Revival is in the Bible
The Celebration, Proclamation, Demonstration, and Culmination of the Gospel
Our local Greenhouse community in eastern North Carolina recently hosted a regional tent gathering called Phenomenon 2025. A few hundred worshipers and intercessors from the region came through over the weekend to seek the Lord together for revival. PPM’s very own Jonathan Friz even came down from western Massachusetts to join us.
One of the reasons the weekend was so special was because it was the 50th anniversary of a prophetic word that Derek Prince had spoken about a revival in eastern North Carolina that would be greater than the Welsh revival of the early 1900s. He called it the “eastern North Carolina phenomenon” (hence the name of our event).
This prophetic promise has stirred the faith and encouraged the prayers of intercessors for decades, but it is important to build our hope of revival on more than subjective prophecies. Overemphasizing prophecy can be problematic[1]. Prophecy is good, but our beliefs and practices must be founded on Scripture so that we do not stray into immaturity, foolishness, or even heresy.
Thankfully, the Bible is full of incredible prophecies that have yet to be fully fulfilled. Many of these promises will culminate around the time of Christ’s return, and many of them are unfolding right now in our lifetime. The promise of revival is in the Bible. One of those prophecies was given in Amos 9. Many people quote Amos 9:11 by itself, but I want to look at the broader context of Amos 9:11-15 to explore four movements to which Amos alludes. Each movement is also prophesied elsewhere in Scripture and is beginning to be manifested in our day.
The four global movements I want to highlight are the celebration, the proclamation, the demonstration, and the culmination[2] of the Gospel. The celebration of the Gospel will happen through a global day and night worship and prayer movement. The proclamation of the Gospel will bring in a great harvest of souls from every tribe, tongue, and language. The demonstration of the Gospel in signs, wonders, healing, miracles, and deliverance will confirm the truth that is proclaimed. And the culmination of the Gospel will be the salvation of Israel before the return of Christ.
You can see an outline of each of these movements in Amos 9:11-15:
“On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing.“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord,
“When the plowman shall overtake the reaper,
And the treader of grapes him who sows seed;
The mountains shall drip with sweet wine,
And all the hills shall flow with it.
I will bring back the captives of My people Israel;
They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them;
They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them;
They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
I will plant them in their land,
And no longer shall they be pulled up
From the land I have given them,”
Says the Lord your God.
The Celebration of the Gospel: A Global Prayer and Worship Movement
In verse 11 Amos prophesied of the rebuilding of the tabernacle of David. What is this restoration? I explain in my David’s Tabernacle book:
The promised restoration of David’s tabernacle speaks to both the reign of the Son of David as King and to the restoration of God’s people as a royal priesthood in His kingdom. The prophesied “tabernacle” of Amos 9:11 includes both the rule of Jesus on the throne of David and the Davidic worship of the church.
Dick Eastman said it like this[1]:
Could it be that the ultimate restoration of the Tabernacle of David (see Acts 15:16-18) actually refers to a supernatural tent, or covering, of worship and intercession that will be raised up by the Church in our generation over every tribe, tongue, people and nation on Earth? (see Rev. 5:8-10; 7:9-12). I believe God has already begun this movement and its growing in amazing ways.
Yes! The Bible promises a global prayer and worship movement that will precede the second coming of Jesus. Even if you’re not convinced that Amos 9 has anything to do with worship and prayer, there are a plethora of other Bible passages that indicate a coming wave of songs and intercession around the world.
The prophet Malachi said that the incense of prayer and the offerings of worship will rise “in every place” on earth[2]. Jesus himself quoted Isaiah that God’s house would be a house of prayer for all the nations[3]. God’s people will be praying together everywhere. Isaiah also describes a global praise and worship movement — a “new song” that would arise throughout the world[4]. Not only will God’s people be praying everywhere, but they will also be singing everywhere.
Finally, Isaiah prophesies of watchmen who will stand on the wall of intercession day and night, leading up to the return of Christ[5]. Jesus echoes Isaiah’s vision of an end-times, day and night prayer movement that will release justice in the earth[6]. God’s people will be praying and singing everywhere and all the time!
The Bible promises that a global prayer and worship movement is coming, and we are beginning to taste it. There is already an unprecedented wave of day and night prayer in the 21st century. The tabernacle of David is being restored around the world, and this movement of praise and intercession will be the tip of the spear for global revival.
The Proclamation of the Gospel: A Global Missions Movement
The next verse in Amos 9 indicates that this restoration of David’s tabernacle will not just be for ethnic Jews. The Gentile nations will join in the worship of the God of Israel. Verse 12 says:
“That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
When James quoted this passage at the Jerusalem council, he reworded these phrases to say that God was rebuilding David’s tent “so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name.”[7] The context is clear. Amos prophesied it. James confirmed it. A global missions movement will flow from a global prayer movement. As the incense of day and night prayer begins to rise, the good news will spread to the ends of the earth. Prayer rooms will become the greenhouses where laborers are prayed for and sent out into the harvest field.[8]
Amos then described a forthcoming time of accelerated harvest when “the plowman shall overtake the reaper” (verse 13). There is a coming day when the harvest will grow with such intensity that the harvest is ripe before the field is plowed. Now that is revival. The Gospel is always powerful, but there are seasons where the harvest becomes unusually ripe, and people come to Christ more easily than usual. I’ve heard that during the Jesus People movement of the 1970s, the harvest was so ripe that you could almost stand on a street corner and yell “Jesus!” and someone would come forward to accept Christ.
It will be the same way leading up to the return of Jesus, but not just in one nation. Every nation will be experiencing a harvest. Every people group will hear the good news, and worship to the Lord will arise in every language on earth. Jesus promised this in Matthew 24:14:
“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
At some point in the future, the good news will be proclaimed in the “whole world.” The testimony of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ will be a testimony to “all nations.” The word translated as “nations” in this verse is the Greek word ethnos, which refers to an ethnic group or tribe, rather than a political nation-state. Jesus is assuring His disciples that every “people group” in the world will have a witness of Christianity before His return. At the time of this writing, The Joshua Project has identified 17,313 unique ethnicities, with 7,280 being considered unreached with the Gospel[9].
The statistics are sobering, but the biblical promise is inspiring. Thousands of groups will hear the Gospel. Who will proclaim it? And who will pray for the laborers?
Shockingly, Jesus connects our success in the Great Commission to our unity as the body of Christ. In John 17, He prays that we would be one so “that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me”[10]. Part of what will be a witness to the lost is our love for one another. There are some trends towards Christian unity, but we will never see the oneness Jesus prayed for without a supernatural move of the Holy Spirit[11]. And that is exactly what will happen.
The Demonstration of the Gospel: An Outpouring of God’s Spirit in Power and Love
The harvest that Amos envisions is a vineyard of grapes. In verse 13, the plowman who overtakes the reaper is specifically the “treader of grapes” who overcomes the one who sows seed. In this prophetic vision, the result of the massive grape harvest is that “The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.”.
In the New Testament, wine is a prophetic picture of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. For instance, on the day of Pentecost, those who heard the Spirit-filled believers speaking in tongues thought they were drunk with wine[12]. Paul told the Church in Ephesus not to be drunk with wine but to be filled with the Spirit[13]. Wine is synonymous with Spirit.
When the “new wine” of the Spirit was released at Pentecost, the apostle Peter said that it was the fulfillment of what was prophesied in Joel 2:
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh….I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath.”[14]
According to this passage, the outpouring of the Spirit includes supernatural manifestations such as prophecy, signs in the heavens, and wonders on the earth. By referencing this prophecy, Peter acknowledged that the era of the outpouring of the Spirit had begun. Speaking in tongues was one of the initial supernatural manifestations. Shortly afterward, the apostles began to do miracles by the power of the Spirit. Demons were cast out, bodies were healed, and souls were saved. Revival had come, just as Joel promised.
However, the demonstration of the Gospel is not just about preaching, casting out demons, healing the sick, and doing miracles. It is also about our Spirit-empowered love for one another and compassion for the lost. Miracles are exciting, but they are useless without love. One of the marks of the end-times revival will be that the Holy Spirit empowers the Church to walk in righteousness as we bear the fruit of the Spirit. He will empower us to love one another with the gifts of the Spirit. And He will enable us to walk in oneness through the unity of the Spirit.
