WEEK 12 - REVIVAL, 2 CHRONICLES 7: 13-15.

2 Chronicles 7: 13-15. 13 “(When) I shut up the heavens and there is no rain, or (when I) command the locusts to devour the land or (when I) send pestilence among my people, if (as soon as) My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then (once they have done that) I will hear from heaven, and I will (most definitely) forgive their sin and I will heal their land. Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.”

Introduction: Our so far:  The Lord has withdrawn his blessing from (vs 13) – we have already discussed this and established the fact beyond doubt.  In reaction to the current situation, the Lord requires 4 actions from His children (2 outward, 2 inward) o Humble yourselves – we discussed this previously o Turn from your wicked ways – we are currently examining this command o Pray – we still need to discuss this o Seek My face – we still need to discuss this. We continue our study on the second pre-requisite for revival – turn from your wicked ways.

We have been confessing the sins of the church in South Africa, last week we confessed our silence at times when the church should have spoken with a prophetic voice. This week we start to look at sins committed by South Africa as a nation, as well as the governing parties, past and present. We begin with a politically contentious and controversial subject, but also a very important subject – our failure to keep the covenant made at Blood River.

Please don't stop reading - the covenant made at Blood River has much to teach all South Africans not only the Afrikaner nation. Furthermore, I am convinced the covenant of Blood River, and 16 can and should be a source of encouragement, forgiveness and reconciliation in South Africa, if we understand exactly what happened on 16 December 1838.

This is a longer lesson than usual, but I'm pleading with you – take time to study the day of Covenant and the happenings at Blood River, you will find it a great source of encouragement.

This week then – the covenant of Blood River. Firstly, some historical background and perspective. 1838 was not a good year for the trekkers in Natal, under the leadership of Piet Retief, and Sarel Cilliers. They had trekked all the way from the Cape to Natal, but were encountering resistance and hostility from the then Zulu king Dingaan. Piet Retief and about 100 of his followers were murdered by Dingaan in February 1838, under the false presumption that they were about to sign a treaty with Dingaan. Following this Dingaan launched a military offensive with the objective of wiping out the remaining trekkers in Natal. In the months following Retief's murder, at least 500 trekker men, women and children died in various Zulu raids. It became clear to the trekkers that Dingaan would need to be defeated militarily, there was no possibility for a negotiated settlement and peaceful co-habitation whilst Dingaan was king. Andries Pretorius tried a few raids on Zulu kraals and strongholds, but with little success. He reasoned that the best way to defeat the Zulus was to lure them into attacking the voortrekker laager, which could better be defended. By December 1838 it appeared that this would be the case, when word was received of a Zulu army of 10-15000, on the march with the objective of finding and attacking the trekkers. Pretorius, an able military strategist, selected an ideal site to set up laager, flanked by a river and deep dongas, allowing for attack on only one front. Pretorius and the other leaders were well aware that mathematically, the fight was lost, the sheer weight of Zulu numbers was too much for the trekkers. Most of the trekkers were born again, devout believers. A historian has described the as "a prayer meeting on the march." Pretorius, and the others knew full well only a miraculous intervention by God could save them. The trekkers determined to take their situation to the Lord in prayer. Daily they petitioned God in prayer, and under the leadership of Sarel Celliers, each night a vow / covenant was read out loud, and all the members of the laager repeated the vow in agreement. The Zulus attacked at dawn on 16 December 1938, and it is a well known fact that the Voortrekkers defeated the Zulus within a matter of hours, with only 3 wounded. The happenings of that day can only be described in one way – miraculous, for various reasons.  The Zulus did not attack at night, as was their usual practice. Apparently the lanterns hanging from the wagons in the mist appeared to the Zulus as ghosts.  A minimum of 3000 Zulu warriors died in the battle, as opposed to no Voortrekker deaths, and only 3 wounded.  Every time the Voortrekker canons got too hot to use, and needed to be cooled down, the Zulus withdrew a if pushed back by an invisible hand. Later one of the Zulu warriors described what they saw as enormous birds of prey swooping down on them to drive them back.  The cattle and horses in the laager (over 1000 in total) remained calm, and did not panic or bolt despite the noise and chaos of battle.  For an unknown reason, the Zulu general decided to keep his elite troops till last, and attacked in waves, not in a single mass attack of all 10000 plus warriors. Surely the weight of numbers in a single mass attack would have overwhelmed the trekkers.

Can there be any doubt? Not at all, it is abundantly clear that God, in answer to the trekkers prayer, intervened in a mighty way to keep them safe.

Now, vitally important– what has Blood River in 1838 have to do with us as South Africans, in 2018? Just as in December 1838, we as a South African nation, have reached a time of crisis in our history. Except this time it's not only one nation threatened, all the nations making up our beloved country are threatened. Afrikaner, Englishman, Zulu, Xhosa, Sotho, Tswana, Coloured and Indian all are in the same boat. The enemy is not as well defined as in 1838, but make no mistake, just as deadly. Crime, poverty, corruption, HIV/Aids, political instability, , hate are enemies we daily face. These enemies, although more subtle, are just as deadly as any Zulu impi. Today, in 2018, just as in 1838 – we have only one choice – we petition God in prayer for a miracle for our country, or we go down together as a South African people. But not only does 16 Dec serve as a wonderful example of answered prayer, more than that 16 Dec brings an obligation to all South Africans to spend the day differently to other days of the year. In order to fully understand this, its necessary to examine the content of the covenant made by the trekkers with almighty God, because this covenant is binding on all generations subsequent to the voortrekkers, which would include our generation.

The original covenant, translated into English: We stand here before the Holy God of heaven and earth, to make a vow to Him that, if He will protect us and give our enemy into our hand, we shall keep this day and date every year as a day of thanksgiving like a Sabbath, and that we shall erect a house to His honour wherever it should please Him, and that we will also tell our children that they should share in that with us in memory for future generations. For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory.

What was Gods part of the covenant?  To protect the trekkers and give them victory over the enemy.  Did God keep His part of the covenant? Most certainly.

What was the Voortrekker part of the covenant?  That they, and all subsequent generations would keep and remember 16 December as if it were Sabbath.  That they would erect a house to Gods glory (a church) also as a reminder of Gods goodness to them. This was done in and other towns as well.

We have established beyond any doubt in previous lessons that that which is done on my behalf, is binding, as if I had done it myself. In other words, anything done on my behalf by my forefathers, or by my government, or by my church, makes me co-responsible for the actions taken or promises made in my behalf. In the case of Blood River, obviously, the generational descendants of the trekkers, the Afrikaner nation, are obliged to keep all parts of the covenant. As far as the other nations in South Africa, keep in mind that there were not only / Dutch trekkers in the laager. There were a number of English speaking, as well as black people forming part of the group. Whether this obliges all other South Africans to keep the vow of the day of the covenant I'm not sure.

However, what is critically important to all South Africans is this. 16 December should never become a political issue to be used or misused by any person, group of people or nation. 16 December should be remembered by all South Africans as a day when God answered, in a miraculous way, the prayer of a group of people in desperate trouble and need. This should be a tremendous source of encouragement to all nations – If God did this for the Voortrekkers, in 1838, surely He will do it for us in 2018. Sadly, in the past, certain elements of the Afrikaner nation misused the covenant of 16 December by taking the glory and honour for the Afrikaner nation, as if the Afrikaner nation were a special people, chosen by God. This was never the intention of the Voortrekkers. Read again the last sentence of the covenant: For the honour of His name will be glorified by giving Him the fame and honour for the victory. The intention of the Voortrekkers was never to take any credit for themselves. God will have all the glory. If we remember this, 16 December loses its political stigma, and become a day of celebration for all South Africans – God heard the prayers of our forefathers in 1838, He will do it again for us in 2018. When seen in this light, the character of 16 December (the day of the covenant) changes significantly. It was never about victory of Voortrekker over Zulu, it was always about giving God the glory for miraculous answer to prayer. In other words:  It's as day when Afrikaners (and other South Africans) remember Gods faithfulness and answers to prayer by observing the day as a Sabbath.  It's a day when God, throughout the country, gets ALL the glory, no single nation has the right to glory in 16 December.  It's a day of hope for all South Africans – there is a God in heaven, who doesn't slumber or sleep, who hears when His children cry to Him in their distress. He did it before, he will do it again.  Its a day of reconciliation (precisely as the new name for Dec 16, Day of reconciliation indicates) If we see 16 Dec as a day in which God intervened to save a people, in contrast to a day of victory of Afrikaner over Zulu, it becomes a day of reconciliation – all nations can gather in hope under this one God, who answers ANYONE who calls on His precious name. If God does not discriminate between peoples or nations and answers the prayers of all nations without prejudice, who are we to discriminate between the races making up our country? All the nations making up our country are reconciled under this glorious God, who hears when his children call on Him.

I read the following in Dr Arno van Niekerks book – Genoeg. He illustrates this very point by giving an example fro his personal experience.

" One of the most encouraging experieneces I had happened at the in in August 2014. As I was leaving, I stopped at the wall where the original Covenent was displayed, as well as the translations into and English.

As I was standing there, a black lady, who had been reading the English translation, turned to me and asked the following question: “Excuse me sir, this looks like a prayer; what does it mean there where it says “Lord, protect us against the enemy…” – who’s the enemy??” What a question!

Suddenly I realised that she had confronted me with a burning question, a question which has caused so much hatred, division and pain in our country. At that momennt, I experienced that the Holy Spirit helped me to realise that this question represented a glorius opportunity to right some of the wrongs of the past and reconcile different nations in our country. At his stage several of the other black people with her had also turned to face me and were awaiting my answer.

