Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley urges Liberty students to tear down idols, answer God’s call to spark revival in America

Liberty University welcomed Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley to Friday’s Convocation, where he charged students to seek God’s vision, tear down idols, and place their lives on the altar of God – just as Gideon did in the book of Judges, which resulted in one of Israel’s greatest spiritual revivals.

Hawley is one of the nation’s leading constitutional lawyers who served as attorney general in Missouri before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2019. He serves on several Senate Committees: Judiciary, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship.

In his Convocation message, Hawley drew parallels between the story of Gideon, who was used by God to change the destiny of Israel, and the spiritual oppression taking a stronghold in modern America. He encouraged students to mirror the obedience of Gideon and devote their lives to God.

“Catch God’s vision for your life,” he said. “He has a vision to use you in powerful ways. He has a vision to use you for a powerful purpose for the Kingdom of God. And it doesn’t depend on what you’ve done, where you’ve been, what choices you’ve made, or what your past is. It depends on who God is as He calls you today.”

Hawley referenced Judges 6, when Israel was invaded by the Midianites during harvest. The Midianites destroyed their crops, stole their livestock, and left the nation in utter despair.

During this time, Israel was in a foreboding cycle of sin and worshiping false gods, resulting in oppression at every turn. Hawley compared the idols of Gideon’s time to the common “statues” in America: worship of self, popularity, materialism, and performance. Israel, Hawley said, only experienced revival once it discarded its false idols.

“We have (Israel) oppressed, and we have Gideon afraid,” Hawley explained. “Isn’t that a lot like our situation today? … Is not our nation in so many ways spiritually oppressed? Are we not suffering the spiritual oppression of the forces of secularism in our society?”

“Every civilization is founded on a set of religious convictions,” he added. “And the United States of America, I firmly believe, is the greatest nation in the history of the world, because our spiritual convictions are the convictions of the Bible. But the forces of secularism seek to cut us off from that truth.”

Hawley told students that God can use anyone for His divine purpose, regardless of background or social standing, just as He used Gideon to point the nation of Israel back to God and defeat the Midianites.

“Gideon will lead one of the greatest revivals in the history of the nation of Israel, and I believe this is a prophetic passage for our time,” he said. “I believe this is a prophetic passage for this student body. … Because my conviction is this: there is no need so great as our spiritual need for revival. When God pours out revival on a nation, He doesn’t do it by hiring a social media influencer. He doesn’t do it by hiring a pollster. He does it by anointing and empowering men and women of God, and I believe God wants to anoint you today.”

Hawley encouraged the students to “step into the Gideon anointing today,” emphasizing that God has a plan for their lives.

“Catch His vision for your life, tear down your idols, put your life on the altar,” he said. “I think the future of the Church in this nation depends on whether or not you are empowered like Gideon. We need a generation of Gideons, and I believe that is the prophetic destiny of your generation — but you have to step into it.”