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors. Lord, You are in the right; but as You see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever You have driven us because of our disloyalty to You.” Daniel 9:1-7 (NLT)

Notice that Daniel's prayer begins with the confession of and repentance of sin, for all of the people of

Israel, the kings, the princes, and the ancestors, This would also include himself as Daniel was

humbling himself in prayer and fasting. Daniel says “we” and “our” several times which indicates the inclusion of himself. This Daniel does, although he had a history of being righteous before God. In fact, Daniel makes this statement:

I went on praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, His holy mountain. Daniel 9:20 (NLT)

“O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against You. But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions He gave us through His servants the prophets.” Daniel 9:8-10 (NLT)

“O our God, hear your servant's prayer! Listen as I plead. For Your own sake, Lord, smile again on Your desolate sanctuary. O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open Your eyes and see our despair. See how Your city, the city that bears Your name-lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of Your mercy. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For Your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for Your people and Your city bear Your name.” Daniel 9:17-19 (NLT)

It is important to note that Ezra records King Cyrus' proclamation during his first year as king, having conquered Babylon. We will see that the altar and the foundation of the Temple is laid. The revival which involves the first group of refugees who rebuilt the altar, and who laid the foundation of the Temple, eventually stop working on the Temple because of opposition and general apathy. Daniel's prayer is during the first year of King Darius' reign. It is at that time, due to the prophet Haggai, the rebuilding begins again. The Temple went untouched for seventeen years. Again, we see the importance of prayer, fasting and repentance-repentance of God's people-as the undercurrent of revival.

Then the heads of father's households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all those about them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle, and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. Ezra 1:5-6

In early autumn, when the Israelites had settled into their towns, all the people assembled in Jerusalem with a unified purpose (“one man” in NASB and KJV). Then Jeshua so of Jehozadak joined his fellow priests and Zerubbabel son of Shealiel with his family in rebuilding the altar of the God of Israel. They wanted to sacrifice burn offerings on it, as instructed by the Law of Moses, the man of God. Even though the people were afraid of the local residents, they rebuilt the altar at its old site. Then they began to sacrifice burnt offerings on the altar to the Lord each morning an and evening. They celebrated the Festival of Shelters (Tabernacles or Booths) as prescribed in the Law, sacrificing the number of burn offerings specified for each day of the festival. They also offered the regular burnt offerings and the offerings required for the new moon celebrations and the annual festivals as prescribed by the Lord. The people also gave voluntary offerings to the Lord. Fifteen days before the Festival of Shelters began, the priests had begun to sacrifice burn offerings to the Lord. This was even before they started to lay the foundation of the Lord's Temple. Ezra 3:1-6 (NLT)

Notice that the altar was rebuilt first, before the Temple. This was so that sacrifices would be offered

up to the Lord. As we know, the various sacrifices were for repentance, rededication and thanksgiving.

These are all consistent elements within revival/reformation/transformation.

The construction of the Temple of God began in midspring, during the second year after they arrived in Jerusalem. The workforce was made up of everyone who had returned from exhile, including Zerubbabel son of Shealtile, Jeshua son of Jehozadak and his fellow priests, and all the Levites. The Levites who were twenty years old or older were put in charge of rebuilding the Lord's Temple. Ezra 3:8 (NLT)

‍ ‍When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord's Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever.!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lords Temple had been laid. Ezra 3:10-13 (NLT)

The words great shout is a Hebrew word teru'ah that means, a shout of joy, a clamor, blast of trumpets: a sounding of an alarm, especially of trumpet, a cry of jubilee; a victory shout. Teru'ah is an ear-piercing, great noise, a sound that cannot be ignored. It described the shouting of the Israelites when the Ark of the Covenant was returned in 2 Samuel 6:15. In Leviticus 25:9 it is translated as long and loud. It is found in Psalms 27:6, 33:3, 47:5, 89:15 and 150:5.

But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept allowed when they saw the new Temple's foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy. The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance. Ezra 3:12-13 (NLT)

Unfortunately, shortly after this, the rebuilding of the Temple stopped due to the opposition of the local people, who were primarily Samaritans. Daniel had lived to see the Jewish people return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, and see Israel restored, but he also was aware of the Temple not being completed for seventeen years up to the time of the first year of King Darius' reign. Daniel's prayer was the undercurrent of the revival regaining traction and continuing onward.

The prayer we discussed in Jacob's revival and now Daniel's prayer can give us hope for revival in America and in the American Christian church. To be continued...