5-19-24 Sermon

Ezekiel 37:1-14

This morning I'll be reading Ezekiel chapter 37 verses 1 through 14. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Ezekiel 37:1-14 These verses that we will look at this morning are an illustration that God gave to Ezekiel to show the Israelites that He was capable of restoring them,,, or,,, returning them,,, back to their land. Ezekiel 37:1–14 (HCSB) 1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry. 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord God, only You know.” 4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Lord God says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord God says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord God says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, 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 am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it.” This is the declaration of the Lord. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at Luke 24:44-53,,, and we seen that the disciples are returning to Jerusalem,,, after Jesus' ascension into heaven,,, to "Something New"!

They spend their time in prayer together,,, praising God for this blessing.

Again,,, I reminded you,,, these are the same ones that were hiding,,, scared,,, confused,,, unsure of what to do,,, but the joy that they share together must be indescribable,,, especially compared to their previous attitudes.

But now,,, they know and fully understand,,, the words that Jesus gave them before His death and resurrection!

They are in position to receive,,, "Something New"!

They can accomplish the task that God has for them through the help of the Holy Spirit!

I reminded you,,, that as we continue our first year in the Global Methodist Church,,, we are in a position to receive "Something New"!

What that will be,,, though,,, is up to us!

It will depend on our obedience to God,,, our commitment to God,,, and our prayer time,,, just as these things were important for the disciples as they waited in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit!

We have their actions to show us how to accomplish this task,,, and to do that,,, we must be as faithful as they were during their time waiting in obedience.

We,,, as a church family,,, should be united in prayer to seek God's guidance.

Being diligent as we listen for God to show us the way.

This same attitude,,, will help each one of us personally,,, in our daily walk with God,,, if we are just as focused.

Our walk with God will really blossom if we are intent on these things.

Remember that we need to apply what we learned from these verses,,, to our church,,, as well as our personal life,,, so that we can receive guidance from God going forward.

We have the chance for "Something New",,, if we are obedient,,, and listen to God's voice.

It's up to us!

God wants to help us,,, and He will,,, if we let Him!

But we don't need our lack of focus or obedience,,, to get in the way,,, of,,, "Something New"!

This morning we will look at these verses in Ezekiel,,, and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

___________________________________ If you look at chapter 36,,, God has announced that Israel would be restored to her land in blessing under the leadership of David her king.

But this seems impossible because of the condition of the country.

There was no hope,,, they weren't able to do anything to help themselves.

If we are honest,,, this could be the way that we feel as we look at the world today!

___________________________________ Verse 1 said: 1 The hand of the LORD was on me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.

In this vision,,, Ezekiel was set down in the middle of a valley that was full of bones.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says,,, that these bones represented Israel's present condition,,, or the way that they felt about their situation.

And Israel felt hopeless,,, lifeless,,, like there was nothing they could do.

We can feel that way sometimes,,, when we see the way that people seem to have forgotten how they should act,,, that they act like God doesn't exist,,, or care what they do!

___________________________________ Verse 2 said: 2 He led me all around them. There were a great many of them on the surface of the valley, and they were very dry.

These were bones that had been out in the elements for a long time.

There was no flesh on them,,, everything edible had been cleaned off by the wild animals.

They would have been scattered by the animals while they tried to gnaw everything that they could get off the bones.

The bones had become white from the sun baking down on them.

They would have been very dry and possibly brittle.

___________________________________ Verse 3 said: 3 Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I replied, “Lord GOD, only You know.”

God was obviously asking Ezekiel something that was humanly impossible,,, in other words,,, there was no way that anyone could have brought these bones to life.

But,,, we as Christians know that with God,,, all things are possible,,, so we know that only God can accomplish what is humanly impossible.

My Faithlife Study Bible says that God isn't asking Ezekiel if he believes people can be brought back to life since this is something that he would have been familiar with from the experiences of Elijah and Elisha.

Instead,,, it's from the fact that these were bones that had been there a long time,,, they were scattered and separated from one another.

So in this verse,,, Ezekiel gives the only answer that he knows to give.

He's not sure if they can or not,,, but he knows the one that does know!

That is something that he is very sure of,,, and it's something that we should pay attention to as well!

No matter what question we may have,,, we can be assured that God has the answer.

It may not be the answer we want to hear,,, or in the time that we want to hear it,,, or it may be an answer that is withheld for any number of reasons,,, but just know that God has the answer,,, and that's why we should always turn to God first,,, instead of as a last resort for answers,,, like we usually do.

But Ezekiel says,,, “Lord GOD, only You know.”

And we get God's answer in the following verses.

___________________________________ Verses 4 through 8 said: 4 He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you, make flesh grow on you, and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you so that you come to life. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” 7 So I prophesied as I had been commanded. While I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I looked, tendons appeared on them, flesh grew, and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

God tells Ezekiel to prophesy concerning these bones,,, to hear the word of the Lord,,, He will put the breath of life into them,,, He will put tendons on them,,, make flesh grow on them,,, cover them with skin,,, and God will put the breath of life into them.

So Ezekiel does all of that,,, just as God told him to do,,, and the bones rattle and come together,,, and form bodies,,, but there was no breath in them.

There was no life yet.

As in all things,,, there is no life,,, without the breath of life,,, which comes from God,,, and especially these bones,,, that would be even more obvious,,,

___________________________________ So in verses 9 & 10,,, it said: 9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man. Say to it: This is what the Lord GOD says: Breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these slain so that they may live!” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me; the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.

Now,,, after God has allowed the breath of life to enter them,,, they come to life and stand up,,, a vast army.

My CSB Study Bible says that the four winds probably indicates the full power of the entering breath since the winds come from every direction.

This picture reminds us of the creation event,,, where the Spirit of God hovered over the raw elements of the world,,, transforming it into a world that we could live in,,, found in Genesis 1:2.

___________________________________ Verses 11 through 14 said: 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look how they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: This is what the Lord GOD says: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them, My people, and lead you into the land of Israel. 13 You will know that I am Yahweh, My people, 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 am Yahweh. I have spoken, and I will do it.” This is the declaration of the LORD.

According to my CSB Study Bible,,, in verse 13,,, God adds a new element to the dried bones by stating that He will open the graves and take them from their place of burial,,, demonstrating the reality of national rebirth.

Just as the events in the vision were miraculous,,, so will be Israel’s restoration.

The vision showed that Israel’s new life,,, depended on God’s power.

___________________________________ The simple meaning of this vision to the people of Israel was one that was given to overcome discouragement from their Babylonian captivity.

The main spiritual lesson,,, is one of hope in God,,, not in themselves.

God is showing them that He can bring them help from places that they would never dream of,,, but they must trust Him and put their faith in His power,,, not their own personal power!

___________________________________ Which brings us to our problems of today,,, problems that we,,, as a nation,,, or a church,,, cannot solve on our own.

Problems that have led to our own discouragements.

Our country is divided and continuously in disagreements,,, it seems like the whole world is against us at times,,, our churches seem to be failing in the battle against satan,,, and churches continue to get smaller each year!

We have become so discouraged that we have forgotten that there is anything or anyone that can help us,,, just like the Israelites in this vision.

But God is trying to tell us that there is hope,,, that He is still here,,, His plan is still in place,,, and through His strength,,, we will get through this.

We are like the Israelites,,, we keep looking inside ourselves for answers,,, when our answer is above!

We need to raise our voice in praise,,, and give God the glory that He deserves,,, because He will bring us out of this!

___________________________________ We may be full of doubts,,, not knowing where to turn,,, what direction we need to go,,, what to do,,, etc.

It doesn't matter if we are thinking of the problems in the world,,, problems in our church,,, or problems within ourselves,,,

The answer is the same!!!

We should look above,,, there is our answer,,, our hope,,, our everything!!!

We need to stop looking for answers in the world,,, and look up to the One that knows the answers,,, just as Ezekiel said,,, “Lord GOD, only You know.”

That's something that we need to remember when everything seems to be working against us,,, and we don't understand what to do!

We must seek answers from the "One That Knows",,, especially,,, when we can't see,,, which way,,, to go!!!

___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction -----------------------------------------------------------