Cindy Jacobs:
The Mighty River of God and Characteristics of Revival
Swarms
of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be
large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the
salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Ezekiel 47:9
In 1984, I had a vision while in a hotel room in Temple, Texas. I was
all alone and not met anyone in the city. At 6:00 in the morning, there
was a knock on my door which awakened me out of a sound sleep. Puzzled
and a little shaken, I peeked out of the window. No one was around. As I
laid back down, I murmured, "Do You want to show me something, Lord?
Did You wake me up?"
Immediately I began to have a vision. It was a vision of a river and I knew it was the
River of Life.
Oh, what a beautiful sight it was! I thanked God over and over for
showing it to me. All of a sudden, I saw people come and get in the
river. I realized they were the Church. They started throwing up into
the river and tossed garbage from their houses into the water, causing
it to be polluted and unclean. The people erected a large pediment sign
that read "River of Living Water."
I asked the Lord what had polluted the river, and He said in my heart,
"Judgmentalism, criticism, sectarianism, strife and divisions – these have polluted My river."
After a while, I saw people coming to the bank of the river. I sensed
they represented the world. They looked at the sign and the people in
the river who appeared to be having a fabulous time and decided to try
the water. Kneeling down, they started to drink. It only took one taste,
and they spat it out of their mouths with disgust and went away.
Meanwhile, the Church hardly noticed what had happened. Nobody could
tell that the water was polluted because they had tasted it so long that
they thought it was good. No one was able to tell the difference
between polluted and clean water.
Later, they all got out of the river and fell asleep on either side
of the bank. The army of God was fast asleep, and no one cared what had
happened to God's river.
A Mighty River - Pure and Clean
As time passed, a couple of sleepers awakened and looked up,
astonished at the river. They tried to shake the others awake but were
unsuccessful. I believe they represent the
prophetic gifts in
the Church. At last, two angels from Heaven came down and put little
pots of eye salve into their hands, instructing them to put it on the
eyes of those asleep.
The two prophetic people applied the salve to each person, one at a
time. Everyone had the same response after having the medicine put on
their eyes. They sat up, looked at the river and declared, "Oh, what has
happened to the River of God? How did we let this happen?"
Finally, they all stood up in one accord and went into the river to
try to clean it up. Alas, they sadly failed. It was too polluted for
individuals to clean with their hands. As I watched, I could see they
had found a strategy. They were building a huge water purification plant
in the middle of the river.
As they finished the plant, I saw a tiny trickle of fresh water flow
out of the other side of the unit. Then increasingly water flowed, until
the trickle became a stream, and at last, the stream became a mighty
river – pure and clean.
The water purification plant represents the
houses of prayer which are springing up all over the world.
Isaiah 56:7 says:
"Even
them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house
of prayer... For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all
nations."
The next sight I saw was puzzling to me. I saw trees on either side
of the river bank, dropping their leaves into the river. It was several
years before I would come to the understanding that the leaves were for
the healing of the nations (Ezekiel 47:12).
The last part of the vision is the most precious. In the
vision, children were in the river, laughing and playing. They splashed
and dunked each other, having a perfectly glorious time. I believe this
is symbolic of a children's revival which will span the globe.
The ending part of this scene was a great blessing. I saw the people
of the world come and look at the children in the river. Gazing at one
another, they asked, "Should we try to drink one last time from the
river?" Kneeling down, they put their mouths to the water and began to
drink. They drank and drank and drank as if they would never get enough
of the pure River of Life. At that moment, the Lord spoke to me and
said,
"O taste and see that the Lord, He is good!"
In looking back over the last few decades, the Lord has done and
still is doing a great work of purging in the Body of Christ. Ezekiel 47
tells of pure water issuing from the temple. Out from the cleansed
heart of the Church are issuing many streams which are becoming a mighty
river of revival (John 7:18).
Characteristics of This Revival:
1. There will be an emphasis on holiness and living a
sanctified life. God is exposing sin at all levels. He is no longer
"winking" even for a short while at those who are trying to live double
lives of sin and service to God. This will produce a holy fear of the
Lord.
2. These sanctified lives will affect the culture
of the nation where they live. Some will describe it as a "religious
revolution."
3. Prayer groups will spring up with intercession
for the nations of the world and the unevangelized. A fresh emphasis on
missions in churches will be fueled.
4. The Holy Spirit is prompting "net-working" of
those in business to bring forth a harvest of finance to fund the
revival (Ezekiel 47:10).
5. Other kinds of nets will be given for the great harvest of fish, which represent the souls of the lost.
Creative evangelism will become culturally relevant, bringing in the generation who are now
children and youth.
6. Unusual outpourings of God's power will occur
with signs, wonders and other visitations of the Holy Spirit such as
great joy, laughing, weeping and deep conviction of sin.
7. The borders between different denominations
will become less defined as more and more groups will pray for the sick,
cast out demons and experience power encounters of the Holy Spirit.
8. A fresh love of the Word of God, with an emphasis on Scripture memorization, will visit the Church.
9. Racism will be abhorrent to the Church and
unacceptable in those congregations experiencing the River of God.
Racial barriers will topple as God's torrent of love is poured out.
10. Those refusing to swim with the current of the
river will be in serious trouble. Their churches will become dead and
lifeless, and members will flock to drink of the river of revival. Such
churches will become "swamps and marshes" which will not be healed
(Ezekiel 47:11).
An Invitation: Drink Deeply
There are some who will only be content with the "experience" and in
this case, the refreshing and reviving they receive will only be
temporary. Those churches who are touched by the true river will become
on fire with a desire to see the lost brought to Christ and the world
evangelized.
In the 1980s, I started to receive calls from intercessors from many
places. Each of these said something very similar. They felt God had
told them revival would begin in their little town, or big city, or
nation. I pondered what each had said. Could they all be hearing from
God? Finally, the Holy Spirit spoke this in my heart,
"Cindy,
in the coming revival there is not just one place which will be able to
claim they are experiencing revival. The revival is going to happen in
many places at once. It will be like spontaneous combustion of many,
many revival fires. This way, the evil will not be able to get in and
put a stop to it as he has in the past through sin or personalities or
excesses."
I realize this is true. While revivals are messy at times, God is
still moving powerfully. Do excesses exist? Yes, undoubtedly. However,
the River of God is spilling over into nation after nation. The Lord is
inviting all the children to drink deeply of this river.
I believe with all my heart that revival is coming to my nation.
Intercessors have prayed for years for God to pour out His Spirit on
America. The River of God's Spirit will touch every nation, and every
people will have an opportunity to receive Christ as personal Savior
until the earth will be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord,
as the waters cover the sea.
Cindy Jacobs
Generals International
Email:
generals@generals.org