Sunday, July 18th 2010
Ps. Caleb's sermon on July 18th 2010
Ezekiel 37 Valley of Dry Bones.
This is God's revelation to Ezekiel.
The Valley of Dry Bones
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know."
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath [a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "
V.3 God's question: can these bones live?
Ezekiel's answer: "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know."
It shows his humility, he did not try to show off nor to pretend to know it.
We also need to stay humble when we come to the Lord. Do not boast, do not pretend that we know everything, do not teach God what He is supposed to do, do not manipulate God to do things we want.
V. 11 Those dry bones are the Israelites whose hopes were gone. These dry bones depict believers whose hopes are gone. However, God can change them to be His army. Army means strong men, strong people and well-trained.
So, how to change the dry situation to life?
God teaches us how to do it.
V.4 Prophesy
V.9 "Prophesy to ... and say to it, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says..."
So we should do it like that. Whenever there are dryness, difficulties, challenges, problems in our life, we should say the word of God. Mark 11:33-23 says 22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
To prophesy is to say to something or situation about what God wants.
How do we know what God wants? We know what God wants by reading His Word. His word is in the bible. Therefore, we need to read the bible. PROPHESY! Prophesy what God wants to your difficulties, your challenges, your dryness! Although the change, the answer has not arrived yet, do not feel disappointed. Wait and look for God more. It is so with Ezekiel. Verse 8, after the first stage Ezekiel did what God told him to do, tendons and skin came to those bones. However, they were not alive. So it was not finished. God told Ezekiel to prophesy again. So, we shall not stop, we shall continue until God's plan done. If God has started his plan, He will carry it out to the end. God can change those dry bones to God's soldiers, so we may be changed to be God's soldiers too.
Ezekiel 37 Valley of Dry Bones.
This is God's revelation to Ezekiel.
The Valley of Dry Bones
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know."
4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath [a] enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.' "
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.' " 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
11 Then he said to me: "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. 14 I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.' "
V.3 God's question: can these bones live?
Ezekiel's answer: "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know."
It shows his humility, he did not try to show off nor to pretend to know it.
We also need to stay humble when we come to the Lord. Do not boast, do not pretend that we know everything, do not teach God what He is supposed to do, do not manipulate God to do things we want.
V. 11 Those dry bones are the Israelites whose hopes were gone. These dry bones depict believers whose hopes are gone. However, God can change them to be His army. Army means strong men, strong people and well-trained.
So, how to change the dry situation to life?
God teaches us how to do it.
V.4 Prophesy
V.9 "Prophesy to ... and say to it, "This is what the Sovereign LORD says..."
So we should do it like that. Whenever there are dryness, difficulties, challenges, problems in our life, we should say the word of God. Mark 11:33-23 says 22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
To prophesy is to say to something or situation about what God wants.
How do we know what God wants? We know what God wants by reading His Word. His word is in the bible. Therefore, we need to read the bible. PROPHESY! Prophesy what God wants to your difficulties, your challenges, your dryness! Although the change, the answer has not arrived yet, do not feel disappointed. Wait and look for God more. It is so with Ezekiel. Verse 8, after the first stage Ezekiel did what God told him to do, tendons and skin came to those bones. However, they were not alive. So it was not finished. God told Ezekiel to prophesy again. So, we shall not stop, we shall continue until God's plan done. If God has started his plan, He will carry it out to the end. God can change those dry bones to God's soldiers, so we may be changed to be God's soldiers too.
Comments