Critiquing a critique - Sandy Simpson on the song Hosanna, by Brooke Fraser

Critique found here. Reproduced here for fair use and discussion purposes. My comments in bold.

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The above linked website on the whole does a good job of critiquing the doctrinal content of worship song. I've critiqued songs a couple of times myself. 

However, critiques should not be colored by doctrinal misunderstandings. I picked her (I'm assuming "Sandy" is a woman's name) critique of Hosanna because I like the song, both content and music, and because of the doctrinal issues that impair her critique. 

Ms. Simpson first quotes the lyrics, then provides her critique below:

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I see the king of glory
Coming down the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes, the whole earth shakes
I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing, the people sing

Hosanna, hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take the place
With selfless faith, with selfless faith
I see a new revival
Staring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees, we're on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me
Break my heart for what is yours
Everything I am for your kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity

The Bible does not speak of an end times revival (with the exception of when the remnant of Israel finally acknowledges Jesus Christ as Messiah in the Tribulation) but rather a generation the has slipped into apostasy.    This is incorrect. The author mistakes the day of the Lord [an event], with some portion the Church age [a time period].

Part of the mistake comes from her not including the first two verses of the passage, which reads, "Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come." [2 Thess. 2:1-2] Here we see that Paul is telling the church at Thessalonica that the Lord has not yet come to gather His people to Himself, and that day will not come until after certain events have transpired. Now we can understand the context for the rest of the passage, as quoted by the author: 

2 Thessalonians 2:3 "Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction," The falling away (apostasy) will come before the antichrist is revealed and is a mark of the end times.  So the two things [apostasy and the man of lawlessness] are connected. The verses that follow add clarity: "He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God." The antichrist has not been revealed and thus has not set himself up in the temple. 

Why not? Verse 6 tells us: "And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time." God is restraining the evil one until the proper time. Only then will the apostasy come and the man of lawlessness be revealed. This cannot happen until God stops restraining him. 

Thus, from this passage we cannot conclude that there can be no revivals because of an apostate church. But importantly, even an apostate church doesn't exclude the possibility of revival!

1 Timothy 4:1 "But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons," So the generation in our day, which is clearly the end times, is a generation that is falling away.   These "later times" does not equal "the day of the Lord" or that this is "our day." And "some" falling away does not equal "apostasy" or a "generation." Here the author confuses a non-specific lack of faith in later times with the great and awesome day of the Lord.

This generation (Actually, the song refers to a coming generation, not this generation) does not exhibit a "selfless faith" because they have, by in large, abandoned preaching the Gospel to all nations, sacrificing their lives to do mission work, and instead are intent on getting some kind of Gnostic revival by way of "slain in the spirit" and other unbiblical methods.  For the author, unbiblical activities and general foolishness qualify for the great apostasy. But it is quite easy to demonstrate that a great many are sacrificing their lives for the sake of the Gospel all over the world. Further, the writer of the song looks to a hope for the future, that a generation, operating in selfless faith, is rising up in the power of the Holy Spirit, bearing fruit, reaping in fields that are white. 

The author paints with a broad brush, suggesting that no Christians are or will be selfless, that this somehow unique to our times, and thus this is the great apostasy. None of that can be demonstrated by the quoted Scriptures.

If you pray for revival yet are teaching and practicing unbiblical things, you will not get a revival from God but a revival of spiritism, which is what we see happening all over the world today.   This begs the question: If one prays for revival and is teaching and practicing BIBLICAL things, then is it possible for real revival? Remember the author doesn't think revival can come at all because of last days apostasy. 

We might do well to ask, how long have we been in the last days? Was the Great Awakening not during the last days? Suppose the author was a contemporary of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, or John Wesley. Would her argument hold water? So, because revival has happened many times already in the "last days," on what basis would the author claim that revival is not possible today?

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'” [Rev. 7:9-10] There's going to be a great multitude in heaven. Salvation is not going to be rare, and thus we are not only justified in praying for revival, we ought to be passionate for the kingdom of God coming "on earth as is in heaven."

This is yet another example of how Christians need to be very wary of songs from Hillsong.