The Church has two thousand years of Holy Spirit activity behind us, and the best is yet to come! As they say, Jesus saves the best wine for last[15]. Before the return of Christ, we can expect a global outpouring of God’s Spirit where supernatural love and power confirm the Gospel that is proclaimed by the laborers who have been prayed into the harvest fields. The celebration, demonstration, and proclamation of the Gospel will flow together by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Culmination of the Gospel: The Salvation of Israel
Amos concludes His prophecy with a promise to make the Jewish people fruitful in their land again. God says:
“I will bring back the captives of My people Israel… I will plant them in their land.”
This passage emphasizes the fourth movement - the culmination of the Gospel through God’s unique end-times purposes for Israel. This movement will include the salvation of the Jewish people and the restoration of the land that was promised to Abraham.
Stunningly, the Jewish people, after being unsettled for nearly 2000 years, were able to return to their land en masse in the 1940s, with the establishment of Israel as a political nation again. While God’s prophetic purposes have been unfolding since the first coming of Christ, this new development brings a serious urgency to the times in which we live. Are we beginning to see these prophetic promises unfold before our eyes?
God’s purposes for Israel go beyond the land. His desire has always been the salvation of the Jewish people through Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul describes God’s unique plan for ethnic Israel in Romans 11. He teaches that a partial “hardness” or “blindness” has come on the hearts of most of the Jews, preventing them from accepting Jesus as their Messiah. He explains that some Jews will accept Christ, but many will reject Him “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.”[16] At that point, when the great harvest of the nations has come in, Paul says that “all Israel will be saved”. He says the Gentiles’ salvation and worship will provoke ethnic Israel to jealousy,[17] causing them to turn to Jesus.
The great harvest of the Gentiles at the end of the age will be followed by a great harvest of Jews finally accepting Jesus as their Messiah. God’s purposes for Israel will come full circle as the culmination of the Gospel.
Celebration, Proclamation, Demonstration, and Culmination
Let’s recap. God is pouring out His Spirit to orchestrate a global worship and prayer movement, where all nations will worship the God of Israel with Davidic worship. This is the celebration of the Gospel. This Spirit-filled, worship-based, presence-centered prayer movement will fuel anointed evangelism and missions in neighborhoods and nations. This is the proclamation of the Gospel. Miraculous power and love will confirm the good news, and a harvest will come from every people group on the earth. This is the demonstration of the Gospel. The final movement is the culmination of the Gospel in God’s purposes for Israel.
Celebration, proclamation, demonstration, and culmination. Each of these movements are facets of the global revival that God has promised us. And these prophecies are now unfolding before our eyes. Since the first coming of Christ, a new era has dawned. God’s kingdom is coming to earth. Jesus is fulfilling every prophecy[18], and through Him every promise of God is “yes and amen”[19].
[1] See my comments on IHOPKC’s use of their “prophetic history” here
[2] I first heard Michael Miller of Upperroom use the words “celebration, proclamation and demonstration” of the Gospel. I later saw how these ideas could map onto this passage in Amos 9, with my addition of the “culmination” of the Gospel in God’s purposes for Israel.
[3] https://media.presencepioneers.org/p/a-class-of-one-by-dick-eastman
[4] Malachi 1:11
[5] Isaiah 56:7 , Mark 11:17
[6] See Isaiah 24:16 and 42:10-13
[7] Isaiah 62:6-7
[8] Luke 18:7-8
[9] Acts 15:17
[10] Matthew 9:37-38
[11] https://joshuaproject.net/
Accessed 04-29-24
[12] John 17:23
[13] Jonathan Friz teaches on this in his book Jesus Gets What He Prays For
[14] Acts 2:13-15
[15] Ephesians 5:18
[16] Acts 2:17-19
[17] See Jesus turning water into wine in John 2
[18] Romans 11:25
[19] Romans 11:11
[20] Matthew 5:17
[21] I Corinthians 1:20