Note: This is part 7 of a series of articles on the Prayer Movement
For the seventh and final installment of this prayer movement series, I want to answer the question “Why now?”.
We know that God is doing something with day & night prayer & worship in our lifetime that has never happened before. It is clear that this modern-day prayer movement far eclipses in quantity any other generation’s experience of 24-7 prayer throughout human history. It is truly historic. We know that this movement has biblical basis, and we know that it carries the spirit of the tabernacle of David – prayer that is rooted in intimacy with Jesus and extravagant, musical worship.
I believe the Bible also gives us some insights into the timing of the modern prayer movement and helps us to understand what God is doing. I believe it is connected to the themes of the Tabernacle of David, Israel and a global revival. Journey with me through Scriptures and let us see.
Revivals of Davidic Worship in Israel’s History
A few hundred years after the era of David’s tabernacle and Solomon’s temple has ended, the prophet Amos released a groundbreaking prophetic word.
“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.
Amos 9:11-12
The God-loving kings of Israel who came after Amos responded to this prophetic word in a particular way – they restored worship in Israel back to the way that king David did in his tabernacle. After this prophecy, whenever revival came to Israel, a major part of that revival was the re-institution of “davidic” worship with Levites being paid to minister to God with day & night songs.
If you do some research on the estimated timeline of Old Testament events, it looks something like this.
1000 B.C. – David reigns as king and the Tabernacle of David erected
960 B.C. – Solomon begins his reign & builds the temple
767 B.C. – Amos’ prophecy of the restoration of tabernacle of David
730 B.C. – Isaiah’s prophecy of David’s tabernacle (Isaiah16:5)
715B.C. – Hezekiah begins his reign and restores davidic worship (2 Chronicles 29:1–36, 30:21, 29:25)
641B.C. – Josiah begins his reign and restores davidic worship (2 Chronicles 34, 35:1–27, 35:15)
450 B.C. – Nehemiah / Ezra restore davidic worship (Ezra 3:10-11, Nehemiah 12:28–47)
It seems clear that the godly leaders of Israel understood Amos’ prophetic word to be related not only to the establishment of the messianic kingdom through David’s lineage, but that it was somehow connected to the specific way that David administrated Israel’s worship. If this Amos 9:11 prophecy was not related at all to David’s order of worship, but was simply a messianic prophecy, then it would have been useless for Hezekiah, Josiah, Nehemiah and Ezra to set the Levites before the Lord with day & night musical worship. There was no requirement in the Torah (mosaic law) for them to do so. Yet this is exactly what they did, and God never rebuked them for it.
It is worth noting here that the emphasis on the restoration of David’s tabernacle in the Old Testament was on the restoration of Israel’s priestly role before God in davidic (heavenly) worship. But there was more to the prophecy of Amos than just the restoration of priestly ministry.
Bringing It Into the New Testament
In Acts 15, the apostle James quotes Amos 9:11 at the Jerusalem council. The context of this gathering is that the Christian church elders and leaders (who were all Jewish) are trying to figure out how to incorporate the Gentiles into the Church as God was pouring out His Holy Spirit onto believers from other nations.
James stands and quotes Amos 9:11 as an indication of what God was doing in that day. It seems that this prophecy was not just for ancient Israel, but that it had some relevance to the New Testament Church as well. It had to do with Jesus, the son of David, repairing humanity’s connection to God through His death and Resurrection.The kingdom of God was now breaking into the people groups of earth, and this global harvest was represented as the tabernacle of David being restored.
Whereas the Old Testament restoration seemed to focus on the priestly aspects of ministry to the Lord, this New Testament emphasis on the tabernacle of David was primary about the kingly dimension of its restoration – where Jesus, the son of David, is bringing the nations into the presence of God and establishing His kingdom on the earth.
A Final Fulfillment
I believe there is a final layer of fulfillment of the Amos 9:11-12 prophecy that we have yet to explore. Amos 9 is actually a prophecy about the end times. Israel’s kings were correct in restoring davidic worship, and James was right in applying this passage to the early Christian Church – yet there seems to also be a future fulfillment.
The context surrounding verses 11 and 12 gives us indicators as to the timing of this final fulfillment of the tabernacle of David’s restoration. The two signposts that are given in that chapter are a global revival & harvest (Amos 9:13-14) and the restoration of the Jewish people to the land of Israel (Amos 9:15).
“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.
Amos 9:15
An unbelievable miracle took place in 1948 when Israel again became a nation and Jewish people flooded back into that land. Was this a fulfillment of Amos 9:15? If so, could that mean we have entered into an unprecedented time in history where we will see the tabernacle of David restored in a way that has never happened before?
While teachings on the Tabernacle of David are becoming more widespread, especially within the worship & prayer movement, I did my best googling to trace the roots of these teachings. I was astonished to find that the emergence of teachings on the tabernacle of David began in the 1950s (most notably by George Warnock) – right after Israel became a nation again. In the 60s and 70s the teachings began to spread through teachers like Kevin Conner and Graham Truscott, who both wrote books on the subject (see here and here). These teachings continued to mature in the 80s and 90s through leaders like Ray Hughes and Mike Bickle, leading up to the 1999 flash-point of what we now call the launch global prayer and worship movement.
Could it be that the tabernacle of David is being restored in our generation in a way never before seen? Can we truly read Amos 9, observe the miracle of Israel’s restoration to their land, discover the emergence of teaching on tabernacle of David in the 50s, grasp the phenomenon of the modern day prayer movement and then conclude that this a big coincidence? I do not think so. I believe we are beginning to experience the most dramatic restoration of the tabernacle of David in human history – where the priestly and kingly dimensions of the restoration are happening together on a global scale.
What about the worldwide revival and harvest also prophesied in Amos 9? We see that happening as well. It is quite likely that we will experience the Gospel going to every unreached people group in our lifetime. Call2All is a summit of international prayer and missions leaders to see the Great Commission fulfilled in our lifetime. In January 2008, they identified 639 unreached people groups, and that number has been reduced to less than 75. It is estimated that 20,000 new converts are made each day in China and India. An unprecedented harvest of souls is happening in the nations right now.
Is it possible that we can flip open our Bibles to Amos 9 and find ourselves in the story? Could this global prayer movement be connected to God’s purposes in Israel and the gospel going to every people group of the earth? Could the restoration of the tabernacle of David be more relevant today than ever before? I believe so. It is happening now for a reason.