Sermon Title: Bones.
Scripture Text: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Ezekiel 37:1-14 NLT
A Valley of Dry Bones
37 The Lord took hold of me, and I was carried away by the Spirit of the Lord to a valley filled with bones. 2 He led me all around among the bones that covered the valley floor. They were scattered everywhere across the ground and were completely dried out. 3 Then he asked me, “Son of man, can these bones become living people again?”
“O Sovereign Lord,” I replied, “you alone know the answer to that.”
* In Verse 1 Ezekiel was filled with the Holy Spirit so he could see and hear what the Sovereign LORD was saying and showing.
1 Corinthian 2:13 NLT When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.
-It was the same in the Hebrew and Greek Testaments.
What would have been your reply to “can these bones become living people again?” I think I would have said “You LORD can do whatever you wish. You created life so once life is gone I believe you can bring that life back.”
Of course I can say this now but I’m not Ezekiel standing beside God.
Then the Sovereign LORD took Ezekiel away in the Spirit.
4 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! 6 I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
* I can't imagine how the Sovereign LORD allow Ezekiel to see this happen. With all the special effect they can do now in movies and how they seem so real. Now we have the Creator God Almighty showing Ezekiel all these dried bones coming together. They are breathing and moving. As my Mom would say: Lord have mercy! Ezekiel scared, eyes wide open, breathing hard, mind going crazy and in all of that the Sovereign LORD is standing beside him.
Do you think he was thinking what does this mean or just scared and amazed beyond anything possible.
After all that, do you think Ezekiel believed the LORD when he said “Then you will know that I am the LORD.”?
7 So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to the winds (Spirit means the wind.), son of man. Speak a prophetic message and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’”
10 So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.
*What does all this mean?
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.’
12 Therefore, prophesy to them and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: O my people, I will open your graves of exile and cause you to rise again. Then I will bring you back to the land of Israel. 13 When this happens, O my people, you will know that I am the Lord. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken, and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken!’”
The Book of Ezekiel was written approximately 2,500 years before the State of Israel became a nation.
May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the Jewish Agency, proclaimed the establishment of the State of Israel. U. S. President Harry S. Truman recognized the new nation on the same day.
Also in May 1948, Israel became an official independent state after Israel was recognized by the United Nations as a country in its own right within the Middle East.
Galatians 3
24 Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. 25 And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Everyone should become followers of Christ; no exceptions. Yes even the Jewish people. Yes even the Arab people. We are all to become one within the family of God.
John 15:5-6 (NLT)
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
All the religions in the world exceeds 4000 branches. Every one of them are to become believers in the one True God; no exception.
One person made all this to happen happen. One person died for us all. One person loves all of us enough to let us into his family. The Apostle John through the leading of the Holy Spirit wrote this for us:
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
All are to believe in Christ and no other gods.
But the real question here is this: Do you believe in Jesus by faith and the baptism of the Holy Spirit?
