HEBREW WORD STUDY – CRY MIGHTILY – YAQARAU BACHAZAQAH – בחזקה יקראו
Jonah 3:8: “But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God; yea let them turn everyone from their evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.”
A few years ago the nation was flooded with billboards announcing that “Judgment Day Is Coming. The billboard quoted from Jonah 3:8: “Cry mightily unto the Lord.” Unlike Jonah, no revival followed. This modern-day Jonah, I am sure, prayed mightily about this but when judgment never came on the date he predicted, he ended up a laughing stock.
Yet, when the prophet of the Book of Jonah published his message throughout Nineveh and commanded everyone to cry mightily unto God, all 120,000 residents of the city repented. Even the King of Nineveh sent out a decree for everyone to repent. Not even our Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel carries that kind of clout, even if his name means God is with us let him be exalted.
Still, Jonah must have been some kind of preacher to get the entire population to sign a decision card. There are probably many reasons for this great revival, but ultimately this revival would never have taken place if it were not for the work of the Holy Spirit. You can lease every billboard in Chicago and plaster the words Repent and all you will get out of it is a lot of publicity and a book deal, but few if any converts. Jonah’s ace in the hole was that his campaign was backed by the Holy Spirit Himself.
I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit has targeted the American church for revival, but it will come totally under the radar and not the result of slick PR campaigns. trumped up with a lot of cool music, hand clapping and charismatic speakers who get the adrenalin going and the blood pumping. Revival will come when the Holy Spirit decides it will come and then it will come softly like in Nineveh, people quietly repenting and turning to God.
It comes when the people cry mightily to God. Here is what revival is all about. It is not great signs and wonders, healings, powerful preaching, foot stomping music it is a mighty cry. To us, that means loud wailing and mourning. Actually, in the Hebrew, it is the opposite, it is like a silent scream. The word cry is qara’ which means to proclaim, call or read. The word mightily is chazak which in its Semitic root means true, 100%, no hidden agenda, total sincerity, and earnestness. Crying mightily to God is to proclaim what is true, it could be a silent scream to God, a personal matter between you and God, no one-upping the next saint in your confessions, no starting a new church or new repentance fad, just a quiet turning to God with no hidden agenda. It won’t become an internet sensation, it will not produce new religious leaders, new music, massive crusades or a new line of designer Bibles. This revival is happening now, quietly as thousands, yea, millions of American Christians are falling to their knees and saying, “God, I am tired of using you to get a healing, wealth, a position on the worship team, or becoming a member of the pastor’s inner circle. I’m tired of the church games, I just want to love unconditionally. This is your mighty cry, your silent scream to God, this is the next revival. Our culture is just too materialistic and power hungry to sustain anything else.
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