There are two main senses where the word or term nation is used in Christianity in terms or revival or renewal. One is the sense used in the Great Commission such as in Matthew 28:18-20 or Luke 24:44-49 with Acts 1:7-11 for Christian missionaries to go to other lands that are usually not as heavily Christian to seek to reach the peoples or nations in those lands. I have written a separate paper on that topic. In this paper I intend to focus on the sense of nation where godly Christians seek more people to become Christians, for existing Christians to be discipled and live more godly or committed lives to God or His Son the Lord Jesus Christ and often to seek to install or restore more Christian godly principles in society in one's own land. The usual meaning for nation in evangelical Christianity these days for the Great Commission are the 10,000 to 17,000 people group nations with similiar language and culture etc. while the main meaning for nation in Christian revival or renewal within one's land is one of the existing political nations on Earth such as Canada, the US, China, India, Kenya, Brazil etc. This is usually what the sense of the term national revival is used. (Before people group nations were adapted as the nations to reach in the Great Commission by the persuasion of missionary Ralph Winters at a 1974 meeting of the Lausanne School of Evangelism, the nations used for the Great Commission for most of the global Christian misssions community were also the political nations still used in association with national Christian revivals. However, I believe it is more biblically and generally correct, and perhaps more how God sees it, to hold to the position that the nations both for the Church or Church Age phase of the Kingdom to reach and for one's own nation to seek national revival in are the 70 nations (ethnos or goy(im)) descended from the Old Testament Patriarch Noah in Genesis 10.
There are two main senses that the word nation is used in national Christian revivals. The more common one is in the sense of seeking more committment to God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ by existing evangelical Christians as well as seeking non-Christians to become Christians and to seek more biblical Christian and godly principles and practices in society. This sense of national revival is still quite popular in evangelical Christianity, especially in the United States and Canada, where I live, as well as some political ntions in Africa, Asia and Latin America such as China, India, Nigeria, Brzail etc. Probably two of the most popular scripture verses used in this connection are Psalm 33:12 and Proverbs 14:34. Another very popular scripture verse used by Christians seeking national revival is 2 Chronicles 7:14. Although that latter verse does not use the word nation, it does use the words people and land which are usually understand to be associated with the political nation where people live or are particularly seeking national revival in. Psalm 33:12 reads: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance." Proverbs 14:34 reads: "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sni is a reproach to any people." 2 Chronicles 7:14 reads: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
In both Psalm 33:12 and Proverbs 14:34 the word for nation in the Greek Septuagint is "ethnos" and the word for all nations "ethne" in the Great Commission passages in Matthew 28:18-20 and Luke 24:44-49 is a form of. Ethnos is also the word for nations consistently in the Table of the 70 Nations from Noah in Genesis 10. The Hebrew word for nation or Gentile is "goy" or "goyim" and is used in Psalm 33:12 and Proverbs 14:34 and most other scripture verses in the Old Testament used in association with national revivals but the word nation for national revivals is usually taken in the sense of the current political nations. The use of nations "goy" or "ethnos" as used in Genesis 10 is used in a typical way from that chapter in the last and summarizing verse of that chapter of the 70 nations descending from Noah through his three sons Japheth, Ham and Shem as follows: "These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood." Genesis 10:32. Therefore I would encourage and promote the idea that the more biblical association with the term nation also for national Christian revival is one or more Noah nations within an existing political nation or land. This would be in contrast to using the biblical term or word nations in association with the political nation itself. Part of my promotion of national evangelical revival in terms of the 70 Noah nations would be that Christians seeking revival or renewal should give at least as much emphasis on spiritual revival or renewal within people or a particular Noah nation even though they live within different existing political nations.
The other main use for nation in the sense of national revival is not quite as common and is used more in a prophetic or last days sense especially by evangelical Christians, whether covenant or dispensational theology, who support a last days restoration of Israel as the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob with revival or other Gentile nations at the same time. This is thought to be leading up to the visible Earthly Millennial or Messianic Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ over all the Earth based in Jerusalem after His Second Coming in glory from heaven to the surface of Earth. Probably the main scriptures used in this sense or national revival or renewal are Zechariah 14:16-21 and Matthew 25:31-46.