I believe the Lord lead met to give the following reply: “Ma’am, in that context, yes, it was the Zulus who were the enemy because they were attacking the . It’s like when someone attacks you – in that moment that person is an enemy no matter what his skin colour is. But we know who the real enemy is, it is the devil [Ef. 6:12]. The Boers prayed sincerely to the Lord, making this Vow, and the Lord answered their prayers, because it is a miracle that no-one died after an attack by 10 000 Zulus. But I have to admit to you that us Boers and Afrikaners have to a large extent celebrated it as a day of victory for us – which meant the Zulus were the losers. We’ve made it a cultural thing, which resulted in a negative cultural response from the black people. We should have separated it from culture and made it only a Day of Miracle, a Day on which God Answered Prayer, and should have given Him ALL the glory. I feel like apologizing to you on behalf of white people for that. If we’ve celebrated it as a Day on which God answered prayer, we could all have celebrated it together for God’s glory. This was actually the original intention of the Voortrekkers who made the Vow: To give God ALL the glory. I believe God is now showing us that our identity in Christ is superior to our cultural identity. We will always be Afrikaners, Xhosas and Zulus, etc. but we cannot allow our cultural identities to separate us as Christian believers who are in all the different cultures and races in South Africa. Our identity in Christ creates a unity in Him that we cannot allow to be divided by the enemy.”

Her face lit up, and she asked me, with tears streaming down her face, what I was doing at the Voortrekker monument. I answered her that the Lord had led me to come to the monument to pray. She replied: “Sir, this is something that South Africa needs to hear. It will bring healing. Can you pray for us and for South Africa?” We took hands and formed a circle, and prayed for each other, and our country South Africa. White and black together, in the shadow of the covenant of 1838, praying together for our country. This was a God ordained, glorious moment when God brought healing and a new perspective to peoples hearts, including my own! I saw first hand the wonderful effect of the truth and the spontaneous response in prayer. I also experienced the healing and reconciliation which follow when God is made the centre of attention and individuals and nations step aside to allow His spirit to do the healing and reconciliation. My prayer is that such moments of healing and reconciliation as we experienced at the monument would become commonplace throughout our land. God uses "truth moments" such as we experienced to change people, attitudes and perspectives. None of us who experienced the prayer at the Monument can ever be the same again!

. (Pages 296,297. Genoeg. Dr Arno van Niekerk)

Thank you Arno, for sharing this experience and insight with us, and for your obedience to Gods leading to pray at the monument, As Arno said – "If we’ve celebrated it as a Day on which God answered prayer, we could all (meaning all nations in South Africa) have celebrated it together for God’s glory. In the past we were guilty of stealing Gods glory for ourselves, and specifically for the Afrikaner nation, we have made a political issue out of Dec 16, instead of utilising the opportunity to make it a prayer and reconciliation opportunity. But because we have been wrong in the past, does not mean we need to continue to be wrong in the future. God can, and will, forgive us, and help us to turn Dec 16 into a glorious day, a day in which He, and He alone, gets the glory.

A proposal for 16 December 2018. How do I, as South African Christian, of any race, spend Dec 16 2018?

 If I feel so lead by the Holy Spirit, I attend a church service to honour God for the miracle of answered prayer on Dec 16 1838.  I remind other Christians of the wonder of answered prayer so many years ago.  I spend the day, if at all possible, as I would any Sabbath. A day of rest, a day of praise, a day of prayer. This year, co-incidentally 16 Dec falls on a Sunday. Other years, I might consider taking a day of leave in order to spend a weekday as I would a Sabbath.  If appropriate, I ask the Lord for forgiveness where I, or my predecessors, have taken the glory meant for God, and ascribed that glory to a nation or a people, as if we were something special.  We remind the Lord of his mercy towards the Voortrekkers, and the fact that the Lord saved a people in mortal danger. We spend a good deal of the day, if possible, in prayer for South Africa, for all nations, that God would again be merciful, and intervene to save our country, as he did in 1838, and again in 1994.

Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for the miracle of 1838, when You intervened to save a nation in distress. Thank you that we can know, without any doubt, that you are a God who does not change. What you did in 1838, you will do again in 2018, You are still a God of love and mercy, a God who hears when His children call on him. Forgive us, where we have taken the glory intended for you, for ourselves, and turned Dec 16 into a political victory of nation over nation. We pray also, that You would forgive us for neglecting, for many years, to keep Dec 16 as a Sabbath day, as we are bound to do by the covenant between You and our forefathers. Help us Lord, to spend 16 Dec as you would have us do – as a Sabbath and day of rejoicing and prayer, a day when You receive all the glory. We undertake not to keep any honour or glory for ourselves, or for any single nation. We also ask Lord, that in your great mercy, you would change Dec 16, in a miraculous way, from a day of division, strife and pain, into a day of healing, love, peace and prayer. We ask that you would again do for our nation what you did for the Voortrekkers in 1838- that you would save our nation South Africa from its enemies. Please deliver us from the enemies of poverty, aids, crime, corruption, violence and so many other issue which are destroying our country. We confess that we do not deserve your mercy, but plead with You Lord, on the grounds that you are a God of mercy and love, and that your Son Jesus died on a cross to take away the sins of our nation South Africa. As in 1838, Lord, we undertake to give you all the glory, we plead once more – Lord, be merciful to our county South Africa.

Amen.

Till next week, blessings.

Moreleta Park Congregation prayer team