"Blow On Us, O Holy Spirit!”

“BLOW ON US, O HOLY SPIRIT!”

Ezekiel 37:1-11

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR

1. Someone reimagined the Burning Bush account as it would be today: "Moses, listen to Me. I have good news, and bad news." Moses says, “Tell me the good news first.”

2. “OK.” The Voice continues: "You, Moses, will lead the

people of Israel out from bondage. Pharaoh will refuse to let Israel go, so I will release a series of plagues – including blood, frogs, gnats, boils, disease, hail stones, locusts, and many more, all by your hand. At last I will open the Red Sea and all Israel will cross over on dry ground.

3. Moses stammered, "Wow God! That's fantastic - but what's the bad news?" “The bad news is that You have to write the environmental impact statement.”

4. In this morning’s Bible passage we’re going to focus on the power of the Holy Spirit. Read with me…

B. TEXT

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you so that you live.” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise and a shaking. And the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 When I looked, the sinews and the flesh grew upon them, and the skin covered them. But there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the wind; prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain so that they live.” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.” Ezek. 37:1,3-5,7-11; Modern English Version

C. THESIS

1. So this morning we’re looking at a unique command to Ezekiel; to PROPHESY TO THE WIND. My thesis is that God’s allowing Ezekiel to be involved in initiating a Spirit-Revival sets the precedent for us to do the same.

2. The title of this message is “Blow on us – O Holy Spirit!”

I. MEANING OF THE VISION

A. APPLIED TO ISRAEL

1. This vision of the ‘dry bones restored to living people’ first of all represents God’s prophesying that the nation of Israel would be gathered from exile from the places they had been scattered by the Assyrians and the Babylonians and again be brought back to their own land and “reborn” as a nation (Isa. 11:11).

2. We have seen this prophecy fulfilled in our day as Israel has been regathered. As of 2013, the majority of Jews in the world now live in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the prophecy of Ezek. 37 had been fulfilled!

B. APPLIED TO THE CHURCH

1. A present-day application; The church, just like the nation of Israel, has undergone periods of dark ages, of backslidden condition, of coldness and deadness when it seemed that it would be impossible for the church to ever come back to its original glory.

2. But God says, “I will bring the church up out of its grave and make it a glorious church, without spot or wrinkle. Jesus says, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it,” Matt. 16:18.

C. PERSONAL APPLICATION

But the Word of God also has an individual and personal application for us. This valley represents the valley of your soul. The contents of this valley are the skeletons of our past and our present condition. The necessity of divine intervention to achieve our healing and restoration is unmistakably clear.

II. DESCRIPTION OF OUR CONDITION

A. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BONES

No picture of death could be more complete.

1. The bones were in the middle of the VALLEY – a place representing trials, problems, disappointments, & failures.

2. There were a GREAT MANY BONES. This indicates the vast extent of the damage to people; almost everyone has experienced these moments of devastating disappointment or grief.

3. The bones were SCATTERED from each other. Scavengers have pulled them apart and scrambled all the bones into a disordered mixture. Who could ever sort and restore these bones to their original owners?