The first of these passages is featured at teh annual Parade of the Nations around the time of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, Israel. It's good that there are many Christians of many nations supporting Israel visibly like this, especially in these times of substantial and growing anti-Semitism (and anti-Christian) expression in this world. In this parade of nations many of the Christians carry a number of copies of the flag of their personal political nation and many of the marchers also wear clothes even matching patterns relating to the flags of their own political nations as I have seen in pictures of these Parade of Nations in Jerusalem. However, the word for nation in Zechariah 14 is also in Greek "ethnos" or all nations as "ethne" or in Hebrew "goy" which again are the same words for nations used in Genesis 10 in God's word - the Holy Bible in the Table of 70 Nations descended from Noah after the worldwide flood. Although I admit I don't know either what flag etc. marchers would use to identify with the paricular Genesis 10 Noah nation they are associated with. However, there are a couple existing political nations that are closely associated with one of the original Noah nations like current Egypt with ancient biblical Egypt or Noah nation Mizraim or the current political nation of Ethiopia with at least the main part of ancient biblical Ethiopia or Cush that was also one of the 70 Noah nations.
Another main scripture passage Christians who support the idea that we are now in the last days soon before Jesus' Second Coming and visible rule over all the Earth is Matthew 25:31-46. In that passage in Matthew 25 especially verse 32 is used that relates to the judgment of the nations described in the judgment of the sheep and the goats. There are some differences when evangelical Christians put this judgment in time line but most, including myself, would put it around the time of the Lord Jesus Christ's glorious Second Coming from heaven to Earth to judge the world and set up God's visible Kingdom over all the Earth and this kingdom is usually thought of as centred on Jerusalem and Israel. These nations are then judged, either punished or blessed, depending on how they treat God's children, especially the more needy ones in a preceding time of trial or tribulation. There are some Christians who believe these needy brethren are Christ's spiritual brethren or evangelical Christians, but pre-tribulation and pre-millennial (together dispensational) and some covenant or reformed theology Christians who support a restoration of the literal nation of Israel believe the least of Christ's brethren in this passage are Christians or Jews (Israelites) and they generally agree and together hold to the belief that the association or background of the nations that will be blessed or punished at Jesus' glorious Second Coming will be the existing almost 200 political nations (such as those mentioned in the news or those recognized in the General Assembly of the United Nations).
It would certainly be some of the same Christians who march in or support the Parade of the Nations in Jerusalem on the Feast of Tabernacles who would put forth significant emphasis on the Matthew 25 passage and the judgment of nations as an encouragement to national revival or especially their existing political nation at this time so they could be one of the sheep and blessed and not goat or punished nations in Matthew 25. Although I would also agree that the nations mentioned in Zechariah 14 and Matthew 25 are the same type of nations at about the same time, I would say they are both references more to the 70 nations descended from Noah as mentioned in the Table of Natiions in Genesis 10. This is again because the words for nation(s) in Zechariah 14 and Matthew 25 is also in Greek "ethnos" or all nations "ethne" or in Hebrew "goy" or "goyim" and that again these are the same original or early Bible language words for nations also used for nations throughout the several references for nations in the Genesis 10 Table of Nations from the biblical patriarch Noah.
In summary, although I acknowledge it is definitely more popular and more widely known to associate existing political nations as the main meaning of nations for national Christian revival or renewal either at the current time and for the individual nation, usually the one where the particular Christian lives, or the nations collectively in a more last days prophetic sense around the time of Jesus' Second Coming in glory to judge the Earth and establish His visible Kingdom over all the Earth. This glorious Second Coming of Jesus (Y'Shua) to establish His and God the Father's visible Kingdom over all the Earth is sometimes associated with the last days literal restoration of God's chosen Earthly people Israel to God, His Son and Messiah Jesus of Nazareth and to their promised land of Israel and its capital Jerusalem. I believe it is more biblical, literally in context, to view the meaning of the word nation for national Christian revival in either of these senses, and also for the sense of the worldwide Great Commission for the Church, to view nations in all these senses as one or more of the 70 nations descended from Noah and mentioned in the Genesis 10 Table of Nations because of the same biblical original language word for nations (ethnos, ethne or goy) in Genesis 10 and popular national Christian revival scripture verses that contain the word nations.
Doug Currie Hamilton, Ontario, Canada December 23, 2022