Is There Hope?

Sermon- Is there Hope?

- Think with me, it has been over 4 months & going on 5 since we closed our church, &

went online. I never thought there would be a time that I would be away from the

church building. Now it’s been almost 5 months, & it seems that the virus knows no

end.

- My studies haven’t changed, but the connection that i get as we talk about our

studies is missing. It’s very much like the Spirit feels incomplete.

- With that idea, think of how it would feel to be completely ripped from your home.

You no longer have a place to live, & the land that you have called your land is gone.

Many of your friends, & family have been taken away. You may never see them again.

- Today’s message comes from the time of the Babylonian captivity. Somewhere in

this time of 70 years, God gave Ezekiel a prophecy to give. This Prophecy is one

of Hope, & it’s a reminder of who God is.

Ezekiel 37:1-14

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may 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 unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

- The Prophecy Ezekiel is proclaiming, is the prophecy of the millennial reign of Christ.

Israel has been shut out of their own land for so long. Even now they don’t possess

the land that is theirs.

- The Temple Mount has a mosque built upon it, & not the temple.

- Many Jewish people are returning to Israel today for the first time, but they have

always known this land is my land.

Q- Should we lose hope?

- It has been 2,606 years since the Israelites were taken from Judah in 586 B.C.

Notice how Ezekiel called the bones, very dry bones. They had been dead a long

time. Now God will resurrect them!

- At just the right time, we will be together again.

Prayer

- Think of what God told Ezekiel to do for the dry bones. He said, prophecy (tell the

bones) Hear the Word of the Lord!

- Remember Who is greater than death itself!

- Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

- The Power of God! When God formed us, from simple dirt. He breathed